Alain Locke Charter School

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
364182397
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Chicago, IL, USA
Phone
3128936600
Rating
86
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Standard
Sector
Elementary, Secondary Education, K - 12

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$7,150,639
Expenses
$7,572,904
Assets
$5,564,745
Liabilities
$1,962,796

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

18 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • Catherine Burns (Chair / Director): $253,878 total reported compensation
  • Patrick Love (Principal): $238,691 total reported compensation
  • Jennifer Mitch (Instructor): $155,720 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Alain Locke Charter School serves as a demonstration for urban schools exemplifying excellence in academics, the arts, personal and social development, and preparing students who are globally competitive. One of Chicago's first public, open enrollment charter schools, Alain Locke Charter School is one of the most successful urban charter schools in the United States. Located in the heart of Chicago's West Side, Alain Locke Charter School serves students in grades Pre-K through 8. The Charter School is a wholly owned subsidiary of Accelerate Institute.

What it reported doing in 2024

Alain locke charter school (alain locke), named for the first african-american rhodes scholar, models absolute excellence in chicago's historically under served east garfield park neighborhood. With a learner-centered approach and a focus on preparing students for a successful college experience, the goal of alain locke is to serve as a model for innovative urban education and to produce students who are globally competitive. Offering an extended day and year-round program, alain locke provides elementary education for children in pre-kindergarten through eighth grade. Located in east garfield park on chicago's west side, the students are primarily african-american. At alain locke, more than 90% of the students are eligible for free or reduced lunch. Alain locke places emphasis on character education, along with a positive, disciplined, and nurturing school culture, and support for students in establishing patterns of success and becoming lifelong learners. Talented and dedicated educators are drawn to alain locke because of its commitment to providing quality professional development, as well as opportunities for leadership and to work collaboratively with colleagues.

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 90% of the money available for current operations came from government grants.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 100% of reported program-service expenses outside its grant, affiliate-payment, and member-benefit lines. This expense classification does not rule out separately announced grant awards.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Expenses are high relative to revenue and total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 98
  • Transparency & Controls: 79
  • Accountability: 85
  • Sustainability: 24
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 96.3%; rating input score 96
  • Fundraising efficiency: $220.69 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 92; 92nd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 1 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 17
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 81.8%; rating input score 82; 15th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 8 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 89
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -5.9%; rating input score 19; 19th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.73; rating input score 27; 27th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.35; rating input score 30; 30th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 9.1%; rating input score 33; 33rd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 3% per year; rating input score 100; 27th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 2.7% per year; rating input score 100; 25th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 10.5% per year; rating input score 100; 61st percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 96.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 9 of 11 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $7.3M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $254K · 18 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $410K reported
  • Consistency: 36 of 36 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 9 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 15 filing years from 2009 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 4 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
  • Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
  • People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 19/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 27/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Other executive compensation review process not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 30/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 33/100.