Silicon Valley International School

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
942599581
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Palo Alto, CA, USA
Phone
+1 (650) 251-8500
Rating
76
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$36,443,894
Expenses
$35,875,811
Assets
$102,072,705
Liabilities
$72,458,685

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

Leadership & pay

24 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • BARBARA GREINER (HEAD OF SCHOOL): $503,208 total reported compensation
  • PATRICIA COLIN-GROLEAU (CHIEF ADVANCEMENT OFFICER): $293,872 total reported compensation
  • DIANE MORRIS (CHIEF FINANCIAL & OPERATIONS OFFICER (THRU 07/24)): $262,411 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

To provide a rigorous, inquiry-based, bilingual education that develops internationally-minded students who are critical thinkers, compassionate leaders, and lifelong learners.

What it reported doing in 2024

From preschool to 12th grade we offer a bilingual international baccalaureate education that culminates with the ib diploma, the most comprehensive and rigorous college preparatory program. In preschool and pk, students spend between 85% of their instructional time in the immersion language (french or chinese) and 15% in english. In kindergarten through fifth grades, students spend between 60% to 75% of their instructional time in the immersion language (french, chinese, or german ). The french curriculum follows guidelines from the french ministry of education, allowing students to continue their studies on grade level in any french school in the world (continuation in sch o) after they leave intl. The sixth through eighth grade middle school combines the french, chinese, and german programs to create an international middle school. Students from the three programs are mixed for classes taught in english and separated for classes taught in their immersion language. The middle school program prepares students for success in american, french, or international high schools. The ninth through twelfth grade high school offers an international baccalaureate diploma programme, which allows students to continue the french, chinese or german program, or choose an english track with a world language component.total of 788 students were served during the year.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 87% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 99% 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. The filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 72
  • Transparency & Controls: 70
  • Accountability: 96
  • Sustainability: 47
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 78.3%; rating input score 78
  • Program expense ratio: 83.4%; rating input score 83
  • Fundraising efficiency: $2.68 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 10; 10th 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: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Pass
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Scored; rating input score 0
  • 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: 93.3%; rating input score 93; 26th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 9 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • 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: 1.6%; rating input score 40; 40th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.85; rating input score 73; 73rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.71; rating input score 17; 17th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 7%; rating input score 36; 36th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 8.8% per year; rating input score 100; 65th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 6.4% per year; rating input score 100; 55th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 11.4% per year; rating input score 100; 70th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 6 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 2 operating locations identified
  • Where the money goes: 78.3% of revenue deployed · 83.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 14 of 15 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $29.9M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $503K · 24 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 3 contractors listed · $583K reported
  • Consistency: 37 of 37 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 12 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 13 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 10 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.

Key Signals

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

  • High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight scored 0/100.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 10/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 40/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 17/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 36/100.