The Rabbi Harry H Epstein School Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
581164034
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2021
Location
Sandy Springs, GA, USA
Phone
4042505622
Rating
77
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Primary, Elementary Schools
Affiliation
Judaism

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$18,735,005
Expenses
$18,957,471
Assets
$8,722,847
Liabilities
$5,472,052

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

Leadership & pay

28 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Matt Shulman (Immediate Past President)
  • Alana Sonenshine (President)
  • Beth Brown (VICE PRESIDENT)
  • JEREMY GREENSTEIN (FIRST VICE PRESIDENT)
  • AMY KNOPF (VICE PRESIDENT)
  • Adrienne Harari (PTO Co-President)

Highest reported compensation

  • David Abusch-Magder PHD (Head of School): $372,866 total reported compensation
  • Sheldon Zimmerman (Chief Operating Officer): $180,852 total reported compensation
  • David Welsher (Principal): $146,031 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 epstein school, solomon schechter school of atlanta, provides unsurpassed academic excellence through an integrated bilingual curriculum taught by a talented, compassionate faculty and bolstered by cutting-edge technology. We foster a caring community that encourages each child to reach his or her potential and embraces partnership between family, home and school. Guided by the principles of conservative-judaism - god, torah and israel - and the timeless religious ideals of our people, we prepare our students to become confident, excited learners and leaders, responsible citizens and knowledgeable committed jews.

What it reported doing in 2024

Study tours - generally, students in grades 5 through 8 participate in over night trips lasting from 2 days to 2.5 weeks. These study tours enhance and reinforce the judaic and general studies curriculum taught at the school. Sites visited include israel, spain, Washington dc and various destination across the southeastern united states.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 82% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 82% 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. The filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 74
  • Transparency & Controls: 73
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 25
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 80.7%; rating input score 81
  • Program expense ratio: 80%; rating input score 80
  • Fundraising efficiency: $4.74 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 19; 19th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 4 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 67
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Pass
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Scored; rating input score 0
  • 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: -1.2%; rating input score 26; 26th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.46; rating input score 14; 14th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.63; rating input score 21; 21st percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 5%; rating input score 51; 51st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 4.7% per year; rating input score 100; 39th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 3.2% per year; rating input score 100; 27th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 1% per year; rating input score 100; 13th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 80.7% of revenue deployed · 80% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 23 of 23 board members independent · 7 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $15.2M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $373K · 28 people listed · 4 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 2 contractors listed · $373K reported
  • Consistency: 34 of 34 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 10 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 16 filing years from 2009 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 5 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.
  • Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight scored 0/100.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 19/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 26/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 14/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Other executive compensation review process not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 21/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 51/100.