The American Dream Charter School

What it reported doing in 2024

The 2024-25 school year marked our eleventh year of operation. During this year, we served the following grades and student populations: 6th grade: 88 students 7th grade: 87 students 8th grade: 88 students 9th grade: 96 students 10th grade: 97 students 11th grade: 80 students 12th grade: 65 students our mission continues to guide every aspect of our work as we strive to develop academic excellence in both spanish and english, preparing our middle and high school students to excel in college. During the 2024-25 school year, we continued to focus on recruiting and retaining a highly qualified teaching staff, further improving student learning outcomes, and fostering a supportive and inclusive school environment. We operated a thriving after-school program, offering students a variety of academic support and enrichment activities, sports, science olympiad, and girls on the run, among others. We also provided opportunities for parent engagement, continuing after-school parent workshops and hosting monthly "cafecito con la directora" meetings to strengthen our school community and ensure open communication. Throughout the 2024-25 school year, we remained committed to providing exceptional instruction, emotional support, and family engagement. Our high school graduated its fifth senior class, the majority of earned the New York state seal of biliteracy and whom were accepted to a community college or university. This accomplishment reflects the hard work of our students, families, and staff. As in previous years, our middle school campus could not accommodate the additional high school grades. Consequently, adcs continues to operate as a split-campus school, with middle school grades co-located in a nyc doe building and high school grades housed in private, rented space. This arrangement ensures that we can meet the needs of our students while continuing to deliver on our mission.

Financial Efficiency

• Mission deployment rate: 79.5%; rating input score 79
• Program expense ratio: 78.9%; rating input score 79
• Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

• Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
• Pay-setting controls: 1 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 17
  • Compensation committee: Missing
  • Independent consultant: Missing
  • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
  • Written employment contract: Missing
  • Compensation survey or study: Missing
  • 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: 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: 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: -2.8%; rating input score 21; 21st percentile among comparable filings
• Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.29; rating input score 66; 66th percentile among comparable filings
• Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.86; rating input score 12; 12th percentile among comparable filings
• Officer compensation ratio: 7.7%; rating input score 32; 32nd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

• Program expense growth: 17.5% per year; rating input score 100; 87th percentile among comparable filings
• Revenue growth: 17.6% per year; rating input score 100; 90th percentile among comparable filings
• Asset growth: 30.6% per year; rating input score 100; 96th percentile among comparable filings