The Waldorf School Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 042574089
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2010–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- Lexington, MA, USA
- Phone
- 7818631063
- Rating
- 80
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Elementary, Secondary Education, K - 12
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $5,737,319
- Expenses
- $6,871,675
- Assets
- $4,860,799
- Liabilities
- $2,644,448
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
19 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- ALISON DISALVO-RYAN (PRESIDENT)
- KATHLEEN WILLIAMS (VICE PRESIDENT)
Highest reported compensation
- THOMAS TRIGG (FORMER HEAD OF SCHOOL): $284,622 total reported compensation
- MIKE MASSICOTTE (DIR OF FINANCE & OPS): $103,120 total reported compensation
- JOSEPH ODONNELL (TRUSTEE/TEACHER): $83,049 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 waldorf school of lexington nurtures each child's curiosity, ingenuity, and love of learning so that they can meet the future with wonder, confidence, and resilience.
What it reported doing in 2024
Founded in 1975, the mission of the waldorf school of lexington (wsl) is to nurture each child's curiosity, ingenuity, and love of learning so that they can meet the future with wonder, confidence, and resilience. On our historic campus in lexington, ma, adjacent to the 185-acre great meadows conservation land, wsl serves students from preschool through grade 8. The waldorf curriculum is carefully mapped to children's physical, emotional, and cognitive development and is delivered through meaningful human connections that build a foundation for life-long learning.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Earned-program. 90% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
- Distribution model
- Direct operator. The filing allocates 84% 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 expenses are high relative to revenue.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 81
- Transparency & Controls: 79
- Accountability: 88
- Sustainability: 17
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 97.1%; rating input score 97
- Program expense ratio: 77.5%; rating input score 78
- Fundraising efficiency: $4.44 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 14; 14th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: 2 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 33
- Compensation committee: Pass
- Independent consultant: Missing
- Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
- Written employment contract: Missing
- 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: 87.5%; rating input score 88; 19th 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: Pass
- Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Pass
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: -19.8%; rating input score 7; 7th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.71; rating input score 26; 26th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.54; rating input score 19; 19th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 9%; rating input score 33; 33rd percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 5.4% per year; rating input score 100; 42nd percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 2.3% per year; rating input score 100; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 2.4% per year; rating input score 100; 21st percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 97.1% of revenue deployed · 77.5% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 14 of 16 board members independent · 7 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $5.3M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $285K · 19 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Consistency: 33 of 33 current checks pass
- Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
- Filing history: 15 filing years from 2010 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 5 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.
- High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 14/100.
- High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 7/100.
- High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 26/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Form 990 shared with the board not reported.
- High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 19/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 33/100.