Pennsylvania · Nonprofit
THE ROCK SCHOOL FOR DANCE EDUCATION
THE ROCK SCHOOL FOR DANCE EDUCATION (Pennsylvania) receives grants from 43 organizations whose IRS filings report $2,669,665 to it, the largest being THE WILLIAM PENN FOUNDATION ($850,000). 22 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2024
- $6.7M
- Funders on record
- 43
- Grants received
- $2.7M
- Net assets
- $2.6M
What The Rock School for Dance Education does
Mission
The Rock School for Dance Education (the school) is dedicated to providing the highest quality classical ballet and dance training, with an emphasis on the preparation of gifted students for careers in dance with professional companies and education institutions.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
Dance program - The Rock School for Dance Education is one of the world's finest pre-professional training institutions. Dancers from around the globe have looked to the school for its world-class pre-professional program, featuring exceptional faculty, individual attention, and a nurturing environment. These are exemplified by the success of the school's alums for over 60 years.graduates have ascended the ranks of premier dance companies worldwide and on broadway and london's west end. Rock students continue to receive top honors in the prix de lausanne, youth america grand prix, usa international ballet competition, moscow international ballet competition, and berlin tanzolymp. The faculty includes distinguished dancers, instructors, and choreographers. Today, the rock school is proud to award annual scholarships of more than $1.2 million.
$3,122,721 spentof which $394,943 as grants$2,209,404 earned by the program52% of program spendingOther program service - american and international boarding students find an inviting, comfortable, and safe home living at the marine club dormitory across from the rock's south philadelphia location. These resident and commuter students receive both dance training and college preparatory academic education as part of their rock school experience.the school also has a community outreach program called rockreach which has engaged k-12 participants from underfunded communities, including title 1, public, private, and charter schools with few or no art education offerings in philadelphia and delaware counties for 22 years.rockreach serves at least one entire grade per program year, not simply one class from different grade levels) additionally, upwards of 3,800 students experience the rock school nutcracker for free each year through live and virtual presentations. The city dance program moves rockreach students with interest and aptitude for more formal dance study into the school's professional programming on scholarship.
$1,293,419 spentof which $650,660 as grants$1,215,733 earned by the program21% of program spendingSummer - the rock school ballet intensive is a selective, audition-only program that immerses aspiring dancers in a comprehensive experience with a superior permanent and guest faculty. An estimated 1,000 students worldwide audition for the program that teaches approximately 400 students.
$1,446,521 spentof which $469,151 as grants$2,559,199 earned by the program24% of program spendingRock west - the rock school-west location serves the region's suburban mainline communities from west chester, pa. The main location in philadelphia and the satellite location in west chester collaborate, sharing a unified curriculum and faculty along with joint competition and stage performances. As with rockcenter, the rock west branch school experience instills in students' self-discipline and an eagerness to learn, enriching their lives regardless of the careers they pursue.
$157,300 spentof which $118,278 as grants$482,434 earned by the program3% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $6,019,961.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2017, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2017, 50 means half. The number beside each label in the key is where it ended.
Balance sheet
Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2021 to 2022, from $4.2M to $5.3M (+26%).
How it's funded, over time
Each bar is one year's revenue split into where it came from, and every bar is the same height — these are shares, not amounts, so a year that raised twice as much looks the same size. Hover a bar for the split.
Government-grant reliance: 2017 1% · 2018 1% · 2019 2% · 2020 2% · 2021 12% · 2022 22% · 2023 4% · 2024 3%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 6 of the last 8 reported years ran a deficit.
reserve
Leadership and staff
The officers, directors, trustees and key employees listed on each return. Joined and no longer listed compare each filing with the year before, matching people by surname and first initial; a year after a gap, or a roster under three people, has no comparison.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 9 funders to 15 funders, grant income rose $98k → $551k.
6 of 43 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 16% of grant dollars received. That money is really individual donors directing a sponsor; the institutions to cultivate are the non-DAF funders.
