Westside Waldorf School

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
954159267
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Santa Monica, CA, USA
Phone
3102602708
Rating
74
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Kindergarten, Preschool, Nursery School, Early Admissions

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,713,817
Expenses
$1,599,843
Assets
$848,024
Liabilities
$4,442,732

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

3 people listed

People named in this filing

  • EVAN HOROWITZ (CHAIR)
  • PATRICIA EBERWINE TENENBAUM (SECRETARY)
  • KRISTEN GREEN (SCHOOL COORDINATOR)

Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

An independent, not-for-profit school that serves nursery through grade 8.

What it reported doing in 2025

Nursery and elementary education - in the earliest years our children learn primarily by imitation and activity, and our programs use exploration and play as the foundation for independent thought and creative thinking. Spending time in large, sunny classrooms and the outdoors, children explore the beauty of the natural world while participating in activities that nurture their imagination, creativity, and confidence.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 94% 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 69% for direct work, and 31% for grants.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and a large share of available resources goes toward mission work. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 68
  • Transparency & Controls: 94
  • Accountability: 82
  • Sustainability: 40
  • Growth: 0

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 69.5%; rating input score 70
  • Program expense ratio: 74.5%; rating input score 74
  • Fundraising efficiency: $12.22 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 41; 41st percentile among comparable filings

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: 100%; rating input score 100; 78th 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; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 4 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 57
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 6.7%; rating input score 49; 49th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.53; rating input score 26; 26th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 5.24; rating input score 0; 0th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 78; 78th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -5.9% per year; rating input score 0; 7th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -1.8% per year; rating input score 0; 7th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -5.9% per year; rating input score 0; 5th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 69.5% of revenue deployed · 74.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 2 of 2 board members independent · 4 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $1.2M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 3 people listed
  • Consistency: 29 of 29 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 12 filing years from 2009 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
  • 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.

  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 6 not reported.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 41/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 49/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 26/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 0/100.