Hebrew Academy Of Cleveland

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
340714428
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-N 2008
Location
Cleveland, OH, United States
Phone
(216) 382-3300
Rating
87
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Affiliation
Judaism

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$37,763,963
Expenses
$33,208,157
Assets
$81,582,683
Liabilities
$11,400,156

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

Leadership & pay

55 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • LOUIS MALCMACHER (PRESIDENT)
  • IVAN A SOCLOF (IMMEDIATE PAST PRESIDENT)
  • AMIR JAFFA (VICE PRESIDENT)
  • HARRY M BROWN (VICE PRESIDENT)
  • JONATHAN HEIFETZ (VICE PRESIDENT)
  • REUVEN DESSLER (VICE PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • RABBI ELI DESSLER (FINANCIAL DIRECTOR): $230,215 total reported compensation
  • DR PHILLIP SCHWARTZ (PRINCIPAL): $130,153 total reported compensation
  • RABBI SIMCHA DESSLER (EDUCATIONAL DIRECTOR): $116,775 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Founded in 1943, the Hebrew Academy of Cleveland provides a Jewish day school experience with excellence in Judaic and General Studies education for children ("Today, the Academy educates and inspires well over 1525 children"). Many of the school's achievements and milestones are due to his partnership with the legendary Mr. Irving I. Stone, also known as "Mr. Hebrew Academy," the Hebrew Academy's fourth president. This strong relationship between layleaders and leadership still remains a hallmark of the Hebrew Academy's modus operandi today. Our Mission. learning For eight decades, the Academy’s mission has been to imbue students with a love of G-d, Torah and _Eretz Yisrael_ and to prepare them to achieve excellence in Torah and general knowledge based on successful cooperation among family, Judaic and General Studies faculty and community.

What it reported doing in 2024

The academy, offering a complete award-winning judaic and secular educational program from pre-kindergarten through high school opened its doors for the 82nd season in september of 2024 with an enrollment of 1,475 students. The academy is the largest day school in the state of Ohio. With excellence as our motto we strive to ascertain the abilities of each child and to help each child achieve his or her fullest potential. In addition to its regular classes, together with the local school district, we provide our students with the services of a school nurse, school interventionists, social workers, language and speech specialists and several remedial teachers. Some of the professionals, together with members of the school's educational administration, form a case conference team which meets regularly to discuss the progress of individual students brought to their attention by teachers, and outline an individual educational program for 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
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 71% for direct work, and 29% for grants.

The verdict

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Some filed totals do not add up.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 82
  • Transparency & Controls: 85
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 71
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 80%; rating input score 80
  • Program expense ratio: 90.8%; rating input score 91
  • Fundraising efficiency: $24.47 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 62; 62nd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 93.8%; rating input score 94; 17th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 4 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 67
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
    • Written employment contract: Pass
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 98.8%; rating input score 99; 31st percentile among comparable filings
  • 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: 7 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • 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: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 12.1%; rating input score 72; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.46; rating input score 69; 69th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.14; rating input score 67; 67th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 1.8%; rating input score 79; 79th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 7.4% per year; rating input score 100; 58th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 7.8% per year; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 11.4% per year; rating input score 100; 70th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 1 operating location identified
  • Where the money goes: 80% of revenue deployed · 90.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 51 of 51 board members independent · 7 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $30.1M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $230K · 55 people listed · 4 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 31 of 32 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 15 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 36 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 31 filed related-organization links
  • 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 — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.