Avondale Meadows Academy Inc D/b/a United Schools of Indianapolis

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
134289579
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Indianapolis, IN, USA
Phone
3175503363
Rating
76
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Charter Schools

Reported finances

Revenue
$16,715,289
Expenses
$16,530,505
Assets
$30,660,684
Liabilities
$20,144,751

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

Leadership & pay

17 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • DARIUS ADAMSON (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR (START MARCH 2025))
  • KELLY HERRON (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR (END MARCH 2025))

Highest reported compensation

  • KELLY HERRON (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR (END MARCH 2025)): $203,980 total reported compensation
  • JANIE SEIVERS (DIRECTOR OF BUSINESS AFFAIRS): $145,797 total reported compensation
  • KRISTEN STRATTON (DIRECTOR OF STUDENT SERVICES): $145,628 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

See part i, line 1

What it reported doing in 2024

Avondale meadows academy, inc. Dba united schools of indianapolis (usi) operates three charter schools in indianapolis, Indiana. The first, avondale meadows academy ("ama"), was founded to serve students in the avondale meadows community of indianapolis who otherwise did not have access to quality public schools. It opened in 2006 under the name challenge foundation academy. In spring 2014, ama changed the name to avondale meadows academy to reflect the ties to the local community. Ama in grades k-5. In fall 2014, usi opened a second school, vision academy @ riverside ("var"), on the west side of indianapolis. Var serves grades k - 8 and is near its capacity of 460 students. In fall 2017, usi opened avondale meadows middle school (amm) in an expansion to the current ama facility. Amms has the capacity to serve 300 students in grades 6-8. Currently, their enrollment is 165.all usi schools are tuition-free quality public charter schools and their work is driven by their mission to ensure every student realizes their full potential by providing each student with what he/she needs to be successful.

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.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Expenses are high relative to revenue and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 69
  • Transparency & Controls: 74
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 42
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 66.9%; rating input score 67
  • Program expense ratio: 66.7%; rating input score 67
  • Fundraising efficiency: $109.12 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 85; 85th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 2 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 33
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Pass
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 66th 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: 1.1%; rating input score 38; 38th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.85; rating input score 59; 59th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.66; rating input score 19; 19th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 6.1%; rating input score 42; 42nd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 5.3% per year; rating input score 100; 44th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 9.2% per year; rating input score 100; 71st percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 9.9% per year; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 66.9% of revenue deployed · 66.7% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 9 of 9 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $11M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $204K · 17 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $1.4M reported
  • Consistency: 32 of 32 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2009 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 7 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
  • 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.
  • Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.

Key Signals

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

  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 38/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Other executive compensation review process not reported.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 59/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 19/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 42/100.