Horizons Greater Washington Inc.

“The organization's form 990 is prepared by an outside cpa firm. The cpa firm then forwards a draft of the 990 to the executive director who then reviews the 990 with the organization's finance committee. Any necessary changes are made by the cpa firm. The final form 990 is sent to either the board chair or the chief financial officer for signature and filing with the irs.”

“Each director, officer and senior staff member is provided with and asked to acknowledge receipt of the conflict of interest policy. Annually, each director, officer and senior staff member must complete a conflict of interest disclosure form.”

“The compensation of the executive director and senior staff members must be approved by the organization's board of directors. In establishing this compensation, the 990's of other similar organizations are studied in order to determine that the compensation is reasonable. The approval of these salaries is documented in writing.”

“The organization makes its governing documents, conflict of interest policy and financial statements available to the public upon request.”

“Horizons greater washington is a free, out of school time academic enrichment program serving low-income public school students in kindergarden through 8th grade. Horizons delivers six weeks of summer programming with an emphasis on reading and "steam" (science, technology, engineering, arts, and math), plus project-based workshops on select school-year - saturdays. The program seeks to prepare economically disadvantaged youth for adult success by improving academic performance, increasing school attachment (including high school graduation rates), and teaching the skills required to thrive in the technolgy-intensive workforce of the future. In summer 2018, horizons served 371 students at three program sites; two in washington, dc and one in montgomery county, md.”

“Horizons is built on developing a passion for learning in children who are at risk for academic failure. We make use of independent schools' resources and facilities to develop the physical, emotional and educational capacities of 371 low-income children during a 6-week summer enrichment program and saturday program during the school year. Presented by professional, paid faculty with a 5:1 student teacher ratio, academics are taught in a hands-on, project-based style. But there are no tests, quizzes or workshops. Instead learning is interactive and engaging. Our academics are complemented by instruction in swimming and weekly field trips of academic or cultural significance. Horizons is unique compared to our peers in our concentration on long-term continuity of services and our focus on building confidence through swimming. Horizons students enroll in our program while in kindergarten and participate for nine summers. By providing a dependable and safe environment where students not only strengthen their aptitude, but also develop resiliency, horizons is able to significantly increase the likelihood that our students will graduate from high school. The goals of horizons are to: (1) improve students' school-year attendance and performance over time; (2) mitigate summer decline in students' academic achievement; (3) build self-esteem and raise students' aspirations and vision for success; and (4) support families in their efforts to be involved in their children's education. Results over multiple years show that horizons students show on average one to two months of growth in reading and math during the six-week summer session.”

“Prior year returns were prepared on an accrual basis but returns were inadvertently marked as cash basis reporting.”

“The organization's board implemented an oversight and selection process during the year for its initial financial statement audit for the year ended september 30, 2017. Together, the finance chair, a member of the finance commitee and the executive director developed a request for a proposal (rfp). The rfp was issued after researching accounting firms with vast nonprofit experience. Three responses were received. The committee selected an independent public accounting firm based on price and services offered after an extensive interview process.”