From the IRS filings of THE ROCK SCHOOL FOR DANCE EDUCATION’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 43 funders by total. Association, not causation. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
How concentrated its funding is
THE ROCK SCHOOL FOR DANCE EDUCATION leans on a few funders — its largest provides 32% of grant income and the top three 74%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left
42% of the income these shares are computed over arrives through pass-through sponsors or from payers whose filings do not say what kind of payment it is. Concentration is still measured over all of it, because the money is real; what it does not support is a claim about how many institutions have chosen to fund THE ROCK SCHOOL FOR DANCE EDUCATION.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 61% · 2018 45% · 2019 34% · 2020 43% · 2021 63% · 2022 45% · 2023 32% — diversifying over time.
“Effective funders” = inverse Herfindahl index (1 / Σ shareᵢ²) — the number of equal-sized funders that would give the same concentration. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
How long its funders stay
42% of THE ROCK SCHOOL FOR DANCE EDUCATION's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 51% give in more than one year at all.
Share of funders still giving k years after their first recorded grant, pooled across every acquisition cohort. A funder counts as retained in a year only if it made a grant that year. Measured to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving — a funder cannot be counted as lapsed in a year most filers have not reached.
Where its funders are
95% of THE ROCK SCHOOL FOR DANCE EDUCATION's grant income comes from Pennsylvania funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $439k arriving through sponsors registered in 4 states is excluded from the map and the split above: a sponsor holds money on a donor’s behalf, so its registered address would place those dollars somewhere no donor need ever have been. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
Government funding THE ROCK SCHOOL FOR DANCE EDUCATION receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $78k on record.
- National Endowment for the Arts$78k
Federal grants vs contracts are distinguished; state line items keep their reported category. Matched by name + geography (the BMF), so coverage is partial and precision-first.
Organizations like THE ROCK SCHOOL FOR DANCE EDUCATION
Organizations whose mission and program text most resemble this one, by semantic similarity over every organization in the US filings — the closest peers, and often the clearest route to shared or prospective funders.
In Pennsylvania
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
85% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 1 state
Part of a family of 1 related entity
- Milton and Shirley Rock Foundation · exempt
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for THE ROCK SCHOOL FOR DANCE EDUCATION: IRS status (Business Master File, Publication 78, auto-revocation), the OFAC sanctions lists, the Internal Revenue Bulletin, and California registration, with the Rev. Proc. 2018-32 §8.01 reliance elements stated element by element. Generated from the current files at the moment you download it.
Screens are triage, not determinations; a source that cannot be read reports not screened, never clear. Screen this nonprofit · How the screen works · on the API as GET /api/screening/{ein}?format=pdf
Questions and answers
- Who funds THE ROCK SCHOOL FOR DANCE EDUCATION?
- THE ROCK SCHOOL FOR DANCE EDUCATION (Pennsylvania) receives grants from 43 organizations whose IRS filings report $2,669,665 to it, the largest being THE WILLIAM PENN FOUNDATION ($850,000). 22 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does THE ROCK SCHOOL FOR DANCE EDUCATION have?
- IRS filings report 43 organizations giving $2,669,665 in grants to THE ROCK SCHOOL FOR DANCE EDUCATION, 22 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of THE ROCK SCHOOL FOR DANCE EDUCATION?
- THE WILLIAM PENN FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $850,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like THE ROCK SCHOOL FOR DANCE EDUCATION find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Pennsylvania. The funding by cause and by state pages list the largest funders for a given area and how to approach them.
Play a game about who funds Rock School for Dance Education →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2024 (financials across 2017–2024), and the filings of 43 funders that report grants to it. “On record” means captured in the filings we have parsed — a funder that does not e-file, or whose grant detail is not itemized, will not appear. Filings run roughly 12–24 months behind. Trends on this page end at FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving; later years are shown and marked, and move no figure. Data on this page was exported October 14, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing