Circle Academy

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
112396685
IRS 990 coverage
2012–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Whitestone, NY, USA
Phone
7182295050
Rating
78
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$5,717,693
Expenses
$6,535,448
Assets
$6,684,235
Liabilities
$4,233,532

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

Leadership & pay

8 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • DAVID ESFHANI (EXECUTIVE DI): $340,162 total reported compensation
  • MICHELLE GATT (EDUCATIONAL): $120,793 total reported compensation
  • NATASHA GEULA (SECRETARY): $112,009 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Circle academy is committed to the principles of human diversity and equitable treatment for everyone. We ensure that students and their families consistently feel at ease and valued within our community. Recognizing parents as collaborative partners in their children's

What it reported doing in 2024

For the 2024-2025 school year, circle academy served 513 students. The school implemented several practices that helped to maintain instructional coherence by doing the following: 1. Circle academy placed a high value on establishing a warm and supportive educational setting, one where nurturing love, trust, and respect is paramount for everyone, especially encouraging students to harbor these feelings for their peers, educuators, families and themselves. 2. At circle academy, diversity was more than a concept; it was a practice of ensuring equal respect and consideration for all people and conscientious stewardship of the environment. 3. The school as proactive in involving parents, believing firmly in power of their involvement to enrich the educational experiences of their children. 4. Commitment to the professional growth of its staff was evident at circle academy, with targeted training in the domains of childhood development amd early childhood educational methodologies. 5. The academy maintained a dedication to the continual professional development of eduators, keeping them abreast of the latest preschool curricular standards and the New York state common core. 6. Circle academy's hollistic approach to education was designed to promote the physical, social, emotional, and intellectual advancement of its students, with each day bringing activities crafted to develop these critical areas. 7. A significant focus at circle academy was to strengthen its special education services, achieved through strategic alliances with respected educational bodies that cater to diverse learnng needs, benefiting students and parents alike through shared resources and collaborative service delivery

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 96% 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 - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Few specific pay-setting methods are documented in the filing; unanswered boxes are not proof of absence and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 85
  • Transparency & Controls: 65
  • Accountability: 90
  • Sustainability: 22
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 88.1%; rating input score 88
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 0 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 0
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Missing
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 83.3%; rating input score 83; 16th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 9 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • 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: -14.3%; rating input score 10; 10th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.02; rating input score 38; 38th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.63; rating input score 15; 15th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 8.8%; rating input score 34; 34th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 11.5% per year; rating input score 100; 69th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 12.5% per year; rating input score 100; 76th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 29.4% per year; rating input score 100; 93rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 88.1% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 5 of 6 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $5.8M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $340K · 8 people listed · 0 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $147K reported
  • Consistency: 29 of 29 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 13 filing years from 2012 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 3 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.
  • 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.

  • High — Transparency & Controls: Pay-setting controls scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 10/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 38/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 15/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 34/100.