Windward School

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
952701337
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Los Angeles, CA, US
Phone
(310) 391-7127
Rating
77
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Secondary, High School

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$61,922,321
Expenses
$46,444,727
Assets
$168,816,136
Liabilities
$86,996,520

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

Leadership & pay

30 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • TOM GILDER (HOS/BOARD SECRETARY (THRU 6/30/25)): $921,000 total reported compensation
  • DAWN BARRETT (ASSOCIATE HEAD OF SCHOOL): $419,209 total reported compensation
  • JAMES BOLOGNA (SITE DIRECTOR): $278,347 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Windward School provides a dynamic, engaging education within a nurturing and inclusive community.

What it reported doing in 2024

Windward school is a supportive, nurturing community with a diverse student body, classes averaging 16 students, and a student-faculty ratio of approximately 8:1. Windward allocates approximately $2.5 million each year to financial aid. The school provides a varied and challenging academic program and opportunities for students to participate in athletics, the arts, and service learning. All windward students are required to fulfill a 40-hour commitment of service learning before graduation.the windward school curriculum offers students a choice of more than 100 different courses, including a large number of advanced placement courses.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 66% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 92% 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

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. The filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 76
  • Transparency & Controls: 67
  • Accountability: 91
  • Sustainability: 71
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 69.2%; rating input score 69
  • Program expense ratio: 91.6%; rating input score 92
  • Fundraising efficiency: $24.14 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 62; 62nd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 68th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 2 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 33
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Pass
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Scored; rating input score 0
  • 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: 91.7%; rating input score 92; 40th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 8 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 89
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 25%; rating input score 90; 90th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 3.63; rating input score 80; 80th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.52; rating input score 35; 35th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 6%; rating input score 11; 11th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 5.9% per year; rating input score 100; 48th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 7% per year; rating input score 100; 60th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 7.2% per year; rating input score 100; 53rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 1 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
  • Where the money goes: 69.2% of revenue deployed · 91.6% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 22 of 24 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $42.5M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $921K · 30 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $211K reported
  • Consistency: 37 of 37 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 10 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 16 filing years from 2009 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 8 filed money-flow records
  • 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.
  • 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 — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight scored 0/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Form 990 shared with the board not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 11/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 35/100.