Maranatha High School

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
952401932
IRS 990 coverage
2013–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Pasadena, CA, USA
Phone
626.817.4000
Rating
81
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Standard
Sector
Secondary, High School
Affiliation
Christianity

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$20,875,227
Expenses
$19,403,125
Assets
$48,849,349
Liabilities
$31,328,714

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

Leadership & pay

16 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • MATT KETTERLING (HEAD OF SCHOOL): $236,362 total reported compensation
  • DANIEL NEWKIRK (PRINCIPAL): $190,271 total reported compensation
  • LISA TOMASON (CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER): $169,823 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Maranatha High School exists to provide a Christ-centered, college-preparatory education that equips students to know God, love learning, and serve the world.

What it reported doing in 2024

Maranatha high school was founded in 1965 with a starting enrollment of 29 students and has grown to be one of the area's leading private schools. Maranatha enrolled 570 students in 2024-25 (53% male & 47% female) from 83 different zip codes, 157 different middle schools, and 160 different christian church backgrounds. The campus is located on the former ambassador college campus just off the 210 freeway near old town pasadena. Maranatha fills a unique role in the pasadena area private school market as the only non-denominational christian high school in the san gabriel valley. The overall educational goal is to provide students with a college preparatory experience while integrating a biblical worldview in an intentionally christ-honoring environment. Excellence is pursued across all areas of the school resulting in a diversity of exceptional opportunities in academics, athletics and the arts. The school offered 34 advanced placement (ap) and honors courses in 2024-25. 271 students enrolled in ap courses, and 642 ap exams were administered. The student pass rate for ap exams was 73% last year. During 2024 maranatha received highest level award from the college board for the platinum ap school honor roll. Only 6% of eligible schools receive this platinum recognition. The school's athletic program features 37 teams in 20 sports and has won a total of 209 cif league championships, 29 cif championships and 7 state championships. Approximately 80% of the student body participates in athletics each year and 25% of senior athletes go on to compete at the collegiate level. The school's arts program consists of both visual and performing arts. About half of the student body participates in the various arts offerings. Visual art courses include drawing, painting, graphic arts and photography. Performing arts includes orchestra, mixed ensemble, music theory, dance team, dance company and theater troupe. Each year there are 4 major performances, of which 2 are theatrical and 2 are performing art showcases. Several times a year our visual arts participants join in or host art festivals.

Operating model

Revenue model
Other-operating. 90% of the money available for current operations came from other operating revenue.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 78% for direct work, and 22% for grants.
  • 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. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and liabilities are high compared with assets.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 72
  • Transparency & Controls: 80
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 55
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 78%; rating input score 78
  • Program expense ratio: 83.6%; rating input score 84
  • Fundraising efficiency: $2.28 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 8; 8th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 94.4%; rating input score 94; 22nd 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: Pass
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 94.8%; rating input score 95; 24th 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: 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: 7.1%; rating input score 60; 60th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.52; rating input score 69; 69th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.64; rating input score 20; 20th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 6.7%; rating input score 38; 38th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 1.3% per year; rating input score 100; 16th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 1.5% per year; rating input score 100; 15th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 1.7% per year; rating input score 100; 16th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 3 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
  • Where the money goes: 78% of revenue deployed · 83.6% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 7 of 7 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $16.2M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $236K · 16 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 3 contractors listed · $1.7M reported
  • Consistency: 36 of 37 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 10 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 12 filing years from 2013 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 — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 8/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 20/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 38/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.