The Hawthorn School Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 844495851
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2022–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024, Form 990-N 2020
- Location
- Bedford, NY, USA
- Phone
- 9142924220
- Rating
- 77
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Elementary, Secondary Education, K - 12
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $2,027,558
- Expenses
- $2,279,947
- Assets
- $700,062
- Liabilities
- $294,376
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
12 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- DR JOSEPH MCCLEARY (PRESIDENT)
Highest reported compensation
- DR JOSEPH MCCLEARY (PRESIDENT): $330,726 total reported compensation
- JAMES J FINNEGAN (CFO): $237,265 total reported compensation
- ANDRES PEREZ BENZO (TRUSTEE): $101,708 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 hawthorn school is to assist parents in the holistic education of their children so that they become daring men and women who imbue society with virtue and an optimistic attitude towards life's challenges.
What it reported doing in 2024
In 2024, hawthorn's enrollment grew to 100 students. The school continued to realize its mission by forming boys and girls into virtuous, hard- working, and daring young men and women who promise to imbue society with virtue. Also in 2024, we opened a montessori primary classroom, which boasted a waitlist at the end of just its first academic year. The school's faculty grew to over twenty educators, including: an association montessori international casa dei bambini certified preschool lead teacher; a juilliard- and princeton-trained music specialist; an alumna of the prestigious savannah college of art & design to teach studio art; and an economist with an mba from boston college with a penchant for art history. The academic offerings expanded to include, for the first time, preschool, a ninth grade class for boys, and spanish for early elementary students. Clubs grew to include soccer, chess, computer programming, tennis, rugby, basketball, crafts, math, cross country, and chorus. The school took trips to: keeler tavern museum; the bruce museum; the stamford courthouse; brewster ice arena; the bedford courthouse & museum, and more. Hawthorn grew in its community connections, with the successful formation of an active parent-school association known as the hawthorn parents guild.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
- 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. Expenses are high relative to revenue and total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 75
- Transparency & Controls: 79
- Accountability: 95
- Sustainability: 13
- Growth: 80
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 87.8%; rating input score 88
- Program expense ratio: 78.1%; rating input score 78
- Fundraising efficiency: Limited
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
- Compensation committee: Missing
- Independent consultant: Missing
- Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
- Written employment contract: Pass
- Compensation survey or study: Missing
- Board or committee approval: Pass
- 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: 8 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 89
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Pass
- CEO compensation review process: Fail
- 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: -12.4%; rating input score 11; 11th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.31; rating input score 10; 10th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.42; rating input score 25; 25th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 18.1%; rating input score 14; 14th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 36.6% per year; rating input score 100; 95th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 0.3% per year; rating input score 100; 13th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: -26.6% per year; rating input score 0; 0th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 87.8% of revenue deployed · 78.1% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 10 of 10 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $1.8M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $331K · 12 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Consistency: 25 of 25 current checks pass
- Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
- Filing history: 3 filing years from 2022 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 2 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 — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 11/100.
- High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 10/100.
- High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: CEO compensation review process not reported.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 14/100.
- High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 25/100.