La Jolla Country Day School

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
951875978
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
Location
La Jolla, CA, US
Phone
858-453-3440
Rating
83
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$59,142,557
Expenses
$54,038,298
Assets
$127,074,713
Liabilities
$54,052,508

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

Leadership & pay

35 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • JENNIFER O'BRIEN (BOARD PRESIDENT)
  • TONY TORANTO (BOARD VICE PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • DR GARY KRAHN (HEAD OF SCHOOL (THRU 06/24)): $537,298 total reported compensation
  • DAVID SIGAL (CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER): $349,525 total reported compensation
  • COLLEEN O'BOYLE (ASST. HOS FOR ACADEMIC AFFAIRS): $340,574 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

La Jolla Country Day School prepares individuals for a lifetime of intellectual exploration, personal growth and social responsibility.

What it reported doing in 2024

La jolla country day school prepares individuals for a lifetime of intellectual exploration, personal growth and social responsibility while inspiring greatness for a better world. The school has capacity for 1,200 students from nursery through 12th grade.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 85% 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 reported officer compensation is a large share of total spending, which may reflect staffing concentration.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 72
  • Transparency & Controls: 87
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 59
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 76.4%; rating input score 76
  • Program expense ratio: 85.9%; rating input score 86
  • Fundraising efficiency: $3.33 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 12; 12th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 68th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 4 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 67
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Pass
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 77th 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; 77th 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: 8.6%; rating input score 69; 69th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.35; rating input score 68; 68th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.43; rating input score 42; 42nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 5.2%; rating input score 15; 15th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 4% per year; rating input score 100; 31st percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 4.2% per year; rating input score 100; 34th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 1.8% per year; rating input score 100; 14th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 17 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
  • Where the money goes: 76.4% of revenue deployed · 85.9% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 25 of 25 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $46.4M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $537K · 35 people listed · 4 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $4.3M reported
  • Consistency: 39 of 39 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 10 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 16 filing years from 2009 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 9 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 12/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 15/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 42/100.