Nashville Christian School
Legal name: Nashville Christian Schools Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 237122306
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2016–2023
- Official website data refreshed
- Sep 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2023
- Location
- Nashville, TN, United States
- Phone
- 615-356-5600 (K–12)
- Rating
- 80
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Affiliation
- Christianity
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $15,900,195
- Expenses
- $13,703,342
- Assets
- $34,975,650
- Liabilities
- $15,067,331
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2023. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
12 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- CONNIE JO SHELTON (PRESIDENT)
Highest reported compensation
- CONNIE JO SHELTON (PRESIDENT): $211,071 total reported compensation
- MARK COBB (CHIEF FIN. O): $134,962 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2023. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Our Mission is to be a Christian, authentic, dynamic school equipping students to be global leaders. Nashville Christian School seeks to integrate Christian values with educational, social and professional life. As a community of both faith and learning, we strive to foster spiritual, intellectual, social, and personal growth in every person. Qualified applicants are considered for all positions without regard to race, color, sex, national origin, age, marital or veteran status, or disability. As a religious-affiliated institution, Nashville Christian School exercises its legal right to seek employees who support its mission and values. Employees of Nashville Christian School acknowledge and uphold our Statement of Faith.
What it reported doing in 2023
Operation of preschool: preschool tuition and fees provided young children from infants to pre- kindergarten age a safe and caring learning environment while their parents were working. The preschool provides small children with the social and early mental development needed to prepare them for kindergarten and beyond.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Earned-program. 77% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
- 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.
- 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 some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 72
- Transparency & Controls: 84
- Accountability: 90
- Sustainability: 69
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 71.2%; rating input score 71
- Program expense ratio: 82.7%; rating input score 83
- Fundraising efficiency: $11.13 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 41; 41st percentile among comparable filings
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: Missing
- Written employment contract: Pass
- 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: 90%; rating input score 90; 22nd 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: 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: 13.8%; rating input score 76; 76th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.55; rating input score 71; 71st percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.43; rating input score 36; 36th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 2.5%; rating input score 71; 71st percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 7.8% per year; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 11.4% per year; rating input score 100; 79th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 17.9% per year; rating input score 100; 85th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- What they do: 1 operating location identified
- Where the money goes: 71.2% of revenue deployed · 82.7% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 9 of 10 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $11.3M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $211K · 12 people listed · 4 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Consistency: 33 of 33 current checks pass
- Schedules: 9 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
- Filing history: 8 filing years from 2016 to 2023
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 3 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.
- Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 41/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Other executive compensation review process not reported.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 36/100.