The Windward School
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 131740499
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2009–2024
- Official website data refreshed
- Sep 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024, Form 990-N 2022
- Location
- White Plains, NY, USA
- Phone
- 9149496968
- Rating
- 86
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Standard
- Sector
- Specialized Education Institutions
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $84,209,485
- Expenses
- $77,095,458
- Assets
- $202,102,075
- Liabilities
- $18,958,195
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
29 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- JENNY PRICE (2ND VICE PRESIDENT)
- MICHELL KATZ (1ST VICE PRESIDENT)
- PATRICIA WOLFF (PRESIDENT)
Highest reported compensation
- JAMIE WILLIAMSON (HEAD OF SCHOOL): $931,647 total reported compensation
- BETH ZAMERSKI (CFO): $367,400 total reported compensation
- LUCY GODMAN (CHIEF ADVANCEMENT OFFICER): $366,907 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 Windward School is committed to empowering every child with a language-based learning disability to achieve unlimited success.
What it reported doing in 2024
The windward institute (wi), is a division of and serves the windward school and the broader community by: providing professional development; forming partnerships with leading education institutions; advocating for students with language-based learning disabilities; and expanding the windward school's reputation and expertise. The wi produces a biannual print and digital publication, the beacon, which is distributed to more than 10,000 subscribers providing research and thought leadership around language-based learning disabilities, child development, pedagogy, and learning theory. The wi also holds in-person and virtual courses, workshops, and lectures benefiting more than 2,000 individuals seeking professional or personal development. The mission of the wi is to increase childhood literacy rates by disrupting the educational status quo to save more lives.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Other-operating. 86% of the money available for current operations came from other operating revenue.
- Distribution model
- Direct operator. The filing allocates 85% 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: 73
- Transparency & Controls: 96
- Accountability: 100
- Sustainability: 66
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 76.7%; rating input score 77
- Program expense ratio: 82.6%; rating input score 83
- Fundraising efficiency: $5.28 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 22; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 68th percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: 5 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 83
- Compensation committee: Pass
- Independent consultant: Pass
- 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; 77th 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; 77th 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: 8.4%; rating input score 68; 68th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.62; rating input score 72; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.09; rating input score 83; 83rd percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 3.8%; rating input score 28; 28th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 8.9% per year; rating input score 100; 69th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 7.7% per year; rating input score 100; 65th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 7.5% per year; rating input score 100; 55th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- What they do: 3 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 2 operating locations identified
- Where the money goes: 76.7% of revenue deployed · 82.6% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 22 of 22 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $63.7M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $932K · 29 people listed · 5 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Consistency: 39 of 39 current checks pass
- Schedules: 9 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
- Filing history: 16 filing years from 2009 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 7 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.
- 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.
- High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 22/100.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 28/100.