HiveCheck
SCHOOL INTELLIGENCE · FULL REPORT
PREPARED JULY 19, 2026

The Westminster Schools

Atlanta, GA·Independent K-12·NAIS member·843 employees on the 990

$88.6M
Revenue FY2023
IRS 990 latest
2.7
CFI
/ 10 · watch · 5+ is strong
1,900
Enrollment
NCES PSS 2021-22
6
Years on file
Through FY2023
THE STRATEGIC READ

The Westminster Schools has expenses growing faster than revenue: 5.8% versus -3.9% per year over three years, a 9.7-point gap. The latest operating margin is -13.6%. Reserves cover 4.2 years of operations, which buys time. The right question for the board is whether the expense growth is funding a deliberate investment or compounding into a structural problem.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The Westminster Schools is burning the cushion faster than the 4.2-year buffer suggests. Expenses are outpacing revenue 5.8% vs -3.9% per year over three years, and the latest operating margin is -13.6% on a 79% tuition-dependent revenue mix. Covering the deficit at today's rate, it would take more than a decade to exhaust reserves — the full budget, by contrast, is covered for about 4.2 years if every revenue line stopped. The board conversation here is the recovery plan for the operating model and the timeline to break-even. NACUBO Composite Financial Index: 2.7 / 10, watch.
2.7/ 10
Composite Financial Index
In the watch range on the composite index — the framework calls for targeted re-engineering to lift the trajectory.
4.2yrs
Reserve cushion
Net assets ÷ monthly OpEx
-13.6%
Operating margin
FY2023
1,900
Enrollment
NCES PSS 2021-22
TRAJECTORY OUTLOOK

Margin compression worth tracking at The Westminster Schools: expenses have grown 5.8% per year against -3.9% revenue growth, a 9.7-point gap held over three years. The latest year already ran at a 13.6% operating deficit. Covering the deficit at today's rate, it would take more than a decade to exhaust reserves — the full budget, by contrast, is covered for about 4.2 years if every revenue line stopped. If the same gap holds for three more years, that compression compounds.

Linear extrapolation only. Schools regularly course-correct via tuition increases, capital campaigns, or expense controls. This is the if-nothing-changes outlook, not a prediction.

FINANCIAL HEALTH

FINANCIAL HEALTH

COMPOSITE FINANCIAL INDEX · NACUBO
WHAT IS WHAT IS THE COMPOSITE FINANCIAL INDEX?

The Composite Financial Index is a single 0–10 score from NACUBO Strategic Financial Analysis that synthesizes four nonprofit-finance ratios into one number. College and independent-school CFOs use it as a single read on whether an institution is financially strong, holding steady, or running thin.

THE FOUR UNDERLYING RATIOS
  • Primary Reserve Ratio (35% weight) — net assets / total expenses. How many months of expenses are in reserve?
  • Net Operating Revenues Ratio (35%) — surplus / revenue. Is the school running a surplus?
  • Return on Net Assets (20%) — change in net assets / prior net assets. Are the reserves growing?
  • Viability Ratio (10%) — net assets / total liabilities. Could the school cover its debts?
HOW TO READ THE SCORE
  • 5+ — strong financial position; resources available to invest in the mission.
  • 3 to 5 — adequate; monitor for trend changes.
  • 1 to 3 — watch; re-engineering may be needed.
  • 0 to 1 — distressed; immediate intervention needed.
  • Below 0 — severely distressed.
WHY IT MATTERS

A candidate looking at a school's CFI gets a single read on whether the institution is investing in mission, holding steady, or running thin. It's the difference between “this school has a $30M endowment” — impressive-sounding on its own — and “this school's reserves are eroding 8% per year” for that same school under stress.

v1 CAVEATS

HiveCheck uses net assets at year-end in place of expendable net assets (Schedule D Part V), and total liabilities in place of long-term debt. Both are conservative proxies dictated by what is parsable from the public Form 990. A real CFI computed from audited financials may read slightly different — typically modestly higher reserve coverage and modestly lower viability than what we show.

SOURCE
Tahoe Group / NACUBO, Strategic Financial Analysis for Higher Education, 7th ed. (Prager, Sealy & Co. / KPMG / BearingPoint). Learn more →
2.7
OUT OF 10 · 5+ IS STRONG

Watch2.7 on a 0-to-10 scale where 5 already counts as strong. 2.7 sits below the 5-point strong bar, in the watch range where the framework recommends targeted re-engineering. Think of it as a financial-health checkup with four vital signs: whether the school spends less than it brings in, whether it keeps enough months of reserves on hand, whether those reserves are growing, and whether it can cover what it owes. In the watch range on the composite index — the framework calls for targeted re-engineering to lift the trajectory.

Financials through FY2023 · 6 yrs on file

FY2023 is the newest public filing on record — not a data gap. IRS Form 990s publish on a one-to-two-year lag, so a school’s most recent audited year usually isn’t available yet. This report always uses the latest filing the IRS has released.

The Westminster Schools reported $88.6M in revenue against $100.7M in expenses in fiscal year 2023, an operating margin of -13.6%.

Verify any number in this report against the source IRS Form 990 look up on irs.gov ↗.

$88.6M
REVENUE FY2023
Trend 2018 to 2023, current $88.6M.$88.6M
IRS FORM 990 ↗
$420.9M
NET ASSETS
Trend 2018 to 2023, current $420.9M.$420.9M
IRS FORM 990 ↗
-13.6%
OPERATING MARGIN
Trend 2018 to 2023, current -13.6%.-13.6%
IRS FORM 990 ↗
HOW TO READ REVENUE, NET ASSETS, AND OPERATING MARGIN

Revenue is the total income reported on Form 990 for the fiscal year — tuition, fees, contributions, investment income, and other revenue lines combined. Net assets is revenue minus expenses across the school’s full history, measured at year-end (Form 990 Part X, line 32B). It is the closest v1 proxy for “institutional reserves” — see the methodology note on the Composite Financial Index below for why we use total net assets rather than expendable net assets isolated.

Operating margin is (revenue − expenses) / revenue. For nonprofit K-12 independent schools, sustained operating margins of 3–8% are the healthy range — enough surplus to reinvest in plant, financial aid, and reserves without sustained drawdown. Persistent negative margin signals reserve drawdown and warrants scrutiny of multi-year trend.

SOURCE
IRS Form 990, Parts VIII (revenue), IX (expenses), and X (balance sheet) — public filings. Learn more →
4.2 yrs
RESERVE CUSHION
WHAT IS WHAT IS THE RESERVE CUSHION?

Reserve cushion answers a single question: if every tuition check and donation stopped tomorrow, how long could the school’s savings keep the bills paid? We compute it as net assets at year-end ÷ monthly operating expense, drawn from IRS Form 990 Part X.

HOW TO READ IT
  • Below 3 months — precarious; one bad admissions cycle can force cuts.
  • 3 to 6 months — minimum healthy floor.
  • 6 to 12 months — adequate cushion.
  • 12 to 24 months — healthy reserve position.
  • 24+ months — deep institutional balance.
v1 CAVEAT

We use total net assets as a proxy for expendable reserves. A school’s audited financials separate expendable from restricted net assets; the 990 does not break this out. This proxy slightly overstates true operating runway for endowment-heavy schools where much of the net asset base is donor-restricted.

SOURCE
NACUBO Strategic Financial Analysis for Higher Education, 7th ed. — Primary Reserve Ratio. Learn more →
Could keep running on savings this long with no tuition coming in.

If every tuition check and donation stopped tomorrow, the school’s savings could cover its bills for about 4.2 years (50 months) before running out — a deep cushion. Most schools have under a year. (Savings here is total net assets; it’s a high-side proxy, since some of that is tied up in buildings and restricted gifts.)

1.7x
VIABILITY
WHAT IS WHAT IS THE VIABILITY RATIO?

Viability is net assets ÷ total liabilities — the cushion an institution holds against everything it owes. It answers: if all debts came due, how many times over could the school cover them from accumulated net assets?

HOW TO READ IT
  • Below 1.0x — liabilities exceed net assets; balance-sheet stress.
  • 1.0x to 1.25x — thin; monitor.
  • 1.25x+ — NACUBO's healthy threshold.
  • 3.0x+ — deep institutional cushion.
v1 CAVEAT

We use total liabilities from Form 990 Part X rather than long-term debt isolated (a Schedule D Part X detail we do not yet parse). This proxy understates viability for schools carrying meaningful short-term debt or current-year obligations against payables, since both are pulled into the denominator.

