Beacon Academy
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 200158631
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2010–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- Crystal, MN, USA
- Phone
- 7635469999
- Rating
- 80
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Primary, Elementary Schools
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $9,034,911
- Expenses
- $8,283,581
- Assets
- $4,079,888
- Liabilities
- $5,506,510
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
11 people listed
Highest reported compensation
- MICHAEL REEDER (PRINCIPAL): $113,712 total reported compensation
- MELANIE SPALL (VICE CHAIR & TEACHER): $69,975 total reported compensation
- ELIZABETH BROBECK (DIRECTOR & TEACHER (THRU JUN 2025)): $68,984 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Beacon academy fosters a results-driven community supported by family involvement. Our school is rooted in a culture of positive character development that provides students with a proven, rigorous, and content-rich curriculum.
What it reported doing in 2024
Beacon academy is a small, caring school enhancing children's eagerness to learn through a challenging, content-rich curriculum, daily spanish experiences beginning in kindergarten, positive character-building projects, and many opportunities for parent involvement. Teachers address children's individual strengths and needs through a variety of teaching styles and learning experiences. Staff and students thrive and grow at beacon academy through an exciting, research-based curriculum and a supportive, caring climate. Children build second language proficiency while mastering english, reading, math, history, geography, and science at their level. Music and arts experiences stimulate creativity and brain development. Physical education and outdoor experiences keep both bodies and minds active and healthy. Beacon academy opened in the fall of 2005 with grades k3. We have three classes per grade covering k-8. Enrollment was approximately 518 students, and we are located at 3415 Louisiana ave n, crystal, mn, 55427. What makes beacon academy different from most other schools is the inclusion of comprehensive spanish instruction at each grade level. Spanish is used daily to enrich specific lessons in many classrooms. Beacon academy is not an immersion school but a fles-language program that includes daily instruction in spanish along with supplemental spanish instruction in other curricula areas.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Grant-funded. 99% 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
STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. A relatively small share of voting board members are independent and total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 76
- Transparency & Controls: 100
- Accountability: 62
- Sustainability: 38
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 83.2%; rating input score 83
- Program expense ratio: 90.6%; rating input score 91
- Fundraising efficiency: Limited
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: Limited
- Foreign activity oversight: Limited
- Grant itemization coverage: Limited
- Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
- Related-party transparency: Yes; rating input score 100
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 42.9%; rating input score 43; 7th 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: 8.3%; rating input score 59; 59th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.49; rating input score 17; 17th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 1.35; rating input score 2; 2nd percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 6.3%; rating input score 45; 45th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 6.3% per year; rating input score 100; 47th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 6.7% per year; rating input score 100; 53rd percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 6.8% per year; rating input score 100; 44th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 83.2% of revenue deployed · 90.6% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 3 of 7 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $7.5M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $114K · 11 people listed
- Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $1.4M reported
- Consistency: 31 of 31 current checks pass
- Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and related organizations
- Filing history: 15 filing years from 2010 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 8 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.
- Moderate — Accountability: Independent voting board scored 43/100.
- High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 17/100.
- Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 59/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Other executive compensation review process not reported.
- High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 2/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 45/100.