Walden Academy Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
452378417
IRS 990 coverage
2012–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Willows, CA, USA
Phone
5303616480
Rating
85
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Charter Schools

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$2,422,941
Expenses
$2,839,169
Assets
$2,919,460
Liabilities
$1,182,648

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

Leadership & pay

8 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • MICHAEL MARTIN (PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • AMBER CALONICO (SCHOOL DIRECTOR): $138,560 total reported compensation
  • AMY R ALVES (DIRECTOR): $68,826 total reported compensation
  • MERRILEE VANDERWAAL (CHIEF FINANCE OFFICER): $17,640 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 provide a learning environment that extends beyond the classroom and textbooks and stimulates and nurtures a student's desire to learn. Students are exposed to a learning environment that helps them gain the knowledge, skills, perspectives and practices to be responsible citizens. Natural resource-based education provides an avenue for this development that can engage the students far beyond the classroom.

What it reported doing in 2024

Walden academy offers a curriculum that: (1) meets and exceeds state standards through a standards-based curriculum that uses natural resource-based education as integrating context for learning; (2) allows students to actively participate in learning projects as a way of applying their knowledge; and (3) uniquely uses its surroundings to make its education program relevant, team-focused and community-oriented. During the year, the academy served approximately 170 students from tk to grades 8.

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 97% of the money available for current operations came from government grants.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 100% 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. Expenses are high relative to revenue and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 83
  • Transparency & Controls: 90
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 22
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 98.8%; rating input score 99
  • Program expense ratio: 84.3%; rating input score 84
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • 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: 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: -17.2%; rating input score 8; 8th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.03; rating input score 38; 38th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.41; rating input score 26; 26th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 7.9%; rating input score 37; 37th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 10.1% per year; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 7.8% per year; rating input score 100; 58th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 15.8% per year; rating input score 100; 76th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 98.8% of revenue deployed · 84.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 5 of 5 board members independent · 7 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $2.4M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $139K · 8 people listed
  • Consistency: 31 of 31 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 13 filing years from 2012 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 3 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 — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 8/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Other executive compensation review process not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 38/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 26/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 37/100.
  • Review — Grant Readiness: California registration: this organization could not be resolved against the register, so the check is unfinished.