Valley School of Ligonier

What it reported doing in 2024

Valley school of ligonier was founded in 1946 by constance prosser mellon and general richard king mellon. Mrs. Mellon envisioned valley as a nurturing community where a diverse group of students build their academic, artistic, and athletic skills and learn to become responsible and compassionate adults. She felt that children learn best in small classes with skilled teachers who know and care about each child. Hoping children would feel at home in nature, she selected the school's 400-acre wood setting.valley school's primary responsibility is to our children. We present a program centered on the concept of the continuous growth of the whole individual. Because of our school's relatively small size, we can recognize individual needs and different rates of growth and maturation, and opportunities for success can exist for each child. We make a deliberate effort to develop the following habits: the ability to think; the self-discipline to work in a careful, imaginative, and independent manner; a willingness to trust and cooperate positively with others; the ability to risk and to adapt to new situations. We want our children to be honest with themselves and with others. We want them to be compassionate human beings.our goals are to build the foundations of academics and life skills necessary for self-confidence, academic success, and thoughtful decision-making. To achieve these goals the teachers must draw continuously upon their imagination, experience, knowledge, and humor. Through their intellectual excitements, culture and sympathetic response to a young person's enthusiasm they can draw out the individual potentialities of the child. The school hopes, moreover, to develop in a child, through a stimulating curriculum, an awareness that learning requires effort and that each of us have some responsibility for his or her own successes and failures.the school's curriculum comprises traditional subjects. Through this academic course work our children strive to learn to read with understanding, reason carefully, and express themselves thoughtfully and clearly, orally and in their writing. The content of the curriculum is designed to lead a student to an appreciation of man's interrelatedness, cultural heritage, creative potential, and the wonders of our natural and technological world. While our emphasis is on academic subjects, we also require participation and accomplishment in the arts, sports, electronic communication, outdoor and off-campus programs. We know that we can achieve these goals only in a school community in which parents and faculty communicate, aim high, are not discouraged by failure, and and share a common purpose: the well being and growth of our childrenvalley serves students from westmoreland, somerset, cambria, fayette, and Indiana counties located in southwestern Pennsylvania. Classes in k-5 average 20 students, and most upper school classes are divided with 13 students per section. During the fiscal year, approximately 200 students were enrolled at valley school. The curriculum is challenging with hands-on science, technology, library, and world language all beginning in kindergarten. All students participate in music, art, and sports. Valley supports a big brother/sister program and several community service projects, culminating in a leadership program for ninth graders. Younger students travel locally on field trips while older students explore areas more distant. Valley school's campus is remarkable and sits on 400 acres of woodlands.

Financial Efficiency

• Mission deployment rate: 90.9%; rating input score 91
• Program expense ratio: 76.5%; rating input score 76
• Fundraising efficiency: $9.68 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 37; 37th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

• Consistency checks: 94.4%; rating input score 94; 24th percentile among comparable filings
• Pay-setting controls: 1 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 17
  • Compensation committee: Missing
  • Independent consultant: Missing
  • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
  • Written employment contract: Missing
  • Compensation survey or study: Missing
  • Board or committee approval: Pass
• Foreign activity oversight: Limited
• Grant itemization coverage: 90%; rating input score 90; 26th 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; 63rd 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: -8.1%; rating input score 15; 15th percentile among comparable filings
• Total-asset coverage ratio: 3.49; rating input score 77; 77th percentile among comparable filings
• Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.03; rating input score 77; 77th percentile among comparable filings
• Officer compensation ratio: 5.1%; rating input score 53; 53rd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

• Program expense growth: 6.2% per year; rating input score 100; 47th percentile among comparable filings
• Revenue growth: 6.1% per year; rating input score 100; 49th percentile among comparable filings
• Asset growth: 1.6% per year; rating input score 100; 18th percentile among comparable filings