Lake Washington Girls Middle School

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
911835055
IRS 990 coverage
2015–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Seattle, WA, USA
Phone
2067093800
Rating
79
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Secondary, High School

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$3,844,655
Expenses
$4,278,378
Assets
$15,234,965
Liabilities
$10,407,275

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

Leadership & pay

14 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • DR LAURI CONNER (HEAD OF SCHOOL): $287,266 total reported compensation
  • ERIC STULTZ (CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER): $112,435 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

The mission of lwgms is to empower girls to be confident young women, strong in mind, body, and voice. Lwgms is a place where girls explore, experiment, discover, create, and learn about themselves and the world around them. Since 1998, the school has challenged its students with high standards and helped every lwgms girl find the tools she needs to succeed. Girls are empowered to think critically, develop leadership skills, and enjoy learning through an integrated curriculum.

What it reported doing in 2024

Single gender (girls) middle school education: lwgms provides a program with creative, connected, and engaging curriculum, taught by passionate teachers who are experts in their fields. It is designed to specifically engage the minds, bodies, and voices of adolescent girls. The core academic offerings include humanities, math, science, spanish, and steam. The fine arts are considered a valuable essential every lwgms student takes at least 90 minutes of visual arts per week, as well as a full year steam course. Our program educates the whole girl, intellectually, socially, and emotionally, with a commitment to culturally responsive teaching and social justice education. Lwgms uses a girlcentered pedagogy inside and outside the classroom with a 21st century approach, encourages students to take appropriate risks, develop leadership, and embrace creativity, collaboration, and community. Girls face their fears on backcountry excursions, advocate for themselves with adults, speak and perform in front of hundreds of people, solve problems with computer code, analyze controversial current events and periods in history, and defend their scientific research to expert guests. Girls learn to positively resolve conflicts, to stand up for themselves and others, to value and practice kindness, and to manage competing demands of academics, extracurricular activities, family, and friendships. Lwgms girls gain the skills, knowledge, confidence, compassion, and strength of character to change the world.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 92% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 78% for direct work, and 22% for grants.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

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

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 68
  • Transparency & Controls: 91
  • Accountability: 90
  • Sustainability: 34
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 78.3%; rating input score 78
  • Program expense ratio: 71.3%; rating input score 71
  • Fundraising efficiency: $2.45 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 6; 6th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 5 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 83
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
    • 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; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 91.7%; rating input score 92; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 7 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 88
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -11.3%; rating input score 12; 12th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 3.56; rating input score 78; 78th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.68; rating input score 14; 14th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 9.3%; rating input score 32; 32nd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 6.8% per year; rating input score 100; 50th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 0.8% per year; rating input score 100; 14th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 16% per year; rating input score 100; 77th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 78.3% of revenue deployed · 71.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 11 of 12 board members independent · 7 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $3M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $287K · 14 people listed · 5 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 33 of 33 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 11 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 10 filing years from 2015 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
  • 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.
  • Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.

Key Signals

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

  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 6/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 12/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Other executive compensation review process not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 14/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 32/100.