Kehilla Upper School
Legal name: Jewish Middle School of Nashville
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 474302988
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2021–2024
- Official website data refreshed
- Sep 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2018, Form 990-N 2016
- Location
- Nashville, Tennessee, US
- Phone
- 9174140326
- Rating
- 82
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Primary, Elementary Schools
- Affiliation
- Judaism
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $1,043,500
- Expenses
- $1,088,569
- Assets
- $229,233
- Liabilities
- $-4,644
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
14 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- Didi Biesman (Past President)
- Batia Karabel (President)
People named in this filing
- Lisa Calfee (Board member)
- Jenny Cheng (Board Member)
- Reva Heller (Board 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
To provide a values-driven, academically rigorous Jewish education that nurtures every student.
What it reported doing in 2024
Jewish Upper School is a Middle and High School that serves grades 5-11 for the Nashville area.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
- Distribution model
- Direct operator. The filing allocates 88% 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
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 expenses are high relative to revenue.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 83
- Transparency & Controls: 92
- Accountability: 76
- Sustainability: 24
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 95.1%; rating input score 95
- Program expense ratio: 91.1%; rating input score 91
- Fundraising efficiency: Limited
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd 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: 3 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 43
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Fail
- 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: Missing
- Independent financial-statement audit: Fail
Sustainability
- Operating margin: -4.3%; rating input score 25; 25th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.21; rating input score 10; 10th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: Limited
- Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 81; 81st percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 26.5% per year; rating input score 100; 88th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 26% per year; rating input score 100; 90th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 23.5% per year; rating input score 100; 86th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- What they do: 1 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
- Where the money goes: 95.1% of revenue deployed · 91.1% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 13 of 13 board members independent · 3 of 7 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $992K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 14 people listed
- Consistency: 33 of 33 current checks pass
- Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
- Filing history: 4 filing years from 2021 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: Resolved incoming and outgoing counterparties from filed money flows.
- 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.
- Moderate — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 6 not reported.
- High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 25/100.
- High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 10/100.