SOURCE
NACUBO Strategic Financial Analysis for Higher Education, 7th ed. — Viability Ratio. Learn more →
Net assets per dollar of liabilities. Proxy uses total liabilities (vs long-term debt).
HOW TO READ RESERVE COVERAGE AND VIABILITY

Reserve coverage answers “how many months of operating expense are sitting on the balance sheet right now?” We compute it as net assets / monthly expense. NACUBO’s Primary Reserve Ratio targets at least 3–6 months as a minimum healthy floor; 12+ months is considered strong, and 24+ months indicates a deep institutional balance. Below 3 months is precarious.

Viability is net assets per dollar of total liabilities — the cushion against debt obligations. Above 1.25x is considered healthy by NACUBO; below 1.0x means liabilities exceed accumulated net assets. v1 caveat: we use total liabilities rather than long-term debt isolated (a Form 990 Schedule D detail we do not yet parse), which understates this ratio for schools carrying significant short-term debt.

SOURCE
NACUBO Strategic Financial Analysis for Higher Education, 7th ed. (Prager, Sealy & Co. / KPMG) — Primary Reserve and Viability ratios. Learn more →
REVENUE DIVERSIFICATION
PROGRAM REVENUE
79.3%
CONTRIBUTIONS
13.9%
INVESTMENT INCOME
5.8%
OTHER
1.1%
WHY REVENUE MIX MATTERS

Program revenue = tuition and fees. Contributions = annual fund + capital campaigns + restricted gifts. Investment income = endowment payout, interest, and realized/unrealized gains. Other captures auxiliary lines (summer programs, rentals, dining).

A school deriving 90%+ from program revenue is highly sensitive to a tuition shock — a class that fails to fill, an unexpected attrition spike. A balanced mix (program + contributions + investment) signals resilience: a soft year on tuition does not translate one-for-one into a revenue downturn. Mature boarding schools and established day schools with endowments typically show contribution and investment shares of 5–20% combined; newer schools and smaller day schools sit closer to 95% program revenue.

SOURCE
NAIS Data and Analysis for School Leadership (DASL) — financial benchmarking, revenue-mix indicators. Learn more →
3-YEAR GROWTH (CAGR)
-3.9%
REVENUE / YR
5.8%
EXPENSES / YR
-0.9%
NET ASSETS / YR
HOW TO READ THREE-YEAR CAGR

CAGR (compound annual growth rate) smooths year-over-year variation by reporting the constant annual rate that would produce the same end-state over the period. For a healthy school, the load-bearing relationship is revenue CAGR ≥ expense CAGR. When expenses outpace revenue over three years, operating margin compresses even if the latest year still posts a surplus.

Net-asset CAGR captures the trajectory of accumulated reserves — a positive figure means the school is building cushion; a persistently negative figure means it is drawing down.

SOURCE
Compound annual growth rate computed across the most recent three filing years on IRS Form 990. Learn more →
REVENUEEXPENSES
79.3%
TUITION DEPENDENCY
Trend 2018 to 2023, current 79.3%.79.3%
IRS FORM 990 ↗
55.8%
COMP RATIO
Trend 2018 to 2023, current 55.8%.55.8%
IRS FORM 990 ↗
HOW TO READ TUITION DEPENDENCY AND COMP RATIO

Tuition dependency is the share of total revenue that comes from program service revenue (tuition + fees). NAIS DASL benchmarks place the K-12 day-school median at roughly 85%. Below 70% indicates a well-diversified revenue base (typical of mature boarding schools); above 90% is concentrated and warrants scenario planning for tuition shocks (an unfilled class, attrition spike).

Comp ratio is salaries + benefits as a share of total operating expenses. Per ISM benchmarks for independent schools, the typical range is 55–70%. Above 70% can signal salary pressure outpacing revenue growth; below 55% is unusual and may indicate large outsourced contracts or non-comp capital expense in the period.

SOURCE
NAIS Data and Analysis for School Leadership (DASL) for tuition mix; Independent School Management (ISM) for compensation ratio benchmarks. Learn more →
HEAD OF SCHOOL · SCHEDULE J
President and CEO/Board Member
Position and total compensation as filed on the Form 990; individual name withheld.
$1.1M
TOTAL COMP · FY2023

From this school’s IRS Form 990 Schedule J — a publicly filed federal disclosure. If you’re the school and this looks wrong, email us.

ABOUT HEAD-OF-SCHOOL COMPENSATION

Head-of-School total compensation is reported on IRS Form 990 Schedule J, columns (B) and (F): base compensation, bonus and incentive compensation, other reportable compensation, deferred compensation, and nontaxable benefits combined. The figure shown here is the total of those columns for the head of school as named on the most recent filing. The title shown alongside the figure is that person’s Schedule J designation — a tax-filing label — not necessarily their functional title at the school.

Compensation varies widely with school size, region, and association membership. NAIS and ISM publish annual benchmark ranges; CASE tracks fundraising-leadership compensation. The Schedule J value is the most defensible apples-to-apples source because it is the same disclosure every 501(c)(3) school files with the IRS.

SOURCE
IRS Form 990 Schedule J — compensation information for officers, directors, trustees, key employees, and highest-compensated employees of nonprofit organizations. Publicly available. Learn more →
FACULTY AND STAFF · AVG COMP
WHAT IS WHAT DOES FACULTY AND STAFF · AVG COMP MEASURE?

Faculty and Staff Average Compensation is the average compensation of every employee at the school minus the top-compensated roster reported on Schedule J (officers, key employees, and highest-paid). The residual is almost entirely faculty plus staff — classroom teachers, division leadership below the head, admissions and advancement, athletics, business office, facilities, dining and after-school programs. The number includes both salary and benefits (medical, retirement, payroll tax).

HOW IT’S COMPUTED

(salaries_benefits − Σ top_comp.total_comp) ÷ (total_employees − count(top_comp))

For FY2023: salaries+benefits $56.2M · 843 total employees · 8 top-comp rows totaling $4.7M · 835 residual non-officer employees.

WHY IT MATTERS

The Head’s comp gets the headlines; this is the line every other employee actually lives next to. A school whose average non-officer compensation runs $78K reads very differently from one where it runs $58K — and the IRS Form 990 carries enough to triangulate the answer without a NAIS DASL subscription.

LIMITATIONS

This is an average across faculty and staff, not a faculty median. The 990 doesn’t separate classroom teachers from administrative, athletics, dining, maintenance, or after-school staff in the residual, and mixes full-time with part-time headcount. The number includes benefits, so it runs roughly 25-40% above pure salary. Schools with outsourced operations (dining, maintenance) will read higher than schools that employ that staff directly. A true faculty median requires NAIS DASL. We omit this metric entirely when fewer than six non-officer employees remain after the top-comp subtraction.

SOURCE
IRS Form 990 Part IX line 7 (salaries + benefits) and Schedule J (top-compensated roster). Computed by HiveCheck — approximate, 990-only. Learn more →
$61,612
/ YR

Approximate. Excludes the top-paid roster from Schedule J. Form 990 Part IX line 7. NAIS DASL would give true median.

IRSForm 990 · through FY2023 · 6 years on fileNACUBOCFI methodology
PEER COMPARISON

PEER COMPARISON

Among 30 peer schools in the same size and region cohort, The Westminster Schools’s position by metric is below. The gray band shows the peer distribution from the bottom quarter to the top quarter; the tick marks label each quartile position. The purple marker is The Westminster Schools.

Operating margin
-13.6%
BOTTOM QUARTER0.7%LOWER-MIDDLE6.2%UPPER-MIDDLE15.8%TOP QUARTER22.4%-13.6%
-13.6% operating margin — higher than 1 of its 29 peer schools
HOW WE COMPARE
WHAT IS HOW THIS COMPARISON IS BUILT?

We compare this school against its peer cohort on this metric and count how many peers it sits above. We never frame this as “top X%” or “bottom X%” because the right reading depends on the metric’s natural direction.

POLARITY (WHICH WAY IS GOOD?)
  • Operating margin, endowment / OpEx — higher is better.
  • Tuition dependency, comp ratio — higher is riskier (more concentration, less flex).

About the peer set. Peers are matched on size cohort (Form 990 revenue + employee band), region, and association overlap. NCES Private School Universe Survey enrollment is now live on the Community Demographics panel for the roughly 924 of 1,620 HiveCheck schools that match against PSS — but peer cohort matching still uses the 990-derived size proxy so every school (matched or not) resolves against the same criteria. Recutting cohorts on real NCES enrollment is a v1.2 refinement.

