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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

Apple Tree Preschool Inc

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 994358742
NY · NTEE B21
FY ending 2025-07-31
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Erin Curtin-telesca, Executive Director / CEO ($33,930) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 178 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 27th percentile of comparable organizationswithin the typical range

Benchmarked executive: Erin Curtin-telesca — reported title “Director of the Preschool”, selected as the organization's highest-paid individual — no exact title match, so confirm this is a comparable role.

How comparable organizations were selected

178 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 178 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$644 total compensation of comparable organizations → $163,084 $33,930
$13,08810th
$31,82425th
$47,228Median
$61,40975th
$72,07190th
$33,930This org · 27th
p10$13,088
p25$31,824
p50$47,228
p75$61,409
p90$72,071
$33,930

Comparable organizations

Each figure is Form 990 Part VII columns D + F (reportable pay plus other compensation and benefits; column F may include amounts from related organizations), normalized to NY cost of living (BEA RPP, 2023) and to its filing year (CPI-U); the reported amount is on each linked 990.

OrganizationStateRevenueMatched titleComp
(reported)
Comp
(adjusted)
FY
Woodside Nursery School NY$213,543 Trustee $19,800 $20,324 2024
St Paul's Weekday Nursery School Inc MA$213,947 Nursery School Director $40,000 $39,778 2025
Sparkle Touch Learning Academy Inc IN$213,022 President/director $46,171 $56,942 2023
Field Station Cooperative Incorporated IN$212,440 Executive Director $16,659 $20,546 2023
The Neighborhood Playschool CO$215,847 Officer $55,000 $58,363 2025
Canaan Development Foundation IL$211,246 Director $51,264 $57,249 2024
Arizona Head Start Association AZ$216,750 Executive Director $80,692 $90,755 2023
Willson Preschool Inc MT$210,188 Executive Dir. $34,768 $41,475 2025
Whitefish United Methodist Childrens Ce MT$217,376 Executive Dir. $50,529 $61,871 2024
Kaleidoscope Montessori Inc GA$209,957 Director $69,625 $77,473 2025
Tiny Tots Learning Center NY$209,688 Trustee $37,283 $38,269 2024
Miss Kates Pre K Inc FL$217,749 Managing Director $41,600 $45,703 2023
Promiseland Preschool Inc AZ$217,865 President $60,800 $66,421 2024
Ashcreek Parent Cooperative Playschool OR$217,973 Teacher $43,926 $46,337 2024
Farmstead Preschool IA$208,525 Ddirector $42,212 $52,502 2024
Buttons & Bows Nursery School Inc IL$207,947 President/teach $33,813 $36,787 2025
Little Scholars Academy GA$207,501 Executive Dir. $42,350 $48,371 2024
Hope Ridge Preschool Inc OH$220,348 Director $19,629 $23,007 2025
Izabel Inc IL$220,388 President $23,190 $25,898 2024
Scuola Italiana Di Portland OR$221,028 Board Member $2,592 $2,735 2024
Sunshine School Inc MA$205,523 President $56,920 $56,604 2025
Midsouth Montessori Center TN$205,520 Executive Director $69,500 $80,845 2025
Easter Preschool MN$221,830 Program Director $49,885 $54,549 2025
Silverspot Nursery School CA$205,277 Teacher/director $79,177 $79,957 2023
Eliot Chapel Nursery School MO$222,114 Exec Directo $50,009 $60,167 2024

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to NY cost of living and 2025 dollars. Click any organization to verify the figure on ProPublica.

Methodology

Comparable organizations were drawn from electronically filed IRS Form 990 returns and matched on sector (NTEE code), budget (a size-adaptive revenue band that tightens as the organization grows), and geography (same-state first, broadening only when too few peers qualify); every organization within the band forms the peer set. To compare fairly across regions and years, peer compensation is normalized to NY cost of living (BEA Regional Price Parities, 2023) and to the subject's filing year (CPI-U). The figure benchmarked is Form 990 Part VII, Section A, columns D + F — reportable pay plus other compensation, benefits, and deferred amounts (column F may include amounts from related organizations) — with the chief executive matched by role. Related-organization amounts (column E) and institutional trustees are excluded. Full methodology: peerbasis.org/methodology.

Sample, role match & sensitivity

Sensitivity — the subject's percentile under alternative compensation definitions:

BasisSubject percentile
Total compensation (D + F), cost-of-living + inflation adjusted — the PeerBasis default27th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)33rd
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted28th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted26th

If the percentile moves materially across these definitions, the result is sensitive to methodology choices, and the board should weigh which basis best fits its facts.

Rebuttable presumption of reasonableness · 26 CFR 53.4958-6

Compensation paid by a tax-exempt organization is presumed reasonable — shifting the burden to the IRS — when three requirements are met. This report supplies the comparability data for the second. The board should record the following in its minutes concurrently with its decision:

Draft board minutes — executive compensation

  1. The compensation of the Executive Director / CEO (Erin Curtin-telesca) was approved in advance by [the Board / Compensation Committee], composed of members with no conflict of interest with respect to the arrangement.
  2. Prior to its determination, the authorized body obtained and relied upon appropriate comparability data, namely the PeerBasis Compensation Comparability Determination dated June 9, 2026, comparing compensation against 178 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (B21), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $33,930 is reasonable (approximately the 27th percentile of comparable organizations) and documented the basis for this determination concurrently, on [date], by a vote of [__ for / __ against].

Sources: IRS Form 990 e-file data (apps.irs.gov); IRS Business Master File (NTEE classification). Every figure traces to an original public filing — click any organization above to verify it on ProPublica. PeerBasis is a service of Prismind Analytics; its methodology is published, was commissioned for independent adversarial review, and discloses its own limitations. This report is comparability data to support a board's good-faith determination under IRC 4958; it is not legal or tax advice. Generated by PeerBasis on June 9, 2026.