Northwest School for Hearing-Impaired Children

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
911073353
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Shoreline, WA, USA
Phone
2063644605
Rating
87
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Specialized Education Institutions

Reported finances

Revenue
$4,905,362
Expenses
$4,433,067
Assets
$15,752,433
Liabilities
$524,215

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

Leadership & pay

20 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • April Atwood (President)
  • Frederic W L Harder (Vice President)

Highest reported compensation

  • Kabian Rendel (Head of School): $185,599 total reported compensation
  • Sara Reyerson (Chief Operating Officer): $184,603 total reported compensation
  • Alfred Blaisdell (Director of Educational Programming): $164,032 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Using Signing Exact English (S.E.E.) and oral communication we prepare deaf and hard-of-hearing children to be self-confident, articulate and academically competitive learners, and engaged community members.

What it reported doing in 2024

SchoolPreschool to 8th Grade: Using Signing Exact English, spoken language and listening, we offer our one-of-a-kind, highly interactive curriculum to children ages preschool through eighth grade. We contract with 20 local school districts and serve approximately 35 - 40 students annually on our Shoreline campus. Our curriculum is aligned with the Common Core State Standards with a focus on building the English grammar and reading skills critical to learning any subject. To teach these essential communication skills, we use research-based instructional methods and highly effective teaching strategies. In addition, the Signing Exact English Program offers sign language instruction to individuals and families throughout the United States. Through a combination of online and in-person coursework, this program helps build strong communication within families and develop the signing proficiency of staff members who work directly with students and families.

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 100% 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.

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: 80
  • Transparency & Controls: 89
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 62
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 83.2%; rating input score 83
  • Program expense ratio: 87%; rating input score 87
  • Fundraising efficiency: $11.14 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 41; 41st 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: Pass
    • 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: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd 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: 9.6%; rating input score 62; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 3.55; rating input score 78; 78th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.03; rating input score 75; 75th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 27.2%; rating input score 7; 7th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 10.2% per year; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 7.5% per year; rating input score 100; 57th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 6.4% per year; rating input score 100; 42nd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 83.2% of revenue deployed · 87% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 12 of 12 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $3.9M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $186K · 20 people listed · 5 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 31 of 31 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 15 filing years from 2009 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 8 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
  • 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.

  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 41/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 7/100.