The Rivers School

Legal name: The Rivers School Corporation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
042104457
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Official website data refreshed
Aug 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
Location
Weston, MA, USA
Phone
7812359300
Rating
82
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$45,867,933
Expenses
$45,362,860
Assets
$128,206,705
Liabilities
$29,036,150

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

Leadership & pay

40 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • ALAN D ROSE JR (PRESIDENT)
  • JONATHAN H PAUL (VICE PRESIDENT - TERMED 6/4/25)
  • PETER WALTER (VICE PRESIDENT - ELECTED 6/4/25)

Highest reported compensation

  • RYAN S DAHLEM (HEAD OF SCHOOL): $704,104 total reported compensation
  • KRISTEN KELLEHER (ASSOC HEAD SCHOOL DEVEL&EX): $354,636 total reported compensation
  • MELISSA ANDERSON (HEAD OF UPPER SCHOOL): $316,644 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Excellence with Humanity. Integrity****–** We are committed to aligning our actions with our values in the continuing pursuit of courage, honesty, and truth. Perseverance****–** We embrace challenges and make space for discomfort as we build resilience and support individual and collective growth. The Rivers School seeks professionals interested in joining a dynamic, innovative, and welcoming school community. Rivers fosters a collaborative community of lifelong learners by providing robust support for faculty and staff through various professional development opportunities and enrichment opportunities. Our school’s mission and DEI initiatives guide us as we work to create an environment in which our students, faculty, and staff feel seen...

What it reported doing in 2024

Music conservatory - offers premier classical and jazz music education and performance programs that develop the highest levels of artistic and technical achievement in student musicians of all ages

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 84% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 80% for direct work, and 20% for grants.
  • 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 expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 71
  • Transparency & Controls: 91
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 51
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 78.4%; rating input score 78
  • Program expense ratio: 80.3%; rating input score 80
  • Fundraising efficiency: $2.45 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 9; 9th 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: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 1.1%; rating input score 38; 38th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.83; rating input score 73; 73rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.23; rating input score 55; 55th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 6.3%; rating input score 40; 40th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 4% per year; rating input score 100; 34th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 3.8% per year; rating input score 100; 32nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 5.7% per year; rating input score 100; 40th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 1 programs and campaigns described on the official site
  • Where the money goes: 78.4% of revenue deployed · 80.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 30 of 30 board members independent · 7 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $36.4M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $704K · 40 people listed · 5 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $2.7M reported
  • Consistency: 39 of 39 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 10 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 16 filing years from 2009 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 10 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.
  • 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 — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 9/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 38/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Form 990 shared with the board not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 40/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 55/100.