The Gooden School

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
952975420
IRS 990 coverage
2014–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Sierra Madre, CA, USA
Phone
6263552410
Rating
79
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Primary, Elementary Schools

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$5,606,105
Expenses
$4,597,341
Assets
$7,089,694
Liabilities
$1,825,914

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

Leadership & pay

23 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • JO-ANNE WOOLNER (HEAD OF SCHOOL (UNTIL 06/2025)): $182,001 total reported compensation
  • LAURIE TORTELL (HEAD OF SCHOOL): $127,703 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 specific and primary purpose is to conduct an educational institution of less than collegiate grades or level, which shall supply adequate mental and physical education and training to prepare selected children for entrance to college, in accordance with the moral and religious concepts of the christian faith according to the doctrines of the protestant episcopal church in the united states of america, and to create opportunites especially designed to stimulate the exercise of natural gifts for the development of leadership.

What it reported doing in 2024

The gooden school is located in sierra madre, California and was established in 1975 as an independent episcopal day school. The gooden school is a co-educational, day school that is accredited by the California associaion of independent schools, the western association of schools and colleges, and the episcopal diocese of los angeles commission on schools. The school is also a member of the national association of independent schools and the national association of episcopal schools. The school's motto, "respect for self, respect for others, and respect for the world" (the 3rs) guides the interactions of all adults and children on campus and within the community, and supports the school's mission. The gooden school inspires students to be intellectually curious and resilient while preparing them to lead lives of kindness, integrity, and respect. The school is intentionally small, with one class per grade, recruits and retains excellent faculty through a competitive salary and benefits package, and offers a very rich curriculum that encourages collaboration and experiential learning. The community is dynamic; it has many special events and traditions, chapel services, and service learning opportunities that bring families together. Students participate in cocurricular classes, such as art, music (choral and instrumental), pe, drama, elective classes, foreign languages and stem, and there are after-school programs as well. Gooden graduates are leaders in their communities; they listen actively, they advocate for themselves, and they work collaboratively and creatively to solve problems. The gooden school served approximately 200 students in kindergarten through 8th grade during the year. The school graduated 27 students and accepted 34 students.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 80% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 88% 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

SUPPORTED - 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 some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 67
  • Transparency & Controls: 83
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 60
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 66.9%; rating input score 67
  • Program expense ratio: 81.6%; rating input score 82
  • Fundraising efficiency: $6.75 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 25; 25th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd 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: 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; 63rd 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: Fail
    • 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: 18%; rating input score 75; 75th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.54; rating input score 53; 53rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.26; rating input score 38; 38th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 6.7%; rating input score 43; 43rd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 5.4% per year; rating input score 100; 42nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 7.1% per year; rating input score 100; 55th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 3.3% per year; rating input score 100; 26th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 66.9% of revenue deployed · 81.6% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 21 of 21 board members independent · 7 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $3.8M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $182K · 23 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 37 of 37 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 11 filing years from 2014 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
  • 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.

Grant-readiness screening is separate from the live rating, not a measure of program quality. Review the source records before making a grant decision.

  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 25/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Document-retention policy not reported.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 53/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 38/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 43/100.
  • Review — Grant Readiness: California registration: this organization could not be resolved against the register, so the check is unfinished.