Intrinsic Schools
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 455454261
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2012–2024
- Official website data refreshed
- Sep 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- Chicago, IL, US
- Phone
- 708-887-2735
- Rating
- 84
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Charter Schools
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $42,172,445
- Expenses
- $37,695,067
- Assets
- $95,868,750
- Liabilities
- $72,468,473
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
15 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- MELISSA MEGLIOLA (CEO)
Highest reported compensation
- MELISSA MEGLIOLA (CEO): $212,794 total reported compensation
- BARRY RODGERS (PRINCIPAL): $200,100 total reported compensation
- AMI GANDHI (CHIEF LEARNING OFFICER): $189,052 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Our mission is to provide every student what they need to achieve their postsecondary plans.
What it reported doing in 2024
The school is a public charter school that promises to integrate technology into teaching and learning in order to personalize the experience for each student. Each student will have an individual mobile device. In order to prepare all their students for 21st century postsecondary success, the school will provide all students with real world experiences. The school served 938 students at the seventh through twelfth grade levels at the belmont campus and 691 students at the downtown campus at the ninth and tenth grade level for the years ended june 30, 2024. For the year ended june 30, 2025, the school served 977 students at the belmont campus at the seventh through twelfth grade levels and 728 students at the downtown campus at the ninth through twelfth grade levels.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Grant-funded. 80% of the money available for current operations came from government grants.
- Distribution model
- Direct operator. The filing allocates 97% 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
STRONG - 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 liabilities are high compared with assets.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 85
- Transparency & Controls: 79
- Accountability: 91
- Sustainability: 63
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 80.9%; rating input score 81
- Program expense ratio: 90.3%; rating input score 90
- Fundraising efficiency: $246.49 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 91; 91st percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: 2 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 33
- Compensation committee: Missing
- Independent consultant: Missing
- Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
- Written employment contract: Missing
- Compensation survey or study: Pass
- Board or committee approval: Pass
- Foreign activity oversight: Limited
- Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 72nd 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 9 controls in place; rating input score 78
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Fail
- CEO compensation review process: Pass
- Other executive compensation review process: Fail
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Pass
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 10.6%; rating input score 69; 69th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.54; rating input score 70; 70th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.76; rating input score 15; 15th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 3%; rating input score 68; 68th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 17.2% per year; rating input score 100; 87th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 16.3% per year; rating input score 100; 88th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 16% per year; rating input score 100; 83rd percentile among comparable filings
Details
- What they do: 6 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
- Where the money goes: 80.9% of revenue deployed · 90.3% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 9 of 9 board members independent · 7 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $34M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $213K · 15 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $374K reported
- Consistency: 35 of 36 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
- Schedules: 9 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
- Filing history: 13 filing years from 2012 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 6 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.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 9 not reported.
- High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 15/100.
- Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.