Growing Place

“Form 990 is prepared by our outside auditor. Following the completion of a draft of the audited financial statements and a draft of form 990, the outside auditor meets with the full board of directors to review the finanical statements and form 990 to assure that all representations and answers to issues, comments and questions are accurate.”

“Prior to a vote on any board issue, voting board members are asked to identify any potential conflict of interest relating to their participation in the vote on the matter and abstain from voting where a conflict of interest is determined to exist.”

“The organization's executive committee (subcommittee of board of directors) sets compensation for the executive director (ed). The committee performs an annual review of the performance of the ed. The committee also gathers input for setting the ed's compensation from local nonprofit compensation surveys, from form 990s of similar organizations in their service area, and from compensation information received from member industry associations. The deliberation and decision regarding the ed's compensation is contemporaneously documented in the minutes of the committee and approved by the full board of directors. The ed is responsible for setting the compensation of other employees through salary information received from similar sources as used in setting the ed compensation. The employee compensation decision is documented in the applicable employee's payroll file.”

“The organization's governing documents, conflict of interest policy, and audited financial statements are available upon request.”

“Growing place is committed to providing the young children of working families with an exceptional quality, all-day, year round early education program. We are a learning community sustained by a close collaboration of parents, teachers, and students. We believe that children are competent learners, capable of engaging fully with ideas and the world around them. We are committed to hiring, developing and supporting the best teaching staff possible. Teachers and children research and co-construct knowledge and foster curiosity, experimentation and the expression of ideas. Teachers use documentation of the process of learning to revisit the children's ideas and to include parents in the life of the school. Through the continuing evolution and enrichment of growing place sites, we acknowledge the role of the environment in children's development. Growing place believes that education should focus on each child in relation to a community of others, rather than each child in isolation. Our curriculum emphasizes the development of children's social skills, including building friendships, respect for others, conflict resolution and advocating for one's needs and ideas. Our goal is to promote self-esteem and problem-solving abilities, which helps children gain the confidence to face new experiences. We value diversity as reflected in our tuition assistance program, curriculum and the tools our children learn to use to address each other's differences. The growing place helps children develop a positive disposition toward learning, which provides a foundation for academic success. Through collaboration with other schools, agencies, and an extensive mentoring program for students of child development, we support the field of early education and our community.”

“The process for oversight of the audit of the financial statements and selection of the independent auditor is unchanged from the prior year.”