Shining Rock Classical Academy
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 463524987
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2015–2024
- Official website data refreshed
- Sep 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- Waynesville, NC, US
- Phone
- (828) 476-5150
- Rating
- 78
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Elementary, Secondary Education, K - 12
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $7,465,292
- Expenses
- $7,767,781
- Assets
- $3,238,341
- Liabilities
- $228,051
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
10 people listed
Highest reported compensation
- JOSHUA MORGAN (HEADMASTER): $112,733 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Shining Rock Classical Academy cultivates critical thinking skills and fosters a lifelong love of learning through rigorous academics, experiential education, service to others, and our core values of Integrity, Respect, Compassion, Responsibility, Wisdom, and Leadership.
What it reported doing in 2024
A public charter school providing education to approximatley 618 elementary students under the North Carolina department of public instruction charter school legislation for fiscal year ending june 30, 2025.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Grant-funded. 94% 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 - The filed numbers largely add up and a large share of available resources goes toward mission work. Expenses are high relative to revenue and total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 60
- Transparency & Controls: 92
- Accountability: 100
- Sustainability: 31
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 68.8%; rating input score 69
- Program expense ratio: 66.1%; rating input score 66
- Fundraising efficiency: Limited
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: Limited
- 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; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 8 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 100
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Pass
- CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
- 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: -4.1%; rating input score 22; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.42; rating input score 14; 14th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.07; rating input score 65; 65th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 1.5%; rating input score 78; 78th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 13.7% per year; rating input score 100; 75th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 13.9% per year; rating input score 100; 79th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 6.2% per year; rating input score 100; 41st percentile among comparable filings
Details
- What they do: 1 programs and campaigns described on the official site
- Where the money goes: 68.8% of revenue deployed · 66.1% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 9 of 9 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $5.1M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $113K · 10 people listed
- Consistency: 31 of 31 current checks pass
- Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors
- Filing history: 10 filing years from 2015 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
- 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 22/100.
- High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 14/100.