SOURCE
NACUBO Strategic Financial Analysis for Higher Education, 7th ed. (Prager, Sealy & Co. / KPMG). Learn more →
What this means: out of the 29 other schools we compare it to, this school’s operating margin is higher than 1 of them — near the bottom of its group.
n = 30 peers in this calculation
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?

What it measures. The share of total revenue left over after operating expenses — calculated as (revenue − expenses) / revenue on the IRS Form 990. Positive = surplus reinvested; negative = deficit drawn from reserves.

How to read it. Higher is better. NACUBO scores a Net Operating Revenues ratio of about 1.3% (i.e. operating margin ~1.3%) as the “baseline” SF 1.0 reading; sustained surpluses of 3–8% are the healthy range for K-12 independent schools. A persistent negative margin signals reserve drawdown.

SOURCE
NACUBO Strategic Financial Analysis for Higher Education, 7th ed. (Prager, Sealy & Co. / KPMG). Learn more →
Tuition dependency
79.3%
BOTTOM QUARTER65.3%LOWER-MIDDLE80.7%UPPER-MIDDLE85.7%TOP QUARTER87.6%79.3%
79.3% tuition dependency — higher than 14 of its 29 peer schools
HOW WE COMPARE
WHAT IS HOW THIS COMPARISON IS BUILT?

We compare this school against its peer cohort on this metric and count how many peers it sits above. We never frame this as “top X%” or “bottom X%” because the right reading depends on the metric’s natural direction.

POLARITY (WHICH WAY IS GOOD?)
  • Operating margin, endowment / OpEx — higher is better.
  • Tuition dependency, comp ratio — higher is riskier (more concentration, less flex).

About the peer set. Peers are matched on size cohort (Form 990 revenue + employee band), region, and association overlap. NCES Private School Universe Survey enrollment is now live on the Community Demographics panel for the roughly 924 of 1,620 HiveCheck schools that match against PSS — but peer cohort matching still uses the 990-derived size proxy so every school (matched or not) resolves against the same criteria. Recutting cohorts on real NCES enrollment is a v1.2 refinement.

SOURCE
NACUBO Strategic Financial Analysis for Higher Education, 7th ed. (Prager, Sealy & Co. / KPMG). Learn more →
higher tuition dependency = less diversified revenue
What this means: out of the 29 other schools we compare it to, this school’s tuition dependency is higher than 14 of them — in the lower half of its group.
n = 30 peers in this calculation
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?

What it measures. Share of total revenue that comes from program-service revenue (tuition + fees) on the Form 990. Independent schools without significant endowments often run 85–95% tuition-dependent; schools with strong fundraising or large endowment payouts sit lower.

How to read it. Higher is riskier — concentration means a tuition shock (an unfilled class, an attrition spike) translates directly into a revenue shock. NAIS DASL benchmarks place the K-12 day-school median at roughly 85% tuition-dependent. Below 70% indicates a well-diversified revenue base (typical of mature boarding schools); above 90% is concentrated.

SOURCE
NAIS Data and Analysis for School Leadership (DASL) — admissions, enrollment, and finance benchmarks. Learn more →
Comp ratio
55.8%
BOTTOM QUARTER50.2%LOWER-MIDDLE56.7%UPPER-MIDDLE61.3%TOP QUARTER64.1%55.8%
55.8% comp ratio — higher than 12 of its 29 peer schools
HOW WE COMPARE
WHAT IS HOW THIS COMPARISON IS BUILT?

We compare this school against its peer cohort on this metric and count how many peers it sits above. We never frame this as “top X%” or “bottom X%” because the right reading depends on the metric’s natural direction.

POLARITY (WHICH WAY IS GOOD?)
  • Operating margin, endowment / OpEx — higher is better.
  • Tuition dependency, comp ratio — higher is riskier (more concentration, less flex).

About the peer set. Peers are matched on size cohort (Form 990 revenue + employee band), region, and association overlap. NCES Private School Universe Survey enrollment is now live on the Community Demographics panel for the roughly 924 of 1,620 HiveCheck schools that match against PSS — but peer cohort matching still uses the 990-derived size proxy so every school (matched or not) resolves against the same criteria. Recutting cohorts on real NCES enrollment is a v1.2 refinement.

SOURCE
NACUBO Strategic Financial Analysis for Higher Education, 7th ed. (Prager, Sealy & Co. / KPMG). Learn more →
higher comp ratio = salaries + benefits consume more of the budget
What this means: out of the 29 other schools we compare it to, this school’s comp ratio is higher than 12 of them — in the lower half of its group.
n = 30 peers in this calculation
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?

What it measures. Salaries + benefits as a share of total operating expenses (Form 990 Part IX, line totals). Captures how much of the cost base is human capital — the dominant cost structure at every independent school.

How to read it. Higher = leaner room for non-comp investment. ISM’s independent-school benchmarks typically land in the 55–70% range. Above 70% can signal salary pressure outpacing revenue; below 55% is unusual and worth investigating (possible unusual non-comp expense or outsourced staffing).

SOURCE
Independent School Management (ISM) — financial-health and compensation benchmarks for K-12 independent schools. Learn more →
Endowment / OpEx
4.18x
BOTTOM QUARTER2.24xLOWER-MIDDLE3.42xUPPER-MIDDLE4.16xTOP QUARTER6.23x4.18x
4.18x endowment / OpEx — higher than 21 of its 29 peer schools
HOW WE COMPARE
WHAT IS HOW THIS COMPARISON IS BUILT?

We compare this school against its peer cohort on this metric and count how many peers it sits above. We never frame this as “top X%” or “bottom X%” because the right reading depends on the metric’s natural direction.

POLARITY (WHICH WAY IS GOOD?)
  • Operating margin, endowment / OpEx — higher is better.
  • Tuition dependency, comp ratio — higher is riskier (more concentration, less flex).

About the peer set. Peers are matched on size cohort (Form 990 revenue + employee band), region, and association overlap. NCES Private School Universe Survey enrollment is now live on the Community Demographics panel for the roughly 924 of 1,620 HiveCheck schools that match against PSS — but peer cohort matching still uses the 990-derived size proxy so every school (matched or not) resolves against the same criteria. Recutting cohorts on real NCES enrollment is a v1.2 refinement.

SOURCE
NACUBO Strategic Financial Analysis for Higher Education, 7th ed. (Prager, Sealy & Co. / KPMG). Learn more →
What this means: out of the 29 other schools we compare it to, this school’s endowment / OpEx is higher than 21 of them — in the upper half of its group.
n = 30 peers in this calculation
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?

What it measures. Net assets divided by total annual operating expense. Expresses how many years of operations the school could fund from its accumulated net position. The v1 calculation uses total net assets (Schedule A) rather than expendable net assets isolated.

How to read it. Higher is better. For independent schools, <1x is a thin cushion, 1–3x is healthy, 3x+ indicates a deep institutional balance sheet (typical of established boarding schools and large day schools with mature endowments).

SOURCE
NACUBO Strategic Financial Analysis for Higher Education, 7th ed. — Primary Reserve and Viability ratios. Learn more →
HOW TO READ THE PERCENTILE

A percentile tells you where this school sits in the peer distribution. p30 means the school is at or above 30% of peers on that measure — only 70% of peers are higher. The right reading depends on the metric’s natural direction: for operating margin and reserves higher is better; for tuition dependency and comp ratio higher is riskier. The one-line hint under each chart calls out the polarity.

Some metrics show fewer peers than the panel total (n_peers_in_calc) — that happens when peers don’t have an overlapping filing year for that specific ratio. The displayed percentile is computed only against peers that filed in the same window.

About the size cohort. Peer cohort matching uses IRS Form 990 employee count + max-revenue tier — proxies for school size, since the 990 doesn’t carry student counts. Real per-school enrollment from the NCES Private School Universe Survey is now live on the Community Demographics panel for the roughly 924 of 1,620 HiveCheck schools that match against PSS 2021-22; peer cohort matching still uses the 990 size proxy so every school (matched or not) resolves against the same criteria, and recutting cohorts on real enrollment is a v1.2 refinement.

SOURCE
NACUBO Strategic Financial Analysis for Higher Education, 7th ed. (Prager, Sealy & Co. / KPMG). Learn more →
PEERS30 schools · revenue + employee band + region + associationIRSForm 990 FY2023
COMMUNITY & MARKET

The market underneath the school: who lives here, whether they can pay, whether they will give, who they choose instead, and which way the money is moving.

