The Co-op School

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
461402442
IRS 990 coverage
2012–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Brooklyn, NY, USA
Phone
3477213408
Rating
75
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Charter Schools

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$6,488,961
Expenses
$6,498,208
Assets
$15,519,682
Liabilities
$15,487,748

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

17 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Poppy Simpson (President)
  • Sara Upton (Vice President)

Highest reported compensation

  • Chloe Smith (Director): $253,159 total reported compensation
  • MAUREEN BOUCHER (Business Dir.): $104,665 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

The mission of the co-op school is to inspire passion and teach children to become protagonists in their own educational journey by fostering their innate sense of curiosity and creativity. The co-op school facilitates joyful learning through a unique and rigorous constructivist approach that listens to and honors the individual interests and strengths of each child. The co-op school does not just belong to the students and educators, but extends to the family community as a whole. It belongs to those who participate in it, and is a more resilient and creative place because of it.

What it reported doing in 2024

Preschool and Lower School Programs: The basis for our curriculum:- Children constantly learn as they play.- Children learn to be socially interactive through dramatic play.- Feeling, touching and creating through sensory activities enhance cognitive skills.- Painting, pasting and participation in art activities allows children to express themselves creatively.- Cutting, assembling and threading objects encourage the development of fine motor skills.- Physical activity and movement, such as balancing, crawling, dancing and jumping, help to develop gross motor skills.- Reading stories every day promotes literacy while exposing children to different cultures and experiences.- Positive interaction and communication are encouraged among all the children as well as between adults and children.- To encourage teachers to ask open-ended questions and interact with children on their eye level.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 98% 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

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Few specific pay-setting methods are documented in the filing; unanswered boxes are not proof of absence and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 78
  • Transparency & Controls: 65
  • Accountability: 88
  • Sustainability: 41
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 87.9%; rating input score 88
  • Program expense ratio: 88.1%; rating input score 88
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 0 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 0
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Missing
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 88.2%; rating input score 88; 19th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 7 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 88
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -0.1%; rating input score 32; 32nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.39; rating input score 67; 67th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 1; rating input score 5; 5th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 5.5%; rating input score 50; 50th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 5.5% per year; rating input score 100; 43rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 5.1% per year; rating input score 100; 42nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 21.5% per year; rating input score 100; 86th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 87.9% of revenue deployed · 88.1% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 15 of 17 board members independent · 7 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $5.7M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $253K · 17 people listed · 0 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 28 of 28 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 10 filing years from 2012 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
  • 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.

  • High — Transparency & Controls: Pay-setting controls scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 32/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Other executive compensation review process not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 5/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 50/100.