The Emery/Weiner School
Legal name: The EmeryWeiner Center for Jewish Education
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 741990541
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2009–2024
- Official website data refreshed
- Sep 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- Houston, TX, United States
- Phone
- (832) 204-5900
- Rating
- 85
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Standard
- Sector
- Primary, Elementary Schools
- Affiliation
- Judaism
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $31,110,783
- Expenses
- $24,065,514
- Assets
- $87,676,503
- Liabilities
- $27,241,620
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
32 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- Mark Arnold (President)
- Joshua Aruh (Vice President)
- Angie Dorfman (Vice President)
- Joanne Radoff (Vice President)
- Rick Kaplan (Immediate Past President)
Highest reported compensation
- Stuart Dow (Head of School): $549,800 total reported compensation
- David Meyer (CFO): $266,413 total reported compensation
- Rebecca Starr (Director of Development): $191,678 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 educate and develop students whose intellect, moral character and Jewish identity provide a lifelong foundation for personal growth, commitment to the Jewish people and Tikkun Olam — improving the world in which we live. At EWS, the _Shuk’s_ charge is to support and celebrate the diversity of people by facilitating cultural programming that will contribute to the communal growth at Emery/Weiner as we strive to be ever more aware of the challenges and the gifts of diversity. Emery strives to honor the diverse backgrounds of all members of our community by creating a safe and supportive environment where individuals from differing backgrounds, abilities, and beliefs can participate fully in the life of our school. Exploring, celebrating, and honoring differences are integral to our mission as a modern, pluralistic Jewish institution. We believe that our community is best served when...
What it reported doing in 2024
The Emery/Weiner Center for Jewish Education (the School) is an independent, college-preparatory, co-educational day school for students in grades 6-12, accredited by ISAS and SACS. In response to the success of the I. Weiner Middle School, which has served students since 1978, and to fill a gap in the spectrum of local independent high schools, Emery High School opened in 2001 with 31 students. In accordance with our mission, we accept a broad range of students, ranging from the 40th to the 99th percentile in standardized admission testing. Continued on Schedule O.Moreover, we offer a dual-studies curriculum that requires all students to demonstrate proficiency in Hebrew, notwithstanding study of another foreign language, and requires students to take Judaic Studies classes. Emery/Weiner is a pluralistic and progressive community day school that emphasizes commitment rather than commandment. The result is a learning partnership in which students feel a sense of ownership and, more importantly, become graduates instilled with moral self-reliance. Enrollment for FYE 2025 was approximately 630 students in grades 6-12.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Earned-program. 67% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
- Distribution model
- Direct operator. The filing allocates 92% 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
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: 72
- Transparency & Controls: 92
- Accountability: 100
- Sustainability: 72
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 68%; rating input score 68
- Program expense ratio: 88.6%; rating input score 89
- Fundraising efficiency: $11.6 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 42; 42nd percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: 4 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 67
- Compensation committee: Pass
- 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: 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: Yes; rating input score 100
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 66th 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: 22.6%; rating input score 84; 84th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 3.64; rating input score 79; 79th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.31; rating input score 45; 45th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 6.9%; rating input score 36; 36th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 4.9% per year; rating input score 100; 41st percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 7.8% per year; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 5.4% per year; rating input score 100; 38th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- What they do: 1 operating location identified
- Where the money goes: 68% of revenue deployed · 88.6% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 25 of 25 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $21.3M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $550K · 32 people listed · 4 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $20.3M reported
- Consistency: 35 of 35 current checks pass
- Schedules: 10 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, executive pay, and related organizations
- Filing history: 16 filing years from 2009 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 7 filed money-flow records
- 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.
- 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 42/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 36/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 45/100.