Lowell School

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
521220544
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
Location
Washington, DC, USA
Phone
2025772000
Rating
79
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Primary, Elementary Schools

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$20,597,671
Expenses
$21,436,968
Assets
$41,342,153
Liabilities
$25,719,649

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

Leadership & pay

29 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • DONNA LINDNER (HEAD OF SCHOOL): $403,154 total reported compensation
  • CHRISTOPHER GINTER (DIR. OF FINANCE & OPS): $197,170 total reported compensation
  • KAVAN YEE (DIRECTOR OF MIDDLE SCHOOL): $157,416 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Lowell school equips children to think critically, engage purposefully, and live authentically.

What it reported doing in 2024

Lowell school fosters intellectual and emotional self-reliance, with a guiding value of respect for each other. This approach provides the foundation for children to be highly motivated learners with a strong sense of self-worth and efficacy.lowell school promotes active, collaborative learning with an emphasis on building conceptual understanding and developing strong creative, critical, and analytical thinking. Carefully designed learning experiences and curricula are integrated across subjects, draw on powerful, relevant content and student interests, and support the development of internal motivation and a strong voice.learning at lowell school is rigorous: thinking is emphasized over rote learning, and students are expected to use their knowledge and skills creatively and practically. High expectations of students are coupled with appropriate scaffolding so that students know what to aim for and how to get there. In this way, lowell school prepares students to be innovators and achievers who have the flexibility, skills, and inclination to solve problems new and old.lowell school is an intentionally diverse school. This is essential in preparing students for a future that will demand deep multicultural understanding, strong collaborative skills, and commitment to one's local community and the larger world. At lowell school, we believe that an inclusive community contributes to intellectual stimulation and nurtures an inquisitive and open mind.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 90% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 81% 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

SUPPORTED - 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: 75
  • Transparency & Controls: 83
  • Accountability: 87
  • Sustainability: 33
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 82.5%; rating input score 83
  • Program expense ratio: 83.6%; rating input score 84
  • Fundraising efficiency: $2.32 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 8; 8th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • 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: 94.4%; rating input score 94; 28th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 7 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 78
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -4.1%; rating input score 18; 18th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.93; rating input score 60; 60th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.62; rating input score 21; 21st percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 6.3%; rating input score 41; 41st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 4.9% per year; rating input score 100; 41st percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 4.6% per year; rating input score 100; 40th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 4.5% per year; rating input score 100; 32nd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 82.5% of revenue deployed · 83.6% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 17 of 18 board members independent · 7 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $17.9M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $403K · 29 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $1.2M reported
  • Consistency: 34 of 34 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 11 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: 7 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 8/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 18/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 9 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 21/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 41/100.