Wildflower Open Classroom

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
272867872
IRS 990 coverage
2011–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Chico, CA, USA
Phone
5308921676
Rating
83
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Charter Schools

Reported finances

Revenue
$3,176,921
Expenses
$2,983,476
Assets
$1,791,929
Liabilities
$887,258

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

Leadership & pay

6 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • SIERRA GROSSMAN (CHAIR/CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • TOM HICKS (SCHOOL DIRECTOR): $122,441 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Wildflower open classroom focuses on the education of the "whole child" by supporting the cognitive, social, emotional, and physical needs of our students. With a diverse learning environment, students flourish through the use of innovative curriculum and instruction. Our goal is that each child is empowered to reach their innate intellectual, creative, and leadership potential.

What it reported doing in 2024

Operation a public charter school, wildflower open classroom, serving over 180 students in grades tk to 8 in chico, California. We are an innovative school that invites children, teachers and parents to collaborate as a community and to celebrate the adventure of learning. The founding group identified eight core values: collaboration, community, stewardship, joy and adventure in learning, integrity, personal responsibility, being respectful, and positive communication/honesty. These values will be the guiding principles for all actions and decisions made by the wildflower open classroom community (board, administration, teachers, parents, students, and community volunteers).

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 94% of the money available for current operations came from government grants.
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. Total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 75
  • Transparency & Controls: 90
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 41
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 83%; rating input score 83
  • Program expense ratio: 88.3%; rating input score 88
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • 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: 6.1%; rating input score 54; 54th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.6; rating input score 22; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.5; rating input score 21; 21st percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 4.1%; rating input score 60; 60th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 9.3% per year; rating input score 100; 61st percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 10.5% per year; rating input score 100; 70th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 16.7% per year; rating input score 100; 78th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 83% of revenue deployed · 88.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 5 of 5 board members independent · 7 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $2.6M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $122K · 6 people listed
  • Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $165K reported
  • Consistency: 31 of 31 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2011 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • 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.

Grant-readiness screening is separate from the live rating, not a measure of program quality. Review the source records before making a grant decision.

  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 22/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 54/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Other executive compensation review process not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 21/100.
  • Review — Grant Readiness: California registration: this organization could not be resolved against the register, so the check is unfinished.