Arts Academy Elementary Charter School

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
473603998
IRS 990 coverage
2016–2023
Forms available
Form 990 2023
Location
Allentown, PA, USA
Phone
6108414560
Rating
76
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Charter Schools

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$8,872,782
Expenses
$8,524,288
Assets
$10,276,904
Liabilities
$9,198,006

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2023. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

8 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Amy Best (President)
  • Rosalee Sabo (Vice President)
  • Aldo Cavalli (CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • Aldo Cavalli (CEO): $125,235 total reported compensation
  • Cristal McCollum (Principal): $113,745 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2023. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

The Arts Academy Elementary Charter School To provide a rich and comprehensive educational program for students in grades K-5 by employing an intensive artistic immersion program. A rigorous and traditional academic program will be enhanced with rich and

What it reported doing in 2023

Arts Academy Elementary Charter School is an independent charter school with a primary purpose to provide education to grades Kindergarden to 5th while meeting and exceeding state academic standards.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 100% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
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.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and a large share of available resources goes toward mission work. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 63
  • Transparency & Controls: 90
  • Accountability: 84
  • Sustainability: 45
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 69.7%; rating input score 70
  • Program expense ratio: 72.7%; rating input score 73
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 5 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 62
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 3.9%; rating input score 49; 49th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.21; rating input score 44; 44th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.9; rating input score 8; 8th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 2.8%; rating input score 70; 70th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 11.3% per year; rating input score 100; 69th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 8.1% per year; rating input score 100; 61st percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 33.4% per year; rating input score 100; 94th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 69.7% of revenue deployed · 72.7% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 6 of 6 board members independent · 5 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $6.2M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $125K · 8 people listed
  • Highest-paid contractors: 2 contractors listed · $750K reported
  • Consistency: 31 of 31 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 8 filing years from 2016 to 2023
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
  • 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.

  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 8 not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 49/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 44/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 8/100.