The surrounding area is philanthropically active, but tuition affordability is tighter than that climate suggests. Paying Capacity reads 67 / 100 and Giving Capacity 99 / 100 for the 30327 area. Financial-aid leverage likely matters more here than the local giving climate. That giving read is the local philanthropic climate, not this school's donor base — its actual fundraising shows in its own 990 contributions, since gifts come from families, grandparents, and alumni wherever they live.

COMMUNITY DEMOGRAPHICS

COMMUNITY DEMOGRAPHICS

About the area: these numbers describe the community around the school — the neighborhoods nearest the school (its ZIP-code area) — a closer-in read than the whole metro. They come from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey, which pools five years of responses for a reliable picture. Cost-of-living and wealth-context signals are layered on from HUD (the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development) and BEA (the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis) where available.

THIS SCHOOL · NCES PSS
WHAT IS HOW IS THIS SCHOOL'S ENROLLMENT SOURCED?

The Private School Universe Survey (PSS) is the federal census of U.S. private schools, conducted every two years by NCES with the U.S. Census Bureau collecting responses. It covers ~22,000 private schools across the country and reports total enrollment, per-grade enrollment, FTE teachers, and basic school identity.

VINTAGE

Most recent published vintage: 2021-2022 (released September 2023). The 2023-24 vintage collection is in the field; expected release fall 2025.

MATCH QUALITY

HiveCheck → NCES match for this school: auto exact at 95% confidence (PPIN 00297328). Match was made by joining state + normalized school name + city.

CAVEATS

Per-grade bands are summed from the PSS per-grade enrollment columns (Pxxx). When a school has a transitional / postgrad program, the total enrollment may include students not assigned to a standard grade band. PSS is voluntary but achieves > 95% response across the universe.

SOURCE
NCES Private School Universe Survey 2021-2022 public-use file, accessed from https://nces.ed.gov/surveys/pss/. Biennial census administered by the National Center for Education Statistics with U.S. Census Bureau data collection. Learn more →
1,900
TOTAL ENROLLMENT
Grades K–12
255
FTE TEACHERS
NCES PSS
7.5:1
STUDENT / TEACHER
Total enrollment / FTE
2021-22
SOURCE VINTAGE
NCES PSS
PREK
75
K
416
1–5
583
6–8
826
9–12
THE SCHOOL’S DRAW AREA · 93 COMMUNITIES, ~45-MINUTE DRIVE
~87,100

school-age children live in families who can likely afford tuition, within a ~45-minute drive.

YOUR ADDRESSABLE MARKET
MIXED INCOME AREA

Heads up — this area has two distinct income clusters (roughly $42K$189K). Your realistic market is concentrated in the higher-income communities below.

17.5%
Families earning $200K+
$94,164
Typical family income

Families come from 93 communities — including Lawrenceville, GA, Lilburn, GA, and Atlanta, GA. Total population is 3,013,241, of whom 498,501 are school-age (5–17).

About 16% of the area’s school-age children are in 5 communities (Lawrenceville, GA, Lilburn, GA, and Atlanta, GA).

COMMUNITIES BY TYPICAL FAMILY INCOME
$50K$100K$150K$200K$250KMEDIAN $94K

Each dot is one community — bigger dots have more school-age children. The school’s home ZIP is filled purple; the vertical purple line marks the typical family income across the whole draw area.

SEE THE 93 ZIPS
Sorted by population — the heaviest weights in the average appear first. The school’s home ZIP is marked with ·.
ZIPCommunityTypical income$200K+% BA+Pop.
30044Lawrenceville, GA$77K8.6%29.3%101,475
30349Atlanta, GA$67K6.6%32.0%79,872
30096Duluth, GA$75K11.6%41.4%71,732
30047Lilburn, GA$89K12.0%39.9%70,121
30188Woodstock, GA$107K18.3%48.2%69,518
30022Alpharetta, GA$153K35.6%71.0%64,546
30083Stone Mountain, GA$55K5.0%25.8%62,724
30101Acworth, GA$111K20.1%44.3%62,593
30331Atlanta, GA$63K8.6%38.7%62,567
30062Marietta, GA$133K30.7%60.9%62,284
30066Marietta, GA$116K21.7%53.0%61,761
30144Kennesaw, GA$89K12.6%44.0%59,661
30318Atlanta, GA$83K18.1%56.9%59,609
30075Roswell, GA$157K39.2%70.0%56,263
30080Smyrna, GA$92K17.3%58.6%53,316
30064Marietta, GA$122K25.7%59.0%52,125
30067Marietta, GA$84K17.1%53.6%47,271
30097Duluth, GA$125K28.4%66.3%46,876
30093Norcross, GA$48K2.8%20.2%46,410
30076Roswell, GA$118K25.7%60.7%46,054
30319Atlanta, GA$131K34.2%77.0%45,985
30102Acworth, GA$98K11.7%35.2%45,319
30152Kennesaw, GA$127K27.5%52.7%44,977
30032Decatur, GA$63K4.6%30.4%42,948
30034Decatur, GA$64K6.4%30.4%41,847
30005Alpharetta, GA$177K44.3%75.5%41,836
30126Mableton, GA$102K19.7%46.2%41,829
30189Woodstock, GA$114K20.1%45.5%39,928
30328Atlanta, GA$112K22.9%71.2%39,508
30338Atlanta, GA$135K34.2%76.6%39,465
30060Marietta, GA$68K8.6%28.8%38,499
30084Tucker, GA$81K12.5%43.1%38,242
30092Peachtree Corners, GA$79K15.9%51.9%36,992
30341Atlanta, GA$86K17.7%54.1%36,021
30008Marietta, GA$75K4.9%28.9%35,547
30344Atlanta, GA$68K5.7%35.4%35,456
30339Atlanta, GA$103K17.6%70.6%35,372
30350Atlanta, GA$88K16.8%62.5%35,170
30316Atlanta, GA$103K21.4%57.1%35,107
30311Atlanta, GA$51K8.2%32.4%34,953
30315Atlanta, GA$51K9.1%29.6%34,264
30068Marietta, GA$150K36.9%74.5%33,882
30342Atlanta, GA$124K34.6%74.4%33,349
30309Atlanta, GA$114K23.8%82.9%32,479
30030Decatur, GA$127K32.1%75.6%31,756
30033Decatur, GA$112K20.8%71.1%31,310
30340Atlanta, GA$63K11.2%36.6%30,062
30088Stone Mountain, GA$70K8.3%30.2%29,240
30297Forest Park, GA$45K3.1%13.3%29,210
30324Atlanta, GA$92K18.3%71.0%29,073
30260Morrow, GA$53K2.7%16.4%28,693
30305Atlanta, GA$107K29.3%79.5%28,110
30021Clarkston, GA$52K4.6%24.5%27,781
30082Smyrna, GA$120K24.9%56.9%27,296
30329Atlanta, GA$77K12.8%59.7%27,278
30310Atlanta, GA$53K8.7%39.3%27,186
30296Riverdale, GA$63K4.4%24.5%27,045
30122Lithia Springs, GA$69K8.4%33.7%27,036
30312Atlanta, GA$83K17.9%65.6%26,942
30168Austell, GA$64K5.6%29.3%26,612
30121Cartersville, GA$78K8.2%24.5%25,989
30071Norcross, GA$65K13.2%35.1%25,830
30291Union City, GA$48K2.6%30.1%25,130
30345Atlanta, GA$112K26.7%61.8%24,492
30306Atlanta, GA$123K30.4%82.0%24,236
30327Atlanta, GA$189K48.3%85.6%23,673
30314Atlanta, GA$42K4.2%33.3%23,333
30308Atlanta, GA$86K15.8%75.3%23,181
30106Austell, GA$69K5.8%29.1%23,107
30307Atlanta, GA$141K35.8%81.7%21,709
30035Decatur, GA$67K3.1%26.8%21,569
30009Alpharetta, GA$127K33.3%66.8%21,095
30360Atlanta, GA$98K16.2%47.8%16,855
30354Atlanta, GA$63K3.4%27.0%16,182
30317Atlanta, GA$108K30.7%61.6%15,622
30313Atlanta, GA$85K12.7%55.7%10,913
30337Atlanta, GA$51K7.3%33.0%10,694
30326Atlanta, GA$122K22.4%80.6%8,234
30288Conley, GA$52K8.1%32.4%8,116
30303Atlanta, GA5.2%27.1%6,797
30002Avondale Estates, GA$90K18.5%72.5%5,225
30079Scottdale, GA$83K18.2%50.3%4,831
30346Atlanta, GA$95K11.1%70.8%4,411
30363Atlanta, GA$124K30.2%92.6%3,523
30332Atlanta, GA95.3%2,567
30322Atlanta, GA30.7%2,521
30137Emerson, GA$79K4.3%28.6%1,709
30072Pine Lake, GA$79K5.9%55.4%800
30336Atlanta, GA$54K11.4%51.6%514
30334Atlanta, GA0
30111Clarkdale, GA0
30090Marietta, GA0
30272Red Oak, GA0
THE SCHOOL'S HOME ZIP CODE FOR REFERENCE · CENSUS COMMUNITY SURVEY 2020-2024
23,673
POPULATION (AROUND THE SCHOOL)
$189,250
MEDIAN HH INCOME
85.6%
BACHELOR'S OR HIGHER
65.1%
HOUSEHOLDS WITH KIDS <18
4,194
SCHOOL-AGED (5-17)
48.3%
HOUSEHOLDS $200K+
Share of total households
HOW TO READ THESE DEMOGRAPHIC SIGNALS

The Census Bureau’s community survey pools five years of responses to produce the most statistically reliable picture of a community around the school. Vintage 2020-2024 means the pooled survey period. This is the school's ZIP-code area, a far sharper read of the immediate draw area than a whole-metro average.

