Darren Patterson Christian Academy
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 742281128
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2017–2024
- Official website data refreshed
- Sep 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- Buena Vista, CO, United States
- Phone
- 7193956046
- Rating
- 76
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Kindergarten, Preschool, Nursery School, Early Admissions
- Affiliation
- Christianity
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $1,265,653
- Expenses
- $1,179,118
- Assets
- $2,064,926
- Liabilities
- $442,554
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
6 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- Jonathan Litwiller (President)
People named in this filing
- Kathy Young (Member)
- Jonathan Litwiller (President)
- Joe Chambers (Member)
Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
As Christian educators, DPCA’s intent is to educate the whole person—shaping good people with intellect, skills, character, healthy habits, and faith—using Christian curriculum paired with Expeditionary Learning (EL) methods to create hands-on, project-based learning experiences. The Board serves as a support and resource to the administrator and staff and as a advocate and voice for the school in the larger community. They oversee the decision making processes and provide accountability in guiding the mission and vision of the school. In addition, they oversee fundraising efforts. The Board meets monthly - these meetings are open to the public by appointment. The Board is open to hearing from students, parents, staff, and members of the community. If you are interested in attending a meeting or in applying to be a board member, please contact us for more information. Board Policy...
What it reported doing in 2024
DCPA offers a well rounded education for pre-school through 8th grade which includes, but is not limited to scholastic competitions, athletic competitions in various sports throughout the year, mission trips, service projects, drama performances and high quality education in and out of the classroom. DCPA also offers a variety of services to home schooling families on an as-desired basis. Each activity is an integral part of a student's learning experience.The Mission Statement of DPCA is to equip pre-school and K-8 students for excellence in Christian life and service by providing a nurturing, distinctly Christian school environment that emphasizes knowing Christ, imitation of His character, integrating the Bible in all areas of life, and learning and mastering academic knowledge and skills while affirming the uniqueness of each child.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Earned-program. 64% 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.
- Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.
The verdict
SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and expenses are high relative to revenue.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 65
- Transparency & Controls: 86
- Accountability: 82
- Sustainability: 57
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 71%; rating input score 71
- Program expense ratio: 76.2%; rating input score 76
- Fundraising efficiency: Limited
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 91.7%; rating input score 92; 12th 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: Limited
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 4 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 57
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Pass
- CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
- Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
- Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Missing
- Independent financial-statement audit: Fail
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 6.8%; rating input score 55; 55th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.75; rating input score 61; 61st percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.21; rating input score 30; 30th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 81; 81st percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 12.5% per year; rating input score 100; 70th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 18.8% per year; rating input score 100; 84th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 0.8% per year; rating input score 100; 21st percentile among comparable filings
Details
- What they do: 1 operating location identified
- Where the money goes: 71% of revenue deployed · 76.2% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 7 of 6 board members independent · 4 of 7 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $899K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 6 people listed
- Consistency: 23 of 24 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
- Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors
- Filing history: 8 filing years from 2017 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- 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: 2 of 6 not reported.
- Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 55/100.
- Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Independent members within voting members did not reconcile in the filed values.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 30/100.