Little Owl Foundation for Childhood Education Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
851593775
IRS 990-EZ coverage
2020–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2025
Location
Long Beach, CA, USA
Phone
5627865333
Rating
95
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Scholarships, Student Financial Aid Services, Awards

Reported finances

Revenue
$41,429
Expenses
$141,390
Assets
$388,815
Liabilities
$905

Source: IRS Form 990-EZ. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

8 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Janet Marie Watt (President)

People named in this filing

  • Janet Marie Watt (President)
  • Laurence Blair Watt (Treasurer)
  • Ruben Mancillas (Director)

Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.

Source: IRS Form 990-EZ. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

To fund and support early childhood educational programs.

What it reported doing in 2025

The foundation's scholarship program expands access to high-quality early childhood education for families in need. During the reporting period, the Foundation awarded ten families over $106,000 in tuition assistance at the Little Owl School. Serving children under ages 2 - 4+, the Little Owl School provides developmentally appropriate learning through social constructivism and environmental education inspired by the Reggio Emilia approach. By supporting attendance at Little Owl's nurturing program, the scholarships set underprivileged children on a path to academic success and personal growth. The Foundation's investments create both immediate and lifelong benefits for recipients and model progressive educational practices for the broader community. During the reporting period, the Foundation also donated to the Cerritos College Foundation and Heluna Health.

Operating model

Revenue model
Cannot be determined from the filing. The filing does not provide enough consistent revenue detail to tell how this nonprofit funds its work.
Distribution model
Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 86% of its reported program spending out as grants.

The verdict

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Expenses are high relative to revenue and liabilities are high compared with assets.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 96
  • Transparency & Controls: 100
  • Sustainability: 33
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 88.8%; rating input score 89

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 51st percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -241.3%; rating input score 4; 4th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.75; rating input score 73; 73rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 29; 29th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 56; 56th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 41.5% per year; rating input score 100; 90th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 29.4% per year; rating input score 100; 93rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 37.6% per year; rating input score 100; 92nd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 88.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: Filed governance answers
  • Accomplishments: 1 filed program accomplishment · $126K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 8 people listed
  • Consistency: 9 of 9 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 3 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 4 filing years from 2020 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: Resolved incoming and outgoing counterparties from filed money flows.
  • 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 — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 4/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 29/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 56/100.