Population sizes the catchment universe. Median HH income is reported per household, not per individual — the standard wealth signal. Bachelor’s or higher is a strong proxy for the independent-school candidate pool: education-completion patterns correlate tightly with private-school enrollment in U.S. metros.

Households with kids <18 and school-aged (5–17) size the K-12 market specifically. Households $200K+ is the tuition-affordability ceiling proxy — independent-school tuitions for upper grades typically require household income at or above this band.

SOURCE
U.S. Census Bureau's community survey (the American Community Survey, ACS5). Geographic level: ZIP-area (ZCTA) when available, else metro (CBSA) or county FIPS. Learn more →
COST OF LIVING
$1.1M
MEDIAN HOME VALUE
ACS5 owner-occupied
$1,844/mo
2-BR FAIR MARKET RENT
HUD FY2024
WHY COST OF LIVING MATTERS HERE

Cost-of-living context is a second-order signal for the independent-school market. Higher housing costs tend to concentrate wealth (and willingness-to-pay) in the metro; they also raise the salary floor a school must hit to retain faculty. Median home value is the typical ownership signal; Fair Market Rent is the federal benchmark used to set Section 8 vouchers and is a defensible cross-metro comparison for housing pressure.

SOURCE
U.S. Census Bureau's community survey (median home value, owner-occupied units); U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Fair Market Rent (40th percentile of standard-quality rental units in the metro). Learn more →
WEALTH CONTEXT · U.S. BUREAU OF ECONOMIC ANALYSIS
$111,238
PER-CAPITA PERSONAL INCOME
BEA 2024
$121.29B
TOTAL PERSONAL INCOME
MSA-wide aggregate
CENSUSACS5 2020-2024BEACAINC1 · 2024HUDFair Market Rent · FY2024
PAYING CAPACITY

Can families here afford tuition?

The typical family within a 45-minute drive earns $94,164. At $36,977 a year (net of aid), your tuition is 39% of that income — Aid territory.

How this verdict is set
WHAT IS HOW THE PAYING-CAPACITY VERDICT IS SET?

The verdict is a plain read on tuition affordability at the catchment level, computed as tuition (net of financial aid) divided by the typical household income in the school’s 45-minute drive-time draw area.

THRESHOLDS
  • Comfortable — tuition is 15% or less of the typical income. The median family can absorb tuition without aid.
  • A stretch — tuition is between 15% and 30% of income. The median family would feel the price; the paying pool is the higher-income segment plus targeted aid.
  • Aid territory — tuition exceeds 30% of income. The median family needs aid; the sustainable paying pool is the $200K+ segment and the aid budget.
INPUTS

Tuition is the school’s IRS 990 net revenue per student (program-service revenue divided by enrollment) — an estimate of the net-of-aid price, not the sticker price. Typical income is the population-weighted median household income across the ZIPs (ZCTAs) that fall within roughly a 45-minute drive of the school, from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey.

CAVEATS

This is a draw-area read, not a household-level guarantee. Real paying families are drawn from the higher-income tail of the distribution; the median is the anchor, not the enrolled family. The tuition proxy is a 990-derived estimate that trails the current year and may not reflect a recent tuition change.

SOURCE
HiveCheck proprietary metric derived from IRS Statistics of Income, U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey, and Federal Housing Finance Agency data. 45-minute drive-time catchment. Learn more →
17.5%
of households earn $200K+
The base that can comfortably cover independent-school tuition without aid.
$94,164
typical family income
Population-weighted across the 93 ZIPs in the 45-minute catchment.

~87,100 school-age children live in families who can likely afford you — the addressable pool. See Community Demographics for how that pool is distributed across the draw area.

WHAT THIS MEANS

The median family here needs financial aid to attend. Your sustainable paying pool is the $200K+ segment — the 17.5% of local households earning $200K+ plus the aid budget you're willing to fund.

Tuition is a 990-derived net-of-aid estimate; income is a population-weighted draw-area estimate (U.S. Census ACS); this is a draw-area read, not a household-level guarantee. It reads parent affordability in the draw area — geography does not measure the school’s fundraising, which comes from its own families, grandparents, and alumni.

CENSUSACS5 2020-2024 · 45-minute drive catchmentIRS 990Net revenue per student (tuition proxy)HIVECHECKPaying Capacity v2
GIVING PROFILE

GIVING PROFILE

HOW WE READ GIVING
WHAT IS HOW WE READ GIVING?

Every number in this profile comes from this school’s own IRS Form 990 filings — nothing from outside data.

Four signals build the read. TREND compares the average of the earliest half of the school’s non-PPP years to the latest half, so one big gift can’t drive the direction. CONSISTENCY reads year-to-year swings against the typical year — a broad donor base moves less than reliance on a few large relationships. SHARE OF REVENUE is gifts as a share of total revenue. FINANCIAL CUSHION reads reserves against a year of operating expense; we never publish a back-calculated endowment dollar.

PPP years (FY2020 and FY2021) stay on the bar, greyed and tagged, but are excluded from every calculation — many independent schools booked PPP loans on the contributions line. Amended returns are collapsed to the latest filing for each tax year, so the same year never counts twice.

What the 990 can’t tell you: donor concentration (Schedule B is redacted on public filings, so the year-to-year swings above are the honest proxy), government-grant share (folded into the contributions line), and cost per dollar raised (fundraising expense is reported too inconsistently to trust). Named as gaps, not filled with guesses.

SOURCE
IRS Form 990, contributions & grants (Part VIII line 1h) plus balance-sheet reserves. Learn more →
THE READ · FROM 4 NON-PPP YEARS OF 990s

A steady, modestly scaled giving base. Contributed revenue has held in a narrow band around $18.7M — about 20% of revenue — for several years, neither growing nor eroding.

WORTH ASKING IN DILIGENCE

What would it take to move giving off its plateau — is there an untapped major-gift or planned-giving base?

$18.7Ma year in gifts & grants (avg. FY2018–FY2023, excludes PPP years)

Gifts run about 20% of revenue. Most recent filing (FY2023): $12.3M.

FY18FY19$30.5MFY20PPPFY21PPPFY22FY23

FY2020–21 shown lighter — PPP loans inflated contributions those years, so they’re left out of the trend, consistency, and share-of-revenue math.

Figures are nominal, not inflation-adjusted; roughly 20% cumulative inflation over this window means flat giving is a real-terms decline.

TREND · 4-YEAR
WHAT IS HOW THE TREND READ IS BUILT?

The direction of contributions and grants (IRS Form 990 Part VIII line 1h) over the school’s non-PPP filings. We average the earliest half of the years and compare that to the latest half — so one big year at either end can’t drive the read on its own.

Bands with four or more usable years: a change of at least +20% reads GROWING, at least -20% reads ERODING, anything between reads FLAT. With only three usable years we hold to a stricter ±30% gate on the verdict and label the cell “direction only” so it can’t disagree with the verdict.

What would move it: a capital campaign, a lapsed lead donor, a Head-led development push. Caveat: the 990 folds annual fund and campaign gifts into one line, so we can’t split them here.

SOURCE
IRS Form 990 Part VIII line 1h (contributions & grants). Learn more →
Flat

Contributions held roughly steady — $17.8M (FY2018-2019) vs $19.6M (FY2022-2023).

CONSISTENCY
WHAT IS HOW THE CONSISTENCY READ IS BUILT?

How steadily contributions come in year to year — we measure how far each non-PPP year swings from the school’s typical one (a coefficient of variation).

Bands with four or more usable years: swings under 30% of the typical year read STEADY, 30-60% read VARIABLE, above 60% read VOLATILE. A single year more than three times the typical one, landing in the latest two years, is a spike override to VOLATILE-FRAGILE.

Not scored when the average giving base runs under $10k, or when a year is negative (a refund or restatement). Caveat: this is the honest proxy for donor concentration — Schedule B is redacted on public 990s, so we’re reading the pattern, not the roster.

SOURCE
IRS Form 990 Part VIII line 1h (contributions & grants). Learn more →
Variable

Year-to-year gifts move in a wider band — could be campaign timing, could be a smaller circle of larger donors. The 990 doesn’t say which.

Small-sample estimate.

SHARE OF REVENUE
WHAT IS HOW THE SHARE-OF-REVENUE READ IS BUILT?

Gifts and grants as a share of total revenue, averaged over the non-PPP years — the fingerprint of a giving culture versus tuition-only economics.

Bands: under 5% reads TRANSACTIONAL (the school runs largely on tuition; a Head-led push would be building the muscle from a low base). Between 5% and 10% reads TYPICAL for a day school — a real, working annual fund. Above 10% reads STRONG CULTURE — a defining piece of the budget.

Not scored with fewer than three non-PPP filings, or when the school doesn’t break out total revenue on its 990. What it can’t see: whether that share is annual fund, capital campaign, or grant.

SOURCE
IRS Form 990 Part VIII (contributions divided by total revenue). Learn more →
Strong culture

Gifts run about 20% of revenue — a defining piece of the budget. This reads as an established giving culture, not a nice-to-have.

FINANCIAL CUSHION
WHAT IS HOW THE FINANCIAL CUSHION READ IS BUILT?

The school’s reserves against a year of operating expense (net assets ÷ annual operating cost), taken from the same 990 balance sheets. We never publish a back-calculated endowment dollar — that estimate is unreliable.

Bands: under 0.5 years reads NO CUSHION — a soft year lands straight on operations. Between 0.5 and 1 reads MODEST. Between 1 and 2 reads SOLID. Above 2 reads STRONG.

When the balance-sheet ratio isn’t reported we fall back to investment income: median under about $25k/year reads NO CUSHION; more than that reads RESERVE PRESENT without sizing the endowment. Not scored with fewer than three non-PPP filings. Caveat: reserves include property and plant, so this is a rough cushion, not spendable cash.

SOURCE
IRS Form 990 balance sheet (net assets ÷ annual operating expense). Learn more →
Strong

Reserves exceed twice the annual budget — a strong cushion behind the school.

Reserves include property and plant, which aren’t spendable — read this as a rough cushion, not a war chest. We don’t back-calculate an endowment dollar figure from investment income; that estimate is unreliable.

STATE SCHOLARSHIP TAX-CREDIT LEVER

Qualified Education Expense Tax Credit (Georgia GOAL). Individuals and businesses get a dollar-for-dollar Georgia income-tax credit for gifts to approved student scholarship organizations; Georgia GOAL is the largest. This is a structural fundraising channel this school’s state enables — a lever schools in states without such a program simply don’t have.

Program landscape verified as of 2026 and changes often; shown as market context, not tax advice, and not a statement that this school participates. Verify current program status and eligibility.

LOCAL MARKET CONTEXT

The surrounding 45-minute area includes 3 higher-capacity communities — market context only, not a read on this school’s donor base. Independent-school giving is relationship-based (parents, grandparents, alumni) and those relationships reach well beyond geography.

WHAT THE 990 CAN’T TELL YOU

Three things public 990s don’t disclose, so we don’t guess:

  • Donor concentration. Schedule B (top donors) is redacted on public filings, so we can’t show whether one or two families drive the total. The year-to-year swings above are the closest available proxy.
  • Government-grant share. The 990 folds grants into the contributions line with no clean sub-total, so PPP years in particular inflate the raw figure. FY2020 and FY2021 are excluded from every calculation above.
  • Cost per dollar raised. Fundraising expense is reported so inconsistently on school 990s (many report zero) that the ratio would mislead — so we don’t show it.
HOW TO READ THIS

Every number here comes from this school’s own IRS Form 990. The bar shows contributions and grants (Part VIII line 1h) as reported, year by year. The trend, consistency, share-of-revenue, and reserve cushion reads are all computed from those same filings. Nothing here comes from outside data about the surrounding area.

Four signals build the read. TREND compares the average of the earliest half of the years to the average of the latest half, so one big year can’t drive the direction. CONSISTENCY reads year-to-year swings — a broad donor base moves less than reliance on a few large relationships. SHARE OF REVENUE compares gifts to total revenue — the fingerprint of a giving culture vs. tuition-only economics. FINANCIAL CUSHION reads investment income and net assets — is there a reserve behind the operating budget or not?

PPP years (FY2020, FY2021) are excluded from every calculation. Many independent schools booked PPP loans as contributions on the 990, so those two years overstate real giving. They still show on the bar, greyed and tagged “PPP,” so nothing is hidden.

The verdict is a direction, not a rating. GROWING, FLAT, ERODING, VOLATILE-FRAGILE — a plain read of how the school’s own giving history has moved. A “worth asking in diligence” prompt sits underneath because the 990 tells you the shape, not the story behind it.

Three things the 990 can’t tell you. Donor concentration (Schedule B is redacted on public filings). Government-grant share (folded into the contributions line, no clean sub-total). Cost per dollar raised (fundraising expense is reported too inconsistently to trust). Named as gaps rather than filled with guesses.

IRS 990Contributions & grants (Part VIII line 1h) · tax years 2018–2023IRS 990Investment income + net assets (balance sheet) · same filingsCENSUS + IRSlocal giving-climate context only
COMPETITIVE POSITION

COMPETITIVE POSITION

GA · Georgia Promise Scholarship — a private-pay + publicly-funded-choice market.

State K-12 private-school-choice policy is changing on a legislative-session cadence; this entry was verified in mid-2026 and is shown as market context, not enrollment advice, and not a statement that this school participates or that any given family will qualify. Verify current program status, eligibility, and award amount with the state administrator before relying on it.

HOW WE READ COMPETITION
WHAT IS HOW WE READ COMPETITION?

Market fill is a single unduplicated ratio: total private-school enrollment inside the school’s 45-minute drive-time catchment ÷ school-age children in $200k+ households in that catchment. Bands: under 0.5 reads OPEN FIELD, 0.5-0.85 reads BALANCED, 0.85-1.1 reads CROWDED, 1.1 or above reads OVERSATURATED (private capacity already exceeds the affording pool).

The by-band chart is a relative-pressure read: each band’s private capacity is rescaled by that band’s share of school-age children (elementary 6/13, middle 3/13, high 4/13) so a K-12 school isn’t double-counted against a slice of the pool. Bars and hero sit on the same seats-per-affording-child scale.

Thin-market guard: when the affording pool inside the drive is under about 1,000 children we don’t call a verdict — the ratios get too noisy in isolated markets.

Sources: private-school counts come from the NCES Private School Universe Survey (biennial, currently the 2021-22 vintage); public and charter counts from the NCES Common Core of Data via the Urban Institute Education Data Portal; the affording pool from the U.S. Census ACS $200k+ bracket; drive-time areas from OpenStreetMap via openrouteservice.

What we can’t see: each competitor’s tuition, selectivity, or waitlist; the actual choice set a family weighs; the school’s own realized yield. A precise concentration score (HHI) waits on the PSS enrollment-history backfill.

SOURCE
NCES Private School Universe Survey, NCES Common Core of Data via Urban Institute Education Data Portal, U.S. Census ACS, OpenStreetMap / openrouteservice. Learn more →
THE READ · MARKET STRUCTURE IN THE CATCHMENT

A balanced market. About 244 private schools within 45 minutes; private seats fill roughly 57% of the affording-family pool.

WORTH ASKING IN DILIGENCE

With runway in the market, what's kept enrollment from capturing more of it — awareness, price, or program?

RELATIVE PRESSURE BY GRADE BAND
Elementary
0.52×
Middle 6–8
0.50×
High 9–12
0.40×
Oversupplied (>1.0)Room to grow (<1.0)A band this school serves

Relative pressure = per-band capacity of the schools that serve this band, divided by the same-band slice of the 45-minute affording pool. Above 1.0, that share of local capacity already exceeds its slice of the affording pool. Bands read on the same seats-per-affording-child scale as the market-wide fill above, so a school can sit in a "balanced" market while one band runs tighter than the others.

