January 16, 2020

You can tell a lot about an organization by looking at its budget. After all, a budget indicates what that organization thinks is important enough to spend money on. It is the financial translation of the school’s mission and strategic vision. At James River, 78 cents of every dollar, more than three-fourths of the money we collect, is spent on our employees. The essence of James River is the meaningful interactions between our caring and knowledgeable staff and your children. Since this is clearly the most important thing we do, it is hardly surprising this is where most of our money is spent. We consider our faculty and staff to be our most valuable asset, one that is to be cared for and nurtured.  
 
Looking further at our budget, about nine cents of each dollar goes toward our buildings and their upkeep. Another eleven cents goes toward instructional supplies and overhead, and the final two cents is spent on loan payments.
 
In terms of revenue, tuition payments are by far our largest source of revenue, amounting to 85 cents of every dollar collected. Fees and auxiliary programs bring in seven cents per dollar and the Cardinal Annual Fund brings in another seven cents. Endowment income brings in about one penny per dollar.
 
To summarize, most of the money coming into the school is from you, as the parents of today’s students. We use that money to pay our amazing faculty and staff adequate wages for the work they do to teach, support, encourage, lead, and inspire your children. Our budget says a lot about who we are. We are a school where people come first.