Heart Christian Academy

Legal name: Heart Christian Preparatory Academy

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
204508459
IRS 990 coverage
2011–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
San Juan Capistrano, CA, United States
Phone
9494124060
Rating
66
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Education N.E.C.
Affiliation
Christianity

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$5,826,020
Expenses
$5,397,330
Assets
$1,147,130
Liabilities
$460,044

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

Leadership & pay

8 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • NICK OSTERMANN (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)
  • CRISSY FOLLIS (PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • NICK OSTERMANN (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $179,372 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Heart Christian Academy serves JK-8th grade homeschool families across the country with a collaborative educational model that combines campus days with home days, vetted curriculum, and comprehensive lesson plans that align across home and classroom. With a professional background in brand, marketing, and communications, Marcos is eager to contribute his experience to support Heart’s mission and continued growth. Now entering its third year, Heart Murfreesboro has expanded to serve students from Pre-K through seventh grade, a testament to the growing cultural embrace of hybrid education and the value it brings to families. Outside of work and his involvement with Heart, Marcos enjoys great coffee, sports training with his son, and being outdoors watching his daughters ride horses. |.

What it reported doing in 2024

Since 1999, heart christian academy (heart) has prioritized christ, community, and curriculum across all our campuses nationwide. Heart partners with parents to provide both spiritual growth and academic excellence, developing students who think clearly, communicate effectively, and wonder deeply through an imaginative, faithful, and intelligent exploration of gods word and world.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 99% 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 - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. Few specific pay-setting methods are documented in the filing; unanswered boxes are not proof of absence and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 59
  • Transparency & Controls: 64
  • Accountability: 79
  • Sustainability: 40
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 63.6%; rating input score 64
  • Program expense ratio: 69%; rating input score 69
  • 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: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 4 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 7.4%; rating input score 57; 57th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.21; rating input score 6; 6th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.4; rating input score 27; 27th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 3.3%; rating input score 66; 66th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 22.7% per year; rating input score 100; 88th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 22.4% per year; rating input score 100; 90th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 18.1% per year; rating input score 100; 81st percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 2 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
  • Where the money goes: 63.6% of revenue deployed · 69% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 7 of 7 board members independent · 4 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $3.7M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $179K · 8 people listed · 0 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 26 of 26 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes executive pay
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2011 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • 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.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 6/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 57/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 27/100.