Willow Oak Montessori Childrens House Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
561986129
IRS 990 coverage
2011–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2015
Location
Pittsboro, NC, USA
Phone
9192407787
Rating
81
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Education N.E.C.

Reported finances

Revenue
$510,514
Expenses
$525,021
Assets
$187,078
Liabilities
$5,667

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

Leadership & pay

10 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • ELIZABETH BONITZ (PRESIDENT)
  • ALI WOLFE (VICE PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • SUSAN JOHNSTONE (HEAD OF SCHOOL): $102,477 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Willow oak montessori children's house strives to assist children in achieving their unique potential as responsible global citizens by nurturing self-confidence and independent decision making in a stimulating, creative, and diverse montessori community.

What it reported doing in 2024

The montessori school served approximately 40 students (39 for june 30, 2025) in the primary program. In addition, students are served during our summer camp programs. Our school's mission is at the forefront of all services we provide. The montessori philosophy, curriculum, and materials used in all programming is to educate, instruct, and enrich our students.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 98% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 99% 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. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 78
  • Transparency & Controls: 90
  • Accountability: 79
  • Sustainability: 31
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 87.7%; rating input score 88
  • Program expense ratio: 85.8%; rating input score 86
  • 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: 4 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • 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: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -2.8%; rating input score 28; 28th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.36; rating input score 17; 17th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.03; rating input score 58; 58th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 4.6%; rating input score 54; 54th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 10.4% per year; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 6.6% per year; rating input score 100; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 3.9% per year; rating input score 100; 34th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 87.7% of revenue deployed · 85.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 9 of 9 board members independent · 4 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $451K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $102K · 10 people listed
  • Consistency: 24 of 24 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 13 filing years from 2011 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 2 filed related-organization links
  • 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: 3 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 28/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 17/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 54/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 58/100.