Pennsylvania · Nonprofit
THE EDUCATION CENTER AT THE WATSON INSTITUTE
THE EDUCATION CENTER AT THE WATSON INSTITUTE (Pennsylvania) receives grants from 2 organizations whose IRS filings report $305,809 to it, the largest being RICHARD KING MELLON FOUNDATION ($300,000). 0 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $30M
- Funders on record
- 2
- Grants received
- $306k
- Net assets
- $-13267842
What The Education Center at the Watson Institute does
Mission
The watson institute helps children with special needs achieve their fullest potential in all aspects of their lives.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Education center - an approved private school licensed with the pennsylvania department of education. Serves students ages 3 to 21 with autism, cerebal palsy, neurological impairments and other developmental disabilities. 407 students were served during fiscal year end june 30, 2025.
$28,286,438 spent$26,337,998 earned by the program92% of program spendingLeap preschool - 3 locations where children with autism are integrated with their typically developing peers. Behavioral and development techniques are used in this environment. 40 students were served during fiscal year end june 30, 2025.
$1,817,695 spent$1,609,675 earned by the program6% of program spendingIdea b - community-based instruction program - provides opportunities for students with severe disabilities to learn within the community. Program emphasizes community living skills, prevocational skills and functional academics needed for involvement and independence in a variety of settings. 120 students were served during fiscal year end june 30, 2025.
$130,267 spent$83,496 earned by the program0% of program spendingEsy - extended school year - special education or related services provided to children with autism, cerebal palsy, developmental delays, and other impairments outside of a standard schedule of school days within a school term. Esy served 309 students in fiscal year june 30, 2025.
$520,208 spent$1,584,989 earned by the program2% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $30,754,608.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2017, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2017, 50 means half. The number beside each label in the key is where it ended. The shaded band is where the middle 50% of its peers' revenue would sit, given their growth.
Balance sheet
Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2020 to 2021, from $35M to $42M (+21%).
How it's funded, over time
Each bar is one year's revenue split into where it came from, and every bar is the same height — these are shares, not amounts, so a year that raised twice as much looks the same size. Hover a bar for the split.
1% of THE EDUCATION CENTER AT THE WATSON INSTITUTE’s revenue is contributions — more earned-revenue than three-quarters of its peers (23% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 8 of the last 9 reported years ran a deficit.
reserve
Leadership and staff
The officers, directors, trustees and key employees listed on each return. Joined and no longer listed compare each filing with the year before, matching people by surname and first initial; a year after a gap, or a roster under three people, has no comparison.
Chief executive
Michele Trettel
Executive director
Board chair
Mark Hale
Chairperson
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
The chief executive listed changed between the FY2020 and FY2021 filings.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2022: the base held at 1 funder, grant income rose $6k → $300k.
1 of 2 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 2% of grant dollars received. That money is really individual donors directing a sponsor; the institutions to cultivate are the non-DAF funders.
From the IRS filings of THE EDUCATION CENTER AT THE WATSON INSTITUTE’s funders (the co-funder graph). Association, not causation. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
How concentrated its funding is
THE EDUCATION CENTER AT THE WATSON INSTITUTE leans on a few funders — its largest provides 98% of grant income and the top three 100%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 100% · 2022 100% — broadly stable.
“Effective funders” = inverse Herfindahl index (1 / Σ shareᵢ²) — the number of equal-sized funders that would give the same concentration. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
Where its funders are
100% of THE EDUCATION CENTER AT THE WATSON INSTITUTE's grant income comes from Pennsylvania funders.
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $6k arriving through sponsors registered in 1 state is excluded from the map and the split above: a sponsor holds money on a donor’s behalf, so its registered address would place those dollars somewhere no donor need ever have been. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
Against its field
THE EDUCATION CENTER AT THE WATSON INSTITUTE has grown faster than half of the 3,758 education nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 3,758 education nonprofits $10M–$100M, FY2025
Organizations like THE EDUCATION CENTER AT THE WATSON INSTITUTE
Organizations whose mission and program text most resemble this one, by semantic similarity over every organization in the US filings — the closest peers, and often the clearest route to shared or prospective funders.
In Pennsylvania
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
93% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 1 state
Part of a family of 2 related entities
- The Watson Institute · exempt
- The Watson Institute Friendship Academy · exempt
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for THE EDUCATION CENTER AT THE WATSON INSTITUTE: IRS status (Business Master File, Publication 78, auto-revocation), the OFAC sanctions lists, the Internal Revenue Bulletin, and California registration, with the Rev. Proc. 2018-32 §8.01 reliance elements stated element by element. Generated from the current files at the moment you download it.
Screens are triage, not determinations; a source that cannot be read reports not screened, never clear. Screen this nonprofit · How the screen works · on the API as GET /api/screening/{ein}?format=pdf
Questions and answers
- Who funds THE EDUCATION CENTER AT THE WATSON INSTITUTE?
- THE EDUCATION CENTER AT THE WATSON INSTITUTE (Pennsylvania) receives grants from 2 organizations whose IRS filings report $305,809 to it, the largest being RICHARD KING MELLON FOUNDATION ($300,000). 0 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does THE EDUCATION CENTER AT THE WATSON INSTITUTE have?
- IRS filings report 2 organizations giving $305,809 in grants to THE EDUCATION CENTER AT THE WATSON INSTITUTE.
- Who is the largest funder of THE EDUCATION CENTER AT THE WATSON INSTITUTE?
- RICHARD KING MELLON FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $300,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like THE EDUCATION CENTER AT THE WATSON INSTITUTE find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Pennsylvania. The funding by cause and by state pages list the largest funders for a given area and how to approach them.
Play a game about who funds Education Center at the Watson Institute →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2025 (financials across 2017–2025), and the filings of 2 funders that report grants to it. “On record” means captured in the filings we have parsed — a funder that does not e-file, or whose grant detail is not itemized, will not appear. Filings run roughly 12–24 months behind. Trends on this page end at FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving; later years are shown and marked, and move no figure. Data on this page was exported October 14, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing