Garden School

City-funded organization

Garden School is a NYSAIS-accredited, nonprofit independent school (EIN 11-1631783) serving Nursery through grade 12 in Jackson Heights, Queens, founded in 1923, per the school's own website; its IRS Form 990 filings on ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer show Head of School Christopher Herman's total compensation was $394,907 in the most recent year reported. The school has held $33 million in New York City Department of Education and Department of Parks and Recreation contracts since 2012, all now inactive, primarily for Universal Pre-Kindergarten services, and has been paid $29 million to date. 27% of that contract value ($9 million across 3 contracts) was awarded without a fresh competitive bid, per Checkbook NYC's award-method labels: a $6 million UPK contract marked "Negotiated contract," a $3 million UPK contract marked "Renewal (not re-bid)," and a $360,000 Parks Department contract for a real-property purchase option in Queens (block 1251, lot 20), marked "Negotiated (real-property/other)." Its largest contract, an $11 million UPK-BTF award that ended in 2026, was competitively bid through RFP. The school has also received one City Council discretionary funding award of $7,000

Industry (per city contracts)
Human Services
City contracts
none active as of 2026-08-22 · $32,617,596 awarded since 2012
Paid to date
$29,067,094
Won without a fresh bid
27% of contract value · $8,952,016 · 3 contracts
Discretionary funding (FY2009-FY2027)
$7,000 · 1 awards
Top officer pay (FY2023)
$394,907 · Christopher Herman, Headmaster

Holds contracts at

City contracts

Registered city contracts, largest first by current contract value (not amount spent): running now, then registered to start later, then ended. Totals count every registered contract. Each line shows its Checkbook contract ID. The tag on each row is how it was awarded (“no-bid” = non-competitive).

Discretionary funding received

City Council discretionary (member-item) awards, largest first. Covers FY2009-FY2027.

Officer & key-staff pay

Reportable compensation from this organization's IRS Form 990 (Part VII), latest available filing (FY2023). Includes pay from related organizations where reported; an annual figure, not a running total. Source: ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer.

Officer pay over time

Total officer pay changed +70% from FY2020 to FY2023. Top-officer reportable compensation by year (org-paid only), with each year's share of total revenue. Source: ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer 990 filings.

Sources