Overall market fill (unduplicated): about 57% of the affording-family pool sits in a private seat.

MARKET FILL · UNDUPLICATED
Balanced

Private seats fill about 57% of the affording-family pool across the catchment — this school serves elementary, middle, and high.

MARKET DENSITY
Very dense

244 private schools, about 49,812 seats, 114 nonsectarian, within 45 minutes.

Whether that count is rising or falling needs the biennial PSS backfill.

CONCENTRATION & MIX
Fragmented

No single school dominates 244 players — a fragmented market. About 47% are nonsectarian.

A precise concentration score (HHI) needs per-school enrollment history.

PUBLIC & CHARTER OPTION
Heavy

The county runs 200 public schools enrolling 139,584 students, including 37 charters — the free alternative families weigh.

County figures here cover only the school’s home county — the school’s 45-minute draw area can span several counties, so county-grain signals describe the core of the market, not all of it.

Its enrollment trend (the demand mirror) needs the annual CCD backfill.

WHAT THIS PANEL CAN’T SEE

Each competitor’s tuition, selectivity, or waitlist; the actual choice set a given family weighs; the school’s own realized yield against these rivals. PSS is biennial and released on a ~2-year lag — read direction over precision.

WHAT PRACTITIONERS WATCH
  • Private-seat saturation of the affording pool — how full the market already is, by grade band.
  • Competitive density and its trend — whether the field is thickening or thinning (entries vs closures).
  • Market concentration and the same-format competitor set — raw counts overstate the threat.
  • Public and charter free capacity — the alternative that anchors the demand mirror.
BY THE NUMBERS · PUBLIC & PRIVATE COUNTS
200
PUBLIC SCHOOLS IN COUNTY
Urban Institute · CCD 2022
139,584
PUBLIC K-12 ENROLLMENT
The pool families choose between
37
CHARTER SCHOOLS
Public-school alternatives in county
58%
PUBLIC FREE/REDUCED LUNCH
County need indicator · CCD 2023
FAMILIES THE SCHOOL CAN REALISTICALLY REACH — WITHIN ABOUT A 45-MINUTE DRIVE
87,097
AFFORDING SCHOOL-AGE CHILDREN
Est. in $200K+ households (45-min drive)
213 / 149 / 98
COMPETING PRIVATE SCHOOLS
Elementary / middle / high
114
OF THOSE, NONSECTARIAN
Non-religious independents
MARKET SATURATION

Across the whole 45-minute market, 244 private schools enroll about 49,812 students in total, against the 87,097 school-age children in families who can likely afford tuition. Private enrollment fills roughly 57% of the affording pool — a partly-saturated market.

Total enrollment summed across every distinct private school in the catchment, each counted once (NCES PSS); the by-band count above overlaps (a K–12 school appears in all three bands), so it exceeds the 244 distinct schools here. Affording pool is a conservative $200K+ proxy, so a ratio near 1 signals a market that also serves families below that line.

The most-saturated grade band here reads as an oversupplied middle-school market — more private seats than the local affording-family pool can fill, so schools compete hard for enrollment.

Estimated net revenue per student: $36,977 — about 39% of the draw area's $94,164 median household income. IRS 990 program revenue ÷ enrollment; net of financial aid, not list tuition.

How this market estimate is built
WHAT IS HOW THE INDEPENDENT-SCHOOL MARKET ESTIMATE IS BUILT?

Affording children estimates school-age (5–17) residents in households earning $200K+ within a 45-minute drive of the school, summed from Census ACS ZIP-level data over the drive-time catchment. Competing private schools counts the NCES Private School Universe within that same 45-minute drive by grade band; a K–12 school counts in every band it serves. The $200K cutoff is the available ACS bracket and is a conservative affordability proxy — many independent-school families earn less and pay with aid — so read the figure as a relative market signal across schools, not an exact addressable count. The biennial PSS vintage is a v1 limitation.

SOURCE
NCES Private School Universe Survey + U.S. Census ACS Learn more →
What does public K-12 enrollment tell you?
WHAT IS WHAT DOES PUBLIC K-12 ENROLLMENT TELL YOU?

This is the count of students enrolled in public K-12 schools in the county, from the NCES Common Core of Data via the Urban Institute Education Data Portal. It sizes the public-school pool that families weigh against an independent option.

SCOPE

This is a county aggregate, not a measurement of any single public school, and not a rating of any school. HiveCheck does not rate individual schools. Use it to read the scale and structure of the public-school market, not to compare named schools.

ATTRIBUTION

NCES Common Core of Data (CCD), via Education Data Portal, Urban Institute, under ODC Attribution License.

SOURCE
NCES Common Core of Data (CCD), via Education Data Portal, Urban Institute, under ODC Attribution License. Learn more →
MARKET STRUCTURE

This county runs a relatively consolidated public market: about 200 public schools serving roughly 139,584 students, an average near 698 per school. 37 of those are charter schools, a public alternative that competes for the same families an independent school can enroll from.

A note on quality signals
WHAT IS A NOTE ON QUALITY SIGNALS?

Any public-school signal HiveCheck shows here is a county-level aggregate, not a rating of any individual school. HiveCheck does not rate schools. Where we report a coarse signal (school counts, public enrollment), read it as the shape of the competitive market, not a quality judgment on a named campus.

ATTRIBUTION

NCES Common Core of Data (CCD), via Education Data Portal, Urban Institute, under ODC Attribution License.

SOURCE
NCES Common Core of Data (CCD), via Education Data Portal, Urban Institute, under ODC Attribution License. Learn more →
HOW TO USE THE COMPETITIVE SIGNAL

The NCES Common Core of Data is the federal census of U.S. public schools, sourced here through the Urban Institute Education Data Portal. The signal is market scale and structure: how many K-12 students sit in the public-school pipeline in this county, and how consolidated (few schools, large enrollment) or fragmented (many schools, smaller enrollment) that market is.

A county with a large, consolidated public system behaves very differently from one with many smaller schools and charter alternatives. An independent school reads this to understand switching dynamics and how much of the local market is already committed to a public option.

Every figure here is a county aggregate, not a school-level rating. NCES Common Core of Data (CCD), via Education Data Portal, Urban Institute, under ODC Attribution License.

SOURCE
NCES Common Core of Data (CCD), via Education Data Portal, Urban Institute, under ODC Attribution License. Learn more →
URBAN INSTITUTEEducation Data Portal · CCD 2022OSM / ORS45-min drive-time catchmentCENSUS ACSAffording-family pool
ENROLLMENT & DEMAND PROFILE

ENROLLMENT & DEMAND PROFILE

HOW WE READ DEMAND
WHAT IS HOW WE READ DEMAND?

The trajectory verdict is anchored on the school’s own IRS Form 990 tuition-and-fees line (Part VIII line 2) — realized demand in nominal dollars, year by year. We average the earliest half of the years and compare to the latest half. Bands: growth of at least +20% reads EXPANDING, +5% to +20% reads STEADY, -5% to +5% reads SOFTENING, below -5% reads ERODING. When year-to-year swings dominate (a coefficient of variation of 20% or more, four-plus years) the verdict flips to STRAINED.

RESILIENCE is the honest stand-in for retention — we can’t see the admissions system, so we read how tightly the tuition-revenue series holds together. PRICING compares 990-derived net revenue per student to local median household income, with bands at 15% and 30%. DEMAND PIPELINE reads county live births, a ~5-year leading indicator: +5% or higher is a tailwind, -5% to -15% a headwind, below -15% a cliff.

What this profile can’t see: retention, the admissions funnel (inquiries → applications → yield), waitlist depth, summer melt, and whether the trajectory is price or headcount. The 990 shows enrollment × price, not the two apart.

Births-series notes: 2020 is absent — the Census skipped that vintage. When a county’s series ends more than two years ago we don’t call a pipeline (Connecticut’s counties were redrawn in 2022, so most CT schools sit on legacy FIPS with no post-2019 rows).

SOURCE
IRS Form 990 Part VIII line 2 (tuition & fees) and U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (county births). Learn more →
THE READ · FROM 6 YEARS OF 990s

Demand is steady. Tuition & fees have held around $67.1M a year — up about 23% over 2018–2023 in nominal dollars, roughly flat once inflation is netted out.

WORTH ASKING IN DILIGENCE

Is enrollment holding while tuition rises, or is headcount slipping under a higher sticker price? The 990 can't separate the two.

$70.3Ma year in tuition & fees (FY2023) · +23% over 2018–2023
$57.0MFY18FY19FY20FY21FY22$70.3MFY23

Program-service revenue (IRS 990 Part VIII line 2) — tuition & fees, which PPP loans never touched, so every year counts. This is enrollment × price; the 990 can’t split the two.

