Pardes Jewish Day School

Legal name: The Pardes Jewish Day School Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
860969657
IRS 990 coverage
2014–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Scottsdale, AZ, United States
Phone
480-991-9141
Rating
74
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Primary, Elementary Schools
Affiliation
Judaism

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$6,432,834
Expenses
$9,654,877
Assets
$5,667,606
Liabilities
$3,523,175

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

Leadership & pay

18 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • RAPHI AVRAHAM (PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • MICHELLE BERNAT (FY25 HEAD OF): $321,553 total reported compensation
  • GRAHAM SEYMOUR (FY25FINANCE): $155,297 total reported compensation
  • LESLIE STROLLE (FACILITY/IT): $116,001 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Statement Pardes Jewish Day School is a welcoming community Jewish day school committed to exceptional secular and Jewish education with a focus on academics and character development. Our Guiding Principles. We believe in a strong partnership between home and school, and provide innovative, stimulating, and varied learning opportunities. We approach Jewish education through the study of text, tradition, language, and history, and encourage a love of Torah, Israel, and Klal Yisrael (the Jewish people). Pardes School.

What it reported doing in 2024

Founded in 1993, pardes jewish day school is an independent day school providing a dynamic k-8 secular and jewish education to nearly 245 students in a welcoming environment that values each child's individual strengths. Our program combines a comprehensive academic curriculum that actively engages students in learning through inquiry, investigation, creation and demonstration. Students explore hebrew, jewish studies, makerspace, art, spanish, physical education and musical theatre in addition to core classes. Our inclusive pardes community embraces students from diverse jewish backgrounds. We impact and enrich our students' jewish identities through the teaching of jewish thought, culture, and ritual. At pardes, children aren't just students, they are artists, athletes, actors and musicians whose talents are nurtured and encouraged to shine. The result in motivated students who, upon graduation, are accepted to the area's finest high schools. In addition to focusing on continuing to provide an exceptional education, the school has successfully incorporated virtual programming centered around maintaining a cohesive pardes community. Parent and community responses are exceptional.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 93% 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 fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 79
  • Transparency & Controls: 65
  • Accountability: 84
  • Sustainability: 14
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 68.3%; rating input score 68
  • Fundraising efficiency: $1.62 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 4; 4th percentile among comparable filings

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: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 5 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 62
    • 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: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -50.1%; rating input score 2; 2nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.59; rating input score 21; 21st percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.62; rating input score 16; 16th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 7.3%; rating input score 40; 40th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 5.4% per year; rating input score 100; 42nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 0.8% per year; rating input score 100; 14th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 6.1% per year; rating input score 100; 41st percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 1 operating location identified
  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 68.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 12 of 12 board members independent · 5 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $6.6M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $322K · 18 people listed · 0 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 2 contractors listed · $784K reported
  • Consistency: 29 of 29 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 11 filing years from 2014 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 4 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.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 4/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 2/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 21/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 16/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 40/100.