Reach Leadership Academy

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
452332094
IRS 990 coverage
2012–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Riverside, CA, USA
Phone
9512758820
Rating
84
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Charter Schools

Reported finances

Revenue
$12,387,127
Expenses
$12,666,697
Assets
$5,037,250
Liabilities
$2,418,421

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

Leadership & pay

15 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • TRACY NELSON (PRESIDENT)
  • CARLA CROW (VICE PRESIDENT)
  • VIRGIE RENTIE (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR/CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • VIRGIE RENTIE (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR/CEO): $209,383 total reported compensation
  • DEMI COOKS (DIRECTOR OF SPECIAL EDUCATION): $161,453 total reported compensation
  • JENNIFER BARD (SPEECH PATHOLOGIST): $156,710 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Reach leadership steam academy is a college preparatory elementary school which is dedicated to bridging the socioeconomic, racial, and digital divide for under-served youth. Our dedicated and highly trained teaching staff is committed to preparing our students for success in college and equipping them to meet the demands of a global society. We are committed to developing confident, articulate leaders who will use their life experiences and education to create positive changes in their own lives and within their communities and beyond.central to our mission is the unwavering belief that if given the proper tools, all students can succeed in school and in the most competitive colleges and universities. Reach believes that all students must be prepared for higher education and equipped with the skills and the choice to pursue it at the highest levels

What it reported doing in 2024

Vision: reach builds a community of leaders through equity, engagement, & excellence, one heart, one mind, one scholar at a time. As a nurturing learning community, reach leadership steam academy (reach) cultivates and empowers global-literate students who have the knowledge, critical thinking skills, and attitudes to become influential contributors in an ever-changing global society. Reach believes in a student-centered approach to learning that encourages all students to become compassionate, innovative, and intelligent thinkers who are knowledgeable about themselves and the world around them. To prepare students for success in competitive 4-year colleges and universities, reach has created a focused learning environment that cultivates students' characters and academic skills.

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

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: 89
  • Transparency & Controls: 77
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 21
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 89.5%; rating input score 89
  • Program expense ratio: 87.5%; rating input score 88
  • Fundraising efficiency: $182.05 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 90; 90th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
    • Written employment contract: Pass
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 66th 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: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Fail
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -2.3%; rating input score 23; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.4; rating input score 11; 11th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.48; rating input score 30; 30th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 8.4%; rating input score 27; 27th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 14.7% per year; rating input score 100; 83rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 14.3% per year; rating input score 100; 85th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 15.8% per year; rating input score 100; 82nd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 89.5% of revenue deployed · 87.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 8 of 8 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $11.1M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $209K · 15 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $1.2M reported
  • Consistency: 32 of 32 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes executive pay
  • Filing history: 13 filing years from 2012 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 7 filed money-flow records
  • 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.

Grant-readiness screening is separate from the live rating, not a measure of program quality. Review the source records before making a grant decision.

  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 23/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 11/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Audit committee oversight not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 27/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 30/100.
  • Review — Grant Readiness: California registration: this organization could not be resolved against the register, so the check is unfinished.