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Uncommon Schools Inc at a glanceMostly funded, not a grantmaker: see who funds it →

· Public charity

Uncommon Schools Inc

Uncommon schools starts and operates outstanding urban public schools that close the college completion gap and prepare students from low-income communities to graduate from college.

$12M
Granted FY2025still arriving
9
Grants FY2025still arriving
3
States reached
$3.5M
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
01100% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2025.

Education$91M
02FY2025 · 9 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • $10k–50k1 grant · $11k
  • $250k+8 grants · $12M
$1,392,626
Median grant
3
States reached
$294M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
UNCOMMON NEW YORK CITY CHARTER SCHOOL$3,478,803
ROCHESTER PREP CHARTER SCHOOL$2,580,454
NORTH STAR ACADEMY FOUNDATION INC$1,991,080
CAMDEN PREP FOUNDATION INC$1,830,305
NORTH STAR ACADEMY CHARTER SCHOOL$1,392,626
ROXBURY PREPARATORY CHARTER SCHOOL$467,156
CAMDEN PREP$332,957
ROCHESTER PREP FOUNDATION INC$308,912
ROXBURY PREP FOUNDATION INC$11,458
02The need
03

Does the money reach high-need areas?

Each grant placed by the hardship in its grantee’s ZIP, against the area’s typical level.

show:

Dollar for dollar, its grants (FY17–25) land where the poverty rate runs at 15%, against an area that typically sits at 14%. 73% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 14%ROXBURY PREPARATORY CHARTER SCHOOL: $1.2M → 16%ROCHESTER PREP CHARTER SCHOOL: $2.6M → 14%UNCOMMON NEW YORK CITY CHARTER SCHOOL: $3.5M → 17%CAMDEN PREP FOUNDATION INC: $11.9M → 12%NORTH STAR ACADEMY CHARTER SCHOOL: $2.5M → 16%ROXBURY PREPARATORY CHARTER SCHOOL: $538k → 16%TRUE NORTH ROCHESTER PREP MIDDLE SCHOOLS: $732k → 14%UNCOMMON NEW YORK CITY CHARTER SCHOOL: $2.8M → 17%CAMDEN PREP: $2.8M → 12%NORTH STAR ACADEMY CHARTER SCHOOL: $2.1M → 16%TRUE NORTH ROCHESTER PREPARATORY CHARTER: $719k → 14%NORTH STAR ACADEMY FOUNDATION INC: $2.0M → 17%CAMDEN PREP: $1.8M → 12%NORTH STAR ACADEMY CHARTER SCHOOL: $2.0M → 16%TRUE NORTH ROCHESTER PREP MIDDLE SCHOOLS: $632k → 14%NORTH STAR ACADEMY FOUNDATION INC: $1.9M → 17%CAMDEN PREP: $1.5M → 12%NORTH STAR ACADEMY CHARTER SCHOOL: $1.8M → 16%TRUE NORTH ROCHESTER PREP MIDDLE SCHOOLS: $608k → 14%CAMDEN PREP FOUNDATION INC: $1.8M → 17%CAMDEN PREP: $1.2M → 12%NORTH STAR ACADEMY CHARTER SCHOOL: $1.5M → 16%CAMDEN PREP FOUNDATION INC: $945k → 17%CAMDEN PREP: $1.0M → 12%NORTH STAR ACADEMY CHARTER SCHOOL: $1.4M → 16%CAMDEN PREP: $592k → 12%NORTH STAR ACADEMY CHARTER SCHOOL: $1.4M → 16%CAMDEN PREP FOUNDATION INC: $586k → 12%NORTH STAR ACADEMY CHARTER SCHOOL: $1.2M → 16%ROCHESTER PREP FOUNDATION INC: $2.5M → 17%NORTH STAR ACADEMY CHARTER SCHOOL: $1.1M → 16%UNCOMMON NEW YORK CITY CHARTER SCHOOL: $1.6M → 17%NORTH STAR ACADEMY FOUNDATION: $1.1M → 16%NORTH STAR ACADEMY FOUNDATION INC: $1.2M → 17%NORTH STAR ACADEMY CHARTER SCHOOL: $1.0M → 16%UNCOMMON NEW YORK CITY CHARTER SCHOOL: $1.0M → 17%ROCHESTER PREP FOUNDATION INC: $848k → 17%NORTH STAR ACADEMY FOUNDATION INC: $600k → 17%UNCOMMON NEW YORK CITY CHARTER SCHOOL: $596k → 17%ROCHESTER PREP FOUNDATION INC: $3.5M → 17%CAMDEN PREP FOUNDATION INC: $1.2M → 17%UNCOMMON NEW YORK CITY CHARTER SCHOOL: $1.2M → 17%ROXBURY PREP FOUNDATION INC: $1.1M → 17%UNCOMMON NEW YORK CITY CHARTER SCHOOL: $1.0M → 17%UNCOMMON LENDER INC: $1.0M → 17%UNCOMMON NEW YORK CITY CHARTER SCHOOL: $949k → 17%UNCOMMON NEW YORK CITY CHARTER SCHOOL: $843k → 17%UNCOMMON NEW YORK CITY CHARTER SCHOOL: $566k → 17%0%20%40%50%more need →
grant to an above-average-need area below average· circle size = grant amount
How this is measured
Matched: human-services grants are those whose grantee’s IRS cause code is Human Services. Placed by people below the poverty line in the grantee’s ZIP, averaged from the tracts in that ZIP.
How this is measured
US grants placed by each grantee’s ZIP, which can differ from where services are delivered. Need from public data (U.S. Census/ACS, CDC PLACES, Eviction Lab, USDA), shown as context about the area, never attributed to the funder’s giving.
03Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.

