Wheatlands Country School

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
932619872
IRS 990 coverage
2025–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2024
Location
Swoope, VA, USA
Phone
5403910508
Rating
80
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Primary, Elementary Schools

Reported finances

Revenue
$216,024
Expenses
$195,965
Assets
$39,779
Liabilities
$0

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

6 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Molly Schermer (President)

People named in this filing

  • Molly Schermer (President)
  • Elizabeth Hewitt (Treasurer)
  • Claire Cox

Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

To foster nature-connectedness and a lifelong delight in learning among its students through deep academic inquiry held in balance with student-led exploration. Using the forest as its model, the school cultivates relationships of reciprocity within and beyond the classroom

What it reported doing in 2025

During the fiscal year, Overstory Community School operated its core educational program serving 25 students in grades K-4 at its campus in Swoope, Virginia. Classes met Monday through Thursday, 8:30 a.m. to 3:15 p.m., with Fridays reserved for teacher planning and parent-teacher conferences, totaling a minimum of 990 instructional hours for the year. The schools curriculum paired structured literacy and math instruction with science and social studies units driven by student inquiry, blending elements of Reggio Emilia, the science of reading, place-based education, forest school, and arts-integrated pedagogy. Students spent extended daily time outdoors, engaging directly with the schools natural surroundings as part of their coursework rather than through classroom abstraction alone. The program was staffed by a Head Teacher, a Lead Teacher, and a Teaching Assistant, under the direction of a School Administrator, all overseen by a volunteer Board of Directors.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 91% 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

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 84
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 70
  • Sustainability: 46
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 90.7%; rating input score 91
  • Program expense ratio: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • 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; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 2 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 29
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 9.3%; rating input score 55; 55th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.2; rating input score 12; 12th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 77; 77th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 67; 67th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: Limited
  • Revenue growth: 57.8% per year; rating input score 100; 97th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 71.2% per year; rating input score 100; 98th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 90.7% of revenue deployed · 100% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 6 of 6 board members independent · 2 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $196K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 6 people listed
  • Consistency: 15 of 15 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • 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 — Accountability: Governance controls: 4 of 6 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 12/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 55/100.