The Fay School

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
760321325
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Houston, TX, USA
Phone
7136818300
Rating
81
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Standard

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$14,623,344
Expenses
$11,568,062
Assets
$33,246,144
Liabilities
$7,339,764

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

Leadership & pay

17 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Morgan Scoville (CEO, Head of School)

Highest reported compensation

  • Morgan Scoville (CEO, Head of School): $350,814 total reported compensation
  • Jeff Fountain (CFO, Assistant Head of School): $183,987 total reported compensation
  • John Grube (Director of Tech and Operations): $119,387 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. The Fay School ("the School") is a nonsectarian, not-for-profit, co-educational school in which children of diverse talents and backgrounds with strong academic abilities are offered a high-quality education in a secure, enriching, and academically challenging environment. Here, children learn and grow intellectually, physically, socially, ethically, and artistically while developing self-confidence and a lifelong love of learning through an active partnership among educators, parents, and students.

What it reported doing in 2024

At The Fay School, our core values center on providing an educational experience that ensures our students are Prepared, Well-Rounded, and Articulate - three essential cornerstones for success as they move forward in life. We prepare students for entrance into and success within Houston's finest middle and upper schools. Our progressive and rigorous curriculum is exclusively preparatory in nature and our graduates are successful throughout the city of Houston. Our well-rounded students are grounded in an appreciation of community and global awareness. Our "Fay Family" is central to the ethos of our international culture and the diversity of thought and experiences our students enjoy. Continued on Schedule O. We believe communication is paramount to success and we teach our students to articulate their thoughts, values, and aspirations. At Fay, success is found in our students' poised and compelling communication with peers and adults alike. Adding to the rigor of our academic program, The Fay School's most distinguishing factor is our Leadership Development Program. Grounded in both emotional intelligence and human capital strategy, The Fay School's vision is to deliberately build and educate the next generation of leaders for our world. Our students experience leadership training and curriculum typically reserved for Fortune 500 companies and they graduate from Fay with skills that will serve them for a lifetime.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 76% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 94% 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.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

STRONG - The filed numbers largely add up and a large share of available resources goes toward mission work. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and reported officer compensation is a large share of total spending, which may reflect staffing concentration.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 62
  • Transparency & Controls: 93
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 72
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 60.8%; rating input score 61
  • Program expense ratio: 81.7%; rating input score 82
  • Fundraising efficiency: $2.57 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 9; 9th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 94.4%; rating input score 94; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 5 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 83
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • 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: 9 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • 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: 20.9%; rating input score 83; 83rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.87; rating input score 74; 74th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.22; rating input score 56; 56th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 6.6%; rating input score 38; 38th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 4.1% per year; rating input score 100; 34th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 5% per year; rating input score 100; 44th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 4.8% per year; rating input score 100; 34th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 60.8% of revenue deployed · 81.7% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 13 of 13 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $9.5M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $351K · 17 people listed · 5 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 3 contractors listed · $520K reported
  • Consistency: 36 of 37 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 10 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 15 filing years from 2009 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 4 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
  • 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 — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 9/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 38/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Schedule R controlled transactions itemized did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 56/100.