Newton Cantonese School
Legal name: Newton Cantonese School Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 042936471
- IRS 990-EZ coverage
- 2010–2024
- Official website data refreshed
- Aug 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990-EZ 2024
- Location
- Newton, MA, US
- Phone
- (617) 398-7812
- Rating
- 85
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Cultural, Ethnic Awareness
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $125,016
- Expenses
- $98,606
- Assets
- $325,071
- Liabilities
- $58,418
Source: IRS Form 990-EZ. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
7 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- William Lo (President)
People named in this filing
- Jason Chow (Director)
- William Lo (President)
- Carmen Ng (Treasurer)
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 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
The goal of the Newton Cantonese School is to teach the Cantonese dialect, reading and writing of the Chinese language, and the Chinese culture. This will enable our students to function more effectively in the bicultural environment they live in. Of equal importance, they will gain an understanding and appreciation of their heritage, its uniqueness and contributions. Consequently, their pride in being Asian Americans will be enhanced.
What it reported doing in 2024
The Lunar New Year Celebration features traditional and cultural performances led by both community members and students, as well as a community luncheon, honoring the Chinese holiday. The event represents the culmination of NCS's mission, promoting understanding and celebration of culture and offering a safe space for NCS families and the larger Newton community to celebrate Chinese heritage.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Earned-program. 84% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
- Distribution model
- Cannot be determined from the filing. The filing does not provide enough consistent spending detail to tell whether the nonprofit works directly or through others.
The verdict
STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Some filed totals do not add up and liabilities are high compared with assets.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 87
- Transparency & Controls: 82
- Sustainability: 72
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 79.4%; rating input score 79
- Program expense ratio: 100%; rating input score 100
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
- Major donor itemization: Limited
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 21.1%; rating input score 75; 75th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 3.3; rating input score 91; 91st percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.18; rating input score 19; 19th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 63; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 33.3% per year; rating input score 100; 85th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 2.8% per year; rating input score 100; 36th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 9.4% per year; rating input score 100; 59th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- What they do: 6 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
- Where the money goes: 79.4% of revenue deployed · 100% of spending went to programs
- Governance: Filed governance answers
- Accomplishments: 2 filed program accomplishments · $99K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 7 people listed
- Consistency: 8 of 9 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
- Schedules: 3 filed schedules
- Filing history: 10 filing years from 2010 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- 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.
- Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Part III program expenses within total did not reconcile in the filed values.
- High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 19/100.