San Diego Neighborhood of Schools
Legal name: King Chavez Academy of Excellence
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 912146810
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2015–2024
- Official website data refreshed
- Sep 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- San Diego, CA, United States
- Phone
- (619) 525-7320 (Community Academy)
- Rating
- 83
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Charter Schools
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $26,331,823
- Expenses
- $27,887,166
- Assets
- $31,801,239
- Liabilities
- $14,784,361
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
12 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- CYNTHIA KELLEY (CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER)
- JACKIE HO (PRESIDENT)
Highest reported compensation
- CYNTHIA KELLEY (CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER): $346,268 total reported compensation
- LAURA MAY (CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICER): $279,400 total reported compensation
- GERARDO GUEVARA (PRINCIPAL): $177,381 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
King-Chavez Neighborhood of Schools provides free public charter-school education and after-school/enrichment opportunities for students (TK–12). King-Chavez Neighborhood of Schools is committed to providing our students with a safe and educationally enriching environment during non-school hours. Our After School Education and Safety (ASES) and After School Safety and Enrichment for Teens (ASSETs) programs provide additional academic and enrichment opportunities, as well as social experiences in an environment that supports building positive relationships. There is **NO cost** for students to participate. The programs are funded by state grants and have attendance requirements for participating students. | Community Academy Logo | KCAE logo | KCCHS Logo | | --- | --- | --- |.
What it reported doing in 2024
King-chavez neighborhood of schools (kcns) is comprised of five public charter schools located within the historic barrio district and downtown neighborhoods of san diego. Kcns is a network of charter schools serving over 1,000 students in grades transitional kindergarten-12. At kcns educating sturdents involves more than the mastery of daily lessons, an unwavering personal investment is made in every student in every school, rooted form a foundation of love. Our dual language program continues to grow and thrive, fostering bilingualism, biliteracy, and cross-cultural understanding.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Grant-funded. 96% of the money available for current operations came from government grants.
- 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
STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Expenses are high relative to revenue and total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 78
- Transparency & Controls: 84
- Accountability: 100
- Sustainability: 28
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 89.8%; rating input score 90
- Program expense ratio: 84.3%; rating input score 84
- Fundraising efficiency: Limited
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd 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: Missing
- Compensation survey or study: Pass
- Board or committee approval: Pass
- 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; 66th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 9 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 100
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Pass
- CEO compensation review process: Pass
- Other executive compensation review process: Pass
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Pass
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: -5.9%; rating input score 15; 15th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.14; rating input score 41; 41st percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.46; rating input score 31; 31st percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 5.3%; rating input score 48; 48th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 7.7% per year; rating input score 100; 59th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 1.8% per year; rating input score 100; 17th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 7.7% per year; rating input score 100; 53rd 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: 89.8% of revenue deployed · 84.3% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 5 of 5 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $23.5M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $346K · 12 people listed · 4 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $2.7M reported
- Consistency: 30 of 30 current checks pass
- Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
- Filing history: 10 filing years from 2015 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 8 filed money-flow records
- Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
- 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.
- High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 15/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 41/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 31/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 48/100.