Watkinson School

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
060655136
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Hartford, CT, USA
Phone
8602365618
Rating
82
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Secondary, High School

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$13,984,756
Expenses
$13,765,594
Assets
$20,486,150
Liabilities
$3,345,229

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

Leadership & pay

23 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • KATHLEEN KANE- FRANCALANGIA (PRESIDENT)
  • NANCY WHEELER (VICE PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • TERI SCHRADER (HEAD OF SCHOOL): $387,935 total reported compensation
  • JULIA WINER (CFOO): $166,420 total reported compensation
  • RYAN REESE (HEAD OF SCHOOL): $126,256 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Watkinson's mission is to give students the power to shape their lives and the world around them. Watkinson's exceptional educational philosophy creates an unparalleled learning environment where students thrive.

What it reported doing in 2024

Founded in 1881, watkinson enrolls between 215-230 students in grades 6-12/pg, watkinson boasts a 5:1 student-teacher ratio and an average class size of 13. Hartford's oldest independent school, watkinson offers memorable, authentic challenges to students who in turn learn to use their minds well. Our one-of-a-kind creative arts, exhibitions, global studies, learning skills, and college counseling programs offer students remarkable experiences from guest speakers to international travel, to memorable reflection, to one-on-one academic coaching.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 84% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 68% for direct work, and 32% for grants.

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 some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 73
  • Transparency & Controls: 91
  • Accountability: 90
  • Sustainability: 46
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 80%; rating input score 80
  • Program expense ratio: 83.2%; rating input score 83
  • Fundraising efficiency: $2.38 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 8; 8th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 5 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 83
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
    • 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; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 6 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 75
    • 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: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 1.6%; rating input score 40; 40th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.49; rating input score 51; 51st percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.16; rating input score 64; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 6.7%; rating input score 38; 38th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 3.8% per year; rating input score 100; 32nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 2% per year; rating input score 100; 18th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 1.9% per year; rating input score 100; 17th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 80% of revenue deployed · 83.2% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 19 of 19 board members independent · 6 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $11.4M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $388K · 23 people listed · 5 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 2 contractors listed · $335K reported
  • Consistency: 35 of 35 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 9 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 14 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 8/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 8 not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 40/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 51/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 38/100.