Figures are nominal; roughly 20% cumulative inflation over this window means flat tuition revenue is a real-terms decline.

TUITION-BASE TRAJECTORY
Holding

Ran about $58.6M a year early on (FY2018–FY2020) versus $67.1M lately (FY2021–FY2023) — the base held its shape across the window.

RESILIENCE
Variable

Year-to-year moves widen a bit, and grew straight through 2020–21. It’s the closest read we have on retention, which lives only in the school’s admissions system.

PRICING vs LOCAL MEANS
Aid territory

Net revenue runs about $37K per student — roughly 39% of the area’s $94K median household income, against 87,097 school-age children in $200k+ households within the drive.

DEMAND PIPELINE
Headwind

County births ran about 12,645 a year in 2011–2016 and about 11,924 in 2018–2024 (-6%) — the pool that reaches kindergarten in ~5 years is shrinking.

13,0301112,26724

County figures here cover only the school’s home county — the school’s 45-minute draw area can span several counties, so county-grain signals describe the core of the market, not all of it.

Births are the earliest demand signal — this year's births are kindergarten demand in about five years.

WHAT THIS PROFILE CAN’T SEE

Retention and re-enrollment (the sector’s single most-watched enrollment metric), the admissions funnel (inquiries → applications → yield) and summer melt, waitlist depth, and whether the trajectory above is price or headcount — all live only in the school’s own admissions system. Named as gaps, not filled with guesses.

WHAT PRACTITIONERS WATCH
  • Enrollment trajectory. Direction first, magnitude second, volatility third — the headline every trustee wants to see.
  • Retention / re-enrollment. The leading indicator of school health. Lives in the SIS, so the resilience read above is the honest stand-in.
  • Net tuition per student vs. local income. The affordability squeeze — a rising ratio narrows the addressable pool.
  • County births and the affording pool. The ~5-year leading indicators for kindergarten demand and paying capacity.
BY THE NUMBERS · MIGRATION & HOME PRICES
-2,799 returns
NET MIGRATION (HIGH-AGI)
IRS SOI migration TY2022 · high-AGI
-$644.6M
NET AGI FLOW
Money following the moves
+11.8%
HOME-PRICE TREND (3-YR)
FHFA HPI · ZIP3 303
rising
HOME-PRICE DIRECTION
Wealth-direction proxy
FHFA HOUSE PRICE INDEX · ZIP3 303
Home-price index trend: +11.8% over three years, rising.486.43

FHFA House Price Index over available quarters for ZIP3 303.

WHO IS MOVING
50,093
INBOUND RETURNS
Filed by households moving in
52,892
OUTBOUND RETURNS
Filed by households moving out

Home prices are still rising even as affluent households move out, so the appreciation is being driven by existing owners rather than new arrivals.

What does net migration tell you?
WHAT IS WHAT DOES NET MIGRATION TELL YOU?

Net migration is the inflow minus the outflow of tax returns for the county, read as a proxy for households moving in or out. A positive number means more affluent households arrived than left; a negative number is the reverse. The sign carries the meaning.

METHOD

HiveCheck reads the upper adjusted-gross-income brackets of the IRS Statistics of Income county-to-county migration file, so the signal weights toward the households a school recruits and cultivates.

CAVEATS

IRS SOI migration is released on roughly a two-year lag and is reported at the county level. Post-pandemic flows are noisier than historical norms, so read direction over precision.

SOURCE
Source: IRS Statistics of Income. Learn more →
What does the home-price trend tell you?
WHAT IS WHAT DOES THE HOME-PRICE TREND TELL YOU?

The FHFA House Price Index tracks repeat sales of the same homes over time, so it reads price direction cleanly without being skewed by the mix of what sold. HiveCheck reports the trailing three-year percent change and a one-word direction (rising, flat, or cooling) as a wealth-direction proxy.

SCOPE

Home-price data is published at the 3-digit ZIP / metro level, a broader area than the rest of this section, which works at the ZIP5 or county grain. Read it as regional context, not a block-level read.

WHY FHFA

HiveCheck uses FHFA because it is U.S. federal public-domain data with a clean repeat-sales method, rather than a proprietary consumer index with restrictive licensing.

SOURCE
Source: Federal Housing Finance Agency, House Price Index. Learn more →
IRS 990Tuition & fees · Part VIII line 2CENSUS PEPCounty birthsIRS SOICounty migration TY2022FHFAHouse price index · ZIP3 303
QUESTIONS TO ASK · INTERVIEW PREP

Five questions to ask the search committee

Generated from anomalies in this school's public IRS Form 990 filings. Each question is anchored to a specific number so you can defend asking it. The point is not to interrogate — it is to show the board you have read the school carefully.

  1. Contributions and investment income are a real part of the revenue mix, about 14% and 6% respectively on the latest 990. Who are the school's most strategic donors and partners right now, and what's the alumni engagement story?

    TRIGGERED BY: CONTRIBUTIONS 14% + INVESTMENT INCOME 6% OF REVENUE

  2. The balance sheet carries roughly 4.2 years of operating cushion, a sizable position. What's the board's framework for when and how the school spends from those reserves versus protects them?

    TRIGGERED BY: NET ASSETS / OPEX = 4.2 YEARS

  3. FY2023 closed with a negative operating margin on the 990. What's the path back to break-even, and over what time horizon does the board expect to get there?

    TRIGGERED BY: OPERATING MARGIN -13.6% FY2023

  4. Given the financial picture in recent filings, has the board engaged outside consulting support (strategic, financial, or operational) and what work has come out of that?

    TRIGGERED BY: OP MARGIN OR NET ASSETS TRAJECTORY NEGATIVE

  5. Your public filings show expenses growing faster than revenue over the last three years. How is the board thinking about the long-term operating model: a deliberate investment phase, or a trend you're working to bend?

    TRIGGERED BY: EXPENSE CAGR 5.8% VS REVENUE CAGR -3.9% (3-YEAR)

These are starting points, not a script. The strongest version of any question becomes specific once you walk the campus and meet the team.

TOP COMPENSATED · SCHEDULE J · FY2023
POSITION
TOTAL COMP
President and CEO/Board Member
$1,073,017
President and CEO/Board Member
$960,885
Treasurer/CFO/COO
$540,183
VP for Instit'l Advancement
$474,866
CFO
$466,492

Roles and compensation as filed on the public IRS Form 990 Schedule J. Individual names are withheld.

GOVERNANCE

Board of trustees (IRS Form 990, Part VII)

Showing FY2023
FILING YEAR
33
Voting members
Total board size
29
Independent
No financial conflict
88%
% Independent
IRS Part VI Q1b
TITLE
NAME
Vice Chair-Board of Trustees
Allison Bolch Moran
Chair- Board of Trustees
Katharine W Kelley
President and CEO/Board Member
Keith A Evans
Trustee
Angela Hsu
Trustee
Austin Stephens
Trustee
Bill Plybon
Trustee
Brand Morgan
Trustee
Clare Draper
Trustee
D Scott Weimer
Trustee
Dana Weeks Ugwonali
Trustee
David Cummings
Trustee
David M Love
Trustee
Elizabeth Kilcullen Blake
Trustee
Floyd C Newton III
Trustee
Ira Jackson
Trustee
J Donald Childress
Trustee
Jack Halpern
Trustee
Janet M Lavine
Trustee
Jeffrey P Small JR
Trustee
Joel Murphy
Trustee
Kelly Regal
Trustee
Leslie Patterson
Trustee
Lisa Olivetti Mcgahan
Trustee
Louise Scott Sams
Trustee
Marilyn S Black
+9 MORE TRUSTEES NOT SHOWN
IRSForm 990 Part VII · FY2023 · Officers, Directors, TrusteesNames and titles appear as filed on the school's public Form 990, Part VII. President, secretary, and treasurer are corporate officer roles every 501(c)(3) is required to fill — statutory positions on the charter and filing, not a map of who runs the school day to day.
SOURCES & FRESHNESS

Compiled by Lomuscio Labs on July 19, 2026 from verified public datasets — IRS Form 990 (through FY2024), U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-year estimates, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Education NCES, BEA, and HUD. Data was last refreshed 2026-05-13.

Community & Market section sources: Source: IRS Statistics of Income. NCES Common Core of Data (CCD), via Education Data Portal, Urban Institute, under ODC Attribution License. Source: Federal Housing Finance Agency, House Price Index. Drive-time areas: map data © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), routing via openrouteservice.org.