Alta Vista School

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
272889011
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-N 2009
Location
San Francisco, CA, USA
Phone
4154673700
Rating
82
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Primary, Elementary Schools

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$15,702,077
Expenses
$15,943,323
Assets
$29,018,852
Liabilities
$23,185,641

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

29 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • ELIZABETH DREW (OUTGOING PRESIDENT)
  • MARY SZCZEPANIK (PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • ROB COUSINS (HEAD OF SCHOOL): $244,413 total reported compensation
  • KATHLEEN GIBBONS (HEAD OF LOWER SCHOOL): $234,200 total reported compensation
  • PNINA PRUZAN (BUSINESS MANAGER): $203,473 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

An independent, community elementary and middle school in san francisco offering a progressive learning environment with an emphasis on science, math and technology.

What it reported doing in 2024

The school provides students with a rigorous, yet fun and engaging education through progressive, experience-based learning grounded in the scientific method and delivered through small class sizes. The school educates 306 students in grades junior kindergarten through fifth grade at the lower school and sixth through eighth grade at the middle school.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 86% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 87% of reported program-service expenses outside its grant, affiliate-payment, and member-benefit lines. This expense classification does not rule out separately announced grant awards.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 78
  • Transparency & Controls: 79
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 32
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 84.6%; rating input score 85
  • Program expense ratio: 83.4%; rating input score 83
  • Fundraising efficiency: $6.23 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 25; 25th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 2 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 33
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 8 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -1.5%; rating input score 25; 25th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.82; rating input score 58; 58th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.8; rating input score 14; 14th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 11.1%; rating input score 16; 16th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 11.9% per year; rating input score 100; 77th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 12.9% per year; rating input score 100; 82nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 18.7% per year; rating input score 100; 87th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 84.6% of revenue deployed · 83.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 19 of 19 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $13.3M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $244K · 29 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 35 of 35 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 9 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 13 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 15 filed money-flow records
  • Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
  • People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 25/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 25/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 58/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 14/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 16/100.