Takoma Childrens School Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 830376581
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2009–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- Washington, DC, USA
- Phone
- 2027269220
- Rating
- 85
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Child Day Care
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $1,347,082
- Expenses
- $1,280,858
- Assets
- $853,637
- Liabilities
- $228,409
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
12 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- Rebecca Wadler (Executive Director)
- Alex Leo (President)
- Kerry Monaco (Vice President)
Highest reported compensation
- Rebecca Wadler (Executive Director): $112,252 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
See Schedule O.
What it reported doing in 2024
Takoma Childrens School is a progressive year-round preschool serving 2 to 5-year old children and their families with part-time through full-day options with three classrooms. Our schools outstanding teachers and staff provide a nurturing, safe, and fun-filled environment that fosters creativity and a love of learning through a play-based program inspired by the Reggio Emilia philosophy. We value each childs unique needs and contributions, as we foster social, emotional, physical, and thinking skills that children will need and use throughout their lives. The Annual Auction is the primary fundraising event for Takoma Childrens School, held each May. This event unites staff, families, and the community in support of our mission. Proceeds from ticket sales and both live and silent auctions directly fund classroom supplies, enrichment activities, and facility improvements. By generating essential financial support and fostering community engagement, the Annual Auction plays a crucial role in sustaining and enhancing the educational experience for the children enrolled at Takoma Childrens School.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Earned-program. 88% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
- Distribution model
- Direct operator. The filing allocates 100% of reported program-service expenses outside its grant, affiliate-payment, and member-benefit lines. This expense classification does not rule out separately announced grant awards.
The verdict
STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and expenses are high relative to revenue.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 85
- Transparency & Controls: 92
- Accountability: 84
- Sustainability: 41
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 86.1%; rating input score 86
- Program expense ratio: 90.8%; rating input score 91
- Fundraising efficiency: $25.1 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 64; 64th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: Limited
- Foreign activity oversight: Limited
- Grant itemization coverage: Limited
- Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
- Related-party transparency: Limited
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 5 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 62
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Fail
- CEO compensation review process: Pass
- Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Missing
- Independent financial-statement audit: Fail
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 4.9%; rating input score 50; 50th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.67; rating input score 31; 31st percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.27; rating input score 27; 27th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 8.8%; rating input score 41; 41st percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 3.5% per year; rating input score 100; 34th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 4.5% per year; rating input score 100; 40th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 5.3% per year; rating input score 100; 40th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 86.1% of revenue deployed · 90.8% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 11 of 11 board members independent · 5 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $1.2M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $112K · 12 people listed
- Consistency: 25 of 25 current checks pass
- Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
- Filing history: 16 filing years from 2009 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
- Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
- People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.
Key Signals
Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 7 not reported.
- Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 50/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 31/100.
- High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 27/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 41/100.