Christel House Academy Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN: 020550824
IRS 990 coverage: 2009–2024
Forms available: Form 990 2024
Location: Indianapolis, IN, USA
Phone: 3177834690
Rating: 88
Verdict: STRONG
Rating confidence: Moderate
Sector: Higher Education Institutions

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue: $31,907,728
Expenses: $29,084,027
Assets: $29,058,809
Liabilities: $4,442,654

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

Leadership & pay

26 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

MASENGALE EMILY (CEO/BOARD PRESIDENT-NO VOTING RIGHTS)

Highest reported compensation

MASENGALE EMILY (CEO/BOARD PRESIDENT-NO VOTING RIGHTS): $363,358 total reported compensation
WESTERMAN TRACY (CHIEF ACADEMIC OFFICER): $199,913 total reported compensation
PITTMAN VICTORIA P (PRINCIPAL): $181,731 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

CHRISTEL HOUSE SCHOOLS is a network of public charter schools in Indianapolis whose objective is to offer a transformational and high quality educational experience for impoverished urban population.

What it reported doing in 2024

Education - christel house academy offers educational programming for elementary and secondary students at two school locations in grades k-12. Students are taught using the Indiana academic standards, including college and career readiness skills, in addition to a variety of elective courses. Enhanced curriculum offers supplemental instruction around 21st century technology skills, the international primary curriculum, workplace certifications and dual credit offerings. Character and values education lessons are embedded in the established coursework. Additionally, college and career counseling occurs throughout the academic year and support services are extended to graduates for multiple years beyond high school graduation.

Operating model

Revenue model: Grant-funded. 83% 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. Total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

Financial Efficiency: 81
Transparency & Controls: 95
Accountability: 95
Sustainability: 54
Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

Mission deployment rate: 88%; rating input score 88
Program expense ratio: 96.4%; rating input score 96
Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
Pay-setting controls: 5 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 83
- Compensation committee: Pass
- Independent consultant: Pass
- Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
- Written employment contract: Missing
- Compensation survey or study: Pass
- 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: Fail
- CEO compensation review process: Pass
- Other executive compensation review process: Pass
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Pass
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

Operating margin: 8.8%; rating input score 65; 65th percentile among comparable filings
Total-asset coverage ratio: 1; rating input score 36; 36th percentile among comparable filings
Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.15; rating input score 65; 65th percentile among comparable filings
Officer compensation ratio: 5.7%; rating input score 45; 45th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

Program expense growth: 10.4% per year; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
Revenue growth: 11.7% per year; rating input score 100; 79th percentile among comparable filings
Asset growth: 19.4% per year; rating input score 100; 88th percentile among comparable filings

Details

Where the money goes: 88% of revenue deployed · 96.4% of spending went to programs
Governance: 14 of 14 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $28M in reported program spending
Leadership: top reported pay $363K · 26 people listed · 5 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $3.1M reported
Consistency: 31 of 31 current checks pass
Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
Filing history: 16 filing years from 2009 to 2024
Contacts: How to reach this organization
Money network: 9 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: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 36/100.
Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Document-retention policy not reported.
Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 45/100.