100%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$91M · 11 repeat orgs$100k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +91% since the first grant, against 0% for those funded once.

11 repeat relationships: 9 still active in FY2025, 2 since wound down.

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

11
1

Total granted

$91M
$100k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+91%
0%

Still filing today

73%
100%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 100% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $0 went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time
How this is measured
First-time means a grantee’s first year in the filing window; renewed means funded in an earlier year too. The renewed share climbs naturally as a portfolio matures, so the signal is a year that bucks it (a wave of new grantees). The earliest year is left-censored: relationships that predate the data read as new. Theme is the grantee’s IRS cause.

Backed again, and grew

  • CP
    CAMDEN PREP FOUNDATION INC
    5× · 2021–2025 · $16M · revenue +130% · 72% of their budget
  • UN
    UNCOMMON NEW YORK CITY CHARTER SCHOOLS
    9× · 2017–2025 · $16M · revenue +39%
  • CP
    CAMDEN PREP INC
    9× · 2017–2025 · $11M · revenue +392%

Funded once

  • NS
    NJ STUDENTS SUCCEED INC
    one grant, 2022 · $100k
How this is measured

Repeat means funded in two or more distinct years. Growth and survival are read from each grantee’s own subsequent IRS filings.

04Its field

Closest unfunded matches

The nonprofits that most resemble its grantees but are not funded by it, scored along the direction from the rest of the field toward the portfolio. A resemblance in what they say they do, not a recommendation.

1
Unity Preparatory Charter School of Brooklyn

The mission of unity preparatory charter school of brooklyn is to empower students as scholars and citizens so they may lead fulfilling academic, personal, and professional lives.

Education
2
Capital Preparatory Schools Inc

To provide all students access to a high quality education by facilitating and supporting the creation, operation, and management of innovative and effective school models.

Education
3
University Prep Public Charter Schools

The mission of university prep charter high school is to prepare students for success in college, leadership and life. university prep charter high school will achieve this mission by creating a small, college-preparatory high school where…

Education
4
Uncommon Schools Inc

Uncommon schools starts and operates outstanding urban public schools that close the college completion gap and prepare students from low-income communities to graduate from college. uncommon schools serves over 20,000 students in 52…

Education
5
Newburgh Preparatory Charter High School

The founding group and board of trustees have a core belief that students who have left high school before graduations, or who have not had academic success in a traditional school environment, have the right to a free and appropriate…

—
6
Capital Prep Charter Schools Ny

To provide historically disadvantaged students with the college and career readiness skills needed to become responsible and engaged citizens for social justice.capital prep charter schools ny strives to ensure that all students are able…

Education
7
Democracy Prep New York Charter Schools

To educate responsible citizen-scholars for success in the college of their choice and a life of active citizenship.

Education
8
Urban Pathways 6-12 Charter School

Charter school providing education to students from sixth through twelfth grade.

Education
9
Kipp West Philadelphia Preparatory Charter School

Together with families and communities, we create joyful, academically excellent schools that prepare students with the skills and confidence they need to pursue the paths they choose-college, career, and beyond-so they can lead fulfilling…

—
10
Brooklyn Prospect Charter School

Serving kindergarten through twelfth grade, brooklyn prospect pairs students with excellent teachers in a college preparatory environment using the international baccalaureate program. we prepare students to become global citizens and help…

Education
11
Urban Choice Charter School

To provide students in rochester, new york with a safe, supportive, and intellectually challenging eductional environment.

Education
12
North East Carolina Preparatory School Inc

North east carolina preparatory school is a public charter school serving grades k-12 in tarboro, north carolina.

Education
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Rochester Prep Foundation Inc; the most unlike its peers is Nj Students Succeed Inc. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.
04the grantee network

11 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2025.

Each grant beside the grantee’s revenue from every source, year by year.

How this is measured

Counted here: distinct organizations funded across 2017 to 2025, not grant rows in a single year, so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 11 of the 12 grantees resolved in that span have returns of their own we could reconcile.

Each grantee is resolved to its own IRS returns. Association, dated; never a causal claim.

