The Derryfield School

What it reported doing in 2024

The derryfield school has hosted breakthrough manchester on campus for the past 34 years. Everyone is a teacher and a learner at breakthrough! With three and a half decades of a unique, proven students-teaching-students dual mission, breakthrough manchester is a leader in educational equity and access. Breakthrough narrows the opportunity gap by providing educational experiences that empower scholars traditionally underrepresented on college campuses to achieve post-secondary success. Breakthrough also trains aspiring high school and college-aged leaders as future educators, thereby strengthening and diversifying the teacher pipeline. The six-week summer program for manchester middle school scholars is the foundation of breakthrough's six-year college access program, focusing on rigorous academic enrichment combined with summer camp fun. Manchester students include: 68% will be first-generation college graduates 90% identify as students of color 64% qualify for free/reduced lunch 32% live with an alternative head of household (single parent, relative, foster) 84% speak a language other than english at homethe summer fills in gaps from the previous school year and equips middle school scholars with skills for success in the year ahead. College-aged teaching fellows mentor middle schoolers, adding creative twists in math, science, literature, and writing. After core classes each morning, there are extracurricular activities, such as chinese, music, sports, and mythology, followed by community-building activities. During the 7th and 8th-grade school years, scholars participate in super saturdays. High school juniors and seniors serve as teachers and mentors, and complement the summer and school learning with additional academic explorations. In high school, scholars participate in breakthrough college-bound, hosted at southern New Hampshire university, with a focus on college admission, including campus visits, application tips, financial aid workshops, writing a college essay, and more. Breakthrough scholar outcomes: breakthrough students made significant strides in learning. Eighty percent (80%) of students grew or maintained their reading skills, and 74% of students maintained or improved their math skills last summer; a remarkable achievement given that nationally, most students lose two months of math skills over the summer, and those with fewer resources often lose three. A school counselor from a local manchester high school shared, "we have sometimes found that incoming freshmen who have participated in breakthrough make tremendous gains over the summer, and our original academic placement for them is no longer the right fit". After breakthrough's middle school program, 100% of our students enroll in breakthrough college-bound at southern New Hampshire university, and 100% of breakthrough alumni pursue higher education, with 98% attending 4-year colleges. Breakthrough alumni are persisting at higher rates than comparison groups and graduating from college, but they also exceed the national college graduation average for all students. There are many stories of breakthrough students, now college graduates, pursuing their passions in the workforce as engineers, lawyers, doctors, educators, and more. Teaching fellow outcomes: over the past three summers, 78% of our teaching fellows (14 of the 18 who have graduated from college) launched careers in education. Many commit to teaching students from underrepresented communities, where compassionate teachers are needed the most. In fact, at the end of this summer, a teaching fellow shared, "breakthrough has truly changed my perspective on my life so much that i am now considering a career in the political science or international relations field because i am interested in social justice. I truly felt like i was a part of a great movement last summer, and that my daily efforts as a teacher were furthering my students' access to educational resources." school year: to keep our schol

Financial Efficiency

• Mission deployment rate: 78.7%; rating input score 79
• Program expense ratio: 78.9%; rating input score 79
• Fundraising efficiency: $2.13 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 7; 7th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

• Consistency checks: 94.4%; rating input score 94; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
• Pay-setting controls: 4 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 67
  • Compensation committee: Missing
  • Independent consultant: Missing
  • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
  • Written employment contract: Pass
  • Compensation survey or study: Pass
  • Board or committee approval: Pass
• Foreign activity oversight: Limited
• Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
• Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
• Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

• Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 66th percentile among comparable filings
• Governance controls: 8 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 89
  • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
  • Whistleblower policy: Pass
  • Document-retention policy: Fail
  • CEO compensation review process: Pass
  • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
  • 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: 2.41; rating input score 68; 68th percentile among comparable filings
• Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.29; rating input score 47; 47th percentile among comparable filings
• Officer compensation ratio: 5.6%; rating input score 46; 46th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

• Program expense growth: 4.6% per year; rating input score 100; 39th percentile among comparable filings
• Revenue growth: 3.9% per year; rating input score 100; 34th percentile among comparable filings
• Asset growth: 6.2% per year; rating input score 100; 43rd percentile among comparable filings