Level Up Academy

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
464156040
IRS 990 coverage
2014–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
White Bear Lake, MN, USA
Phone
6514085559
Rating
75
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Charter Schools

Reported finances

Revenue
$4,987,343
Expenses
$4,924,562
Assets
$17,854,771
Liabilities
$19,585,913

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

Leadership & pay

10 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • Daniel Juhlke (Director): $103,278 total reported compensation
  • Amber Espinosa (Director): $97,712 total reported compensation
  • Jennifer Squires (Chair): $84,042 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

By tapping the intrinsic motivation and curiosity of every child, we deliver higher than usual growth.

What it reported doing in 2024

All children have limitless joyful curiosity and capacity for reaching their potential. Our curriculum will reflect the significant needs of the students from the entire spectrum of learning requirements. Our students will continually "level up." We strive for technology to be in international part of the methods and our curriculum will be aimed at high achievement and best practice aligned to the Minnesota State Standards. The school served 255 students during the fiscal year.

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 98% 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

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. A relatively small share of voting board members are independent and some related-organization disclosures are missing.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 76
  • Transparency & Controls: 84
  • Accountability: 60
  • Sustainability: 45
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 84.8%; rating input score 85
  • Program expense ratio: 85.9%; rating input score 86
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 92.9%; rating input score 93; 13th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: No; rating input score 0

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 40%; rating input score 40; 7th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 8 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 89
    • 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: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 1.3%; rating input score 39; 39th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 3.63; rating input score 78; 78th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 1.1; rating input score 4; 4th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 11.7%; rating input score 25; 25th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 17% per year; rating input score 100; 81st percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 16.4% per year; rating input score 100; 84th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 29.6% per year; rating input score 100; 93rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 84.8% of revenue deployed · 85.9% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 2 of 5 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $4.2M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $103K · 10 people listed
  • Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $101K reported
  • Consistency: 30 of 31 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 11 filing years from 2014 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 7 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.

  • Moderate — Accountability: Independent voting board scored 40/100.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Related-party transparency scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 39/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Form 990 shared with the board not reported.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Schedule R controlled transactions itemized did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 4/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 25/100.