Is it real?
Yes. Never revoked by the IRS. Latest filing on record: FY2025. IRS ruling in Oct 2019.
IRS Pub. 78 · IRS Auto-Revocation List · IRS Business Master File
Where the money goes
67 cents of each dollar spent went to programs.
Form 990 Part IX, line 25, columns B–D. Every line is in By the numbers.
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Who runs it and what they're paid
7 people listed on the 990; $93K paid to officers and key staff.
Grace Louis’s $93K as Head of School is at the 26th percentile of top reported officer pay among 3395 $1–10M education nonprofits. Peer set: organizations in the same NTEE major field of work and revenue-size band, compared on each org’s own highest-paid officer/key-employee, from Form 990 Part VII / 990-PF Part VIII. Descriptive placement, not a verdict on whether the pay is appropriate.
Compensation history total reportable pay by year · 1 named individual · Part VII
| Name | FY2025 | FY2024 | FY2023 | FY2022 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grace Louis | $92,700 | $92,700 | $83,315 | $74,414 |
Total reportable compensation (Form 990 Part VII column D / Schedule J column E) by filing year, matched by name within this organization. The Schedule J base / bonus / deferred breakdown is not parsed into this dataset.
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Questions the 990 asks
The form asks each of these directly. These are the filed answers.
- Family or business ties among officersPt VI · Ln 2No
- Top official's pay set by an independent reviewPt VI · Ln 15aYes
Programs and updates
Integrates Buddhist wisdom and compassion with progressive education to foster kind, wise, and disciplined students.
Questions for Middle Way School
Your first name shows with your question. Middle Way School answers here, for everyone.
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MWS is one of the first Buddhist-based independent elementary schools for children in the West. MWS's central mission is to infuse academics and all other activities at the school with Buddhist wisdom and compassion.
Funders
Who pays for it.
From grant filings on record. Receipts are incomplete: individual donors are never listed.
Grants
By the numbers
The FY2025 990, line by line.
Download 990
| Line | Start FY25 | End FY25 |
|---|---|---|
| Cash and savingsLn 1–2 | $634K | $368K |
| Land, buildings, equipmentLn 10c | $1.1M | $13K |
| Total assetsLn 16 | $1.8M | $647K |
| LiabilitiesLn 26 | $156K | $164K |
| Net assetsLn 32 | $1.6M | $483K |
| Line | Total | Programs | Management | Fundraising |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grants to domestic individualsLn 2 | $457K | $457K | ||
| Pay of current officers, directors and key staffLn 5 | $93K | $55K | $37K | |
| Other salaries and wagesLn 7 | $1.6M | $929K | $628K | |
| Other employee benefitsLn 9 | $10K | $10K | ||
| Payroll taxesLn 10 | $130K | $78K | $52K | |
| Legal feesLn 11b | $2K | $2K | ||
| Accounting feesLn 11c | $14K | $14K | ||
| Advertising and promotionLn 12 | $14K | $5K | $8K | $919 |
| Office expensesLn 13 | $6K | $2K | $4K | $231 |
| Information technologyLn 14 | $5K | $2K | $3K | |
| OccupancyLn 16 | $28K | $5K | $23K | |
| TravelLn 17 | $10K | $6K | $4K | |
| Depreciation, depletion and amortizationLn 22 | $233K | $233K | ||
| InsuranceLn 23 | $13K | $13K | ||
| Other expenses (24a–d)Ln 24 | $132K | $68K | $63K | $680 |
| All other expensesLn 24e | $49K | $8K | $26K | $15K |
| Total functional expensesLn 25 | $2.8M | $1.8M | $888K | $16K |
Filing history
| Year | Money in | Money out | In minus out | Net assets | Download |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2025 Latest Viewing | $2.5M | $2.8M | −$280K | $483K | 990 PDF |
| FY2024 | $2.3M | $2.4M | −$40K | $1.6M | 990 PDF |
| FY2023 | $1.8M | $1.5M | $290K | $1.7M | 990 PDF |
| FY2022 | $1.1M | $1.2M | −$78K | $1.4M | 990 PDF |
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Schedules filed Part IV
See the full FY2025 990 (6 parts)
Part I · Summary $2,472,622 revenue, 12 lines filed
Part VI · Governance 6 of 7 board members independent, 2 to look at
Part VIII · Statement of revenue $2,472,622 across 6 lines filed
Part IX · Statement of functional expenses $2,752,205 across 16 lines filed
Part X · Balance sheet $646,684 assets, 13 lines filed
Part XI · Reconciliation of net assets $482,982 net assets at year end
Form 990 e-file (XML) FY2025 from the IRS · Classification, formation year and address from the IRS Business Master File
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