3
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
2
Early backer (in before they grew)
9/11
Grantees still filing
8/11
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

CAMDEN PREP FOUNDATION INC: $16,441,234 · EducationCAMDEN PREP FOUNDATION INCUNCOMMON NEW YORK CITY CHARTER SCHOOLS: $15,525,644 · EducationUNCOMMON NEW YORK CITY CHARTER SCHOOLSCAMDEN PREP INC: $11,130,266 · EducationCAMDEN PREP INCROCHESTER PREP FOUNDATION INC: $7,779,996 · EducationROCHESTER PREP FOUNDATION INCNORTH STAR ACADEMY FOUNDATION INC: $6,797,617 · EducationNORTH STAR ACADEMY FOUNDATION INCROCHESTER PREP CHARTER SCHOOLS: $6,748,901 · EducationROCHESTER PREP CHARTER SCHOOLS+2 more: $2,611,458 · EducationNORTH STAR ACADEMY CHARTER SCHOOL: $17,713,239 · OtherNORTH STAR ACADEMY CHARTER SC…ROXBURY PREPARATORY CHARTER SCHOOL FOUNDATION INC: $4,892,256 · OtherROXBURY PREPARATORY CHARTER S…TRUE NORTH TROY PREPARATORY CHARTER SCHO: $1,037,870 · Other+1 more: $100,000 · Other
Education$67,035,116Other$23,743,365

Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetCAMDEN PREP FOUNDATION INC: $16,441,234 over 5y, 72% of budgetUNCOMMON NEW YORK CITY CHARTER SCHOOLS: $15,525,644 over 9y, 2.0% of budgetCAMDEN PREP INC: $11,130,266 over 9y, 14% of budgetROCHESTER PREP FOUNDATION INC: $7,779,996 over 7y, 83% of budgetNORTH STAR ACADEMY FOUNDATION INC: $6,797,617 over 5y, 15% of budgetROCHESTER PREP CHARTER SCHOOLS: $6,748,901 over 9y, 4.7% of budgetUNCOMMON LENDER INC: $1,500,000 over 2y, 8.3% of budgetROXBURY PREP FOUNDATION INC: $1,111,458 over 2y, 53% of budgetTRUE NORTH TROY PREPARATORY CHARTER SCHO: $1,037,870 over 6y, 1.7% of budget
Grantee by grantee: a decade per organization, before and after funding

A decade per grantee: revenue shaded, grants as bars, all rows on one timeline.

  • Who funds CAMDEN PREP FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds UNCOMMON NEW YORK CITY CHARTER SCHOOLS ↗
  • Who funds CAMDEN PREP INC ↗
  • Who funds ROCHESTER PREP FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds NORTH STAR ACADEMY FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds ROCHESTER PREP CHARTER SCHOOLS ↗
  • Who funds ROXBURY PREPARATORY CHARTER SCHOOL FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds UNCOMMON LENDER INC ↗
  • Who funds ROXBURY PREP FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds TRUE NORTH TROY PREPARATORY CHARTER SCHO ↗
  • Who funds NJ STUDENTS SUCCEED INC ↗

How much its grantees rely on government

Each dot is one organization Uncommon Schools Inc funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Uncommon Schools Inc. Bigger dots raise more.

2025
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%6%25%56%100%funder's share of their income ↑0%10%20%30%40%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    2report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–40%
    typical government reliance, FY20–25
    How this is measured
    Government income is each org’s traced federal awards (USASpending grants and contracts) plus state payments (open checkbooks) as a share of its total revenue (IRS Form 990); the self-reported government-grant line (990 line 1e) is carried for cross-check: a grantee that reports government grants we could not trace to a source is left off the chart rather than shown as receiving none. An association, not a claim that a grant caused the public funding. Coverage is precision-first, a floor rather than a census; state records exist for 9 states, so a grantee outside them shows no state figure (dimmed) rather than a false zero. Federal award amounts are obligations, which can span years, so a single-year share is indicative. 990 filings lag 12 to 24 months.

    On method. Every financial figure here is read from IRS e-file XML, the funder’s own 990/990-PF, and from the multi-year returns of the 12 grantees we resolved, each linked to its source. Grantee outcomes are each organization’s own program-service reporting (Form 990, Part III), read as association with funding, never as caused by it. Low-confidence name matches are suppressed rather than guessed. How we build these →

    How this is measured
    Each figure carries one of six labels. Filed is what the funder reported on its return. Official is another government record about an organization, such as a federal award or a charity register, joined by name where no shared identifier exists. Resolved is an identity we worked out where the filing named a recipient without an EIN, kept only above a measured confidence threshold. Computed is arithmetic over those, like themes, portfolio clusters and co-funder strength. Context is a statistic about a place rather than about an organization, which is what the need overlay is: it describes the area a grantee’s address sits in, not where its work lands. Inferred is drawn by a model from text, like the partnerships read out of public news and organization websites. Each is labeled where it appears.

    Generated from the IRS Form 990 e-file return for fiscal year 2025, released 2025. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Source object · view filing

    Play a game based on Uncommon Schools’ filings →

    More from the funding graph

    The unnamed billions
    grants reported with no recipient in the public record
    The regranting layer
    51% of grant dollars land in the regranting layer
    The DAF merry-go-round
    $9.7B circulates between donor-advised funds
    The endowment market
    who holds foundation money, and what just moved
    The camps
    funders cluster by geography, not ideology
    By state
    where grant money is based, and what stays home