The Briarwood School

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
814638450
IRS 990 coverage
2017–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-N 2016
Location
Houston, TX, US
Phone
281.493.1070
Rating
84
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Standard
Sector
Specialized Education Institutions

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$12,187,598
Expenses
$12,628,100
Assets
$31,896,311
Liabilities
$794,480

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

Leadership & pay

13 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • DAVID MENDLEWSKI (HEAD OF SCHOOL): $219,069 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

The Briarwood School is committed to providing a diverse, inclusive and equitable learning experience for our students. We value the diversity of the community and will continue to celebrate, engage, reach and retain as well as explore differences in experiences based on, but not limited to, racial, socioeconomic, gender, age, country of origin, culture, sexuality, physical ability, and religious diversity amongst our staff and students. We promote acceptance of learning differences and disabilities and celebrate the many positive experiences and viewpoints that diversity brings to our school community in all of its forms. Our respect for diversity is reflected in our mission,

What it reported doing in 2024

The briarwood school - with an enrollment of 288 students in our lower and middle upper schools, approximately 80% of the students are of average to superior intelligence with a broad range of learning disabilities that include dyslexia, dysgraphia, dyspraxia, dyscalculia, speech/language disorders, along with written and expressive language disorders. Additional diagnoses addressed through accommodations include attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder and processing disorders as they related to academic issues.the tuttle school - tuttle school, our smallest school, is comprised of approximately 41 students from the ages of 5 to 21 who present with developmental disorders such as autistic spectrum disorders and down syndrome, and other syndromes, such as fragile x and williams.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 82% 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.

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 expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 78
  • Transparency & Controls: 88
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 49
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 86.4%; rating input score 86
  • Program expense ratio: 81%; rating input score 81
  • Fundraising efficiency: $6.51 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 27; 27th 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: Pass
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • 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: 100%; rating input score 100; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 7 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 88
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -3.6%; rating input score 19; 19th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.53; rating input score 70; 70th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.02; rating input score 88; 88th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 1.7%; rating input score 79; 79th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 3.5% per year; rating input score 100; 30th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 3.3% per year; rating input score 100; 28th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 16.8% per year; rating input score 100; 84th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 7 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
  • Where the money goes: 86.4% of revenue deployed · 81% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 12 of 12 board members independent · 7 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $10.2M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $219K · 13 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 2 contractors listed · $276K reported
  • Consistency: 35 of 35 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 9 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 8 filing years from 2017 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • Related organizations: 4 filed related-organization links
  • 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 27/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 19/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Other executive compensation review process not reported.