The Montessori School of Raleigh Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
561086219
IRS 990 coverage
2013–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Raleigh, NC, USA
Phone
9198481545
Rating
81
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Kindergarten, Preschool, Nursery School, Early Admissions

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$12,316,392
Expenses
$11,622,716
Assets
$14,010,833
Liabilities
$10,787,619

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

Leadership & pay

22 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • BRENDAN KIEL (PRESIDENT)
  • DANIEL RUSSO (VICE PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • MONICA R PICKETT RODRIGUEZ (HEAD OF SCHOOL): $293,158 total reported compensation
  • JUSTIN PIKE (CHIEF OPERATIONS OFFICER): $147,881 total reported compensation
  • HAL WILLIAMS (CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER): $114,758 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 montessori school of raleigh (msr) and carolina preparatory academy (carolina prep) are the triangle's modern embodiment and mindful practice of the time-proven montessori philosophy and the world-renowned international baccalaureate program, developing agile thinkers, poised communicators, and gracious collaborators-engineers of authentic and fulfilling lives.

What it reported doing in 2024

The montessori school of raleigh is a community of children from infancy (six weeks) through grade 12. Through self-directed engagement with msr's embracing culture, inherently interdisciplinary curriculum, and purposefully prepared environments, students construct meaning by exploring their personal interests and curiosities.guided both implicitly and explicitly by expert teachers, their peers, and their own metacognitive reflections, students develop mastery across evolving social, emotional, and academic domains. They learn the habits of mind and practice that foster deep focus, discernment, understanding, and maturity from their earliest years.through this comprehensive preparation, students build the cognitive, executive, and interpersonal skills widely recognized as essential for success in college and in life-emerging as agile thinkers, poised communicators, and collaborative community members.the middle and upper school programs, operating as carolina preparatory academy, serve students in grades 6 through 12 and offer an international baccalaureate continuum, including the middle years programme and the diploma programme, providing a rigorous and globally recognized course of study that prepares students for success in college and beyond.

Operating model

Revenue model
Other-operating. 96% of the money available for current operations came from other operating revenue.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 95% 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 - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 69
  • Transparency & Controls: 91
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 46
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 76%; rating input score 76
  • Program expense ratio: 80.1%; rating input score 80
  • Fundraising efficiency: $0.44 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 1; 1st percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd 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: 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: 5.6%; rating input score 56; 56th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.21; rating input score 43; 43rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.77; rating input score 15; 15th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 5.8%; rating input score 45; 45th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 5.4% per year; rating input score 100; 44th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 5.8% per year; rating input score 100; 50th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 3.5% per year; rating input score 100; 26th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 76% of revenue deployed · 80.1% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 12 of 12 board members independent · 7 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $9.3M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $293K · 22 people listed · 5 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 32 of 32 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 9 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 12 filing years from 2013 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 1/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Other executive compensation review process not reported.
  • Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 56/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 43/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 15/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 45/100.