Twin Lakes Stem Academy
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 471553568
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2014–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- Brooklyn Center, MN, USA
- Phone
- 7633389373
- Rating
- 78
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Primary, Elementary Schools
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $4,179,250
- Expenses
- $4,509,351
- Assets
- $12,158,976
- Liabilities
- $14,680,162
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
6 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- Jason Stockwell (Principal/Executive Director)
Highest reported compensation
- Jason Stockwell (Principal/Executive Director): $111,449 total reported compensation
- Malaney Peterson (Member): $69,149 total reported compensation
- Paige Lund (Member): $67,800 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Tesfa international school is committed to providing an equitable and empowering education for all. Our scholars will engage in a transdisciplinary curriculum supported by conceptual and inquiry based learning. Side-by-side with dedicated educators, scholars will develop the knowledge, skills, and characteristics necessary for active citizenship throughout the world.
What it reported doing in 2024
Twin lakes stem academy is a free public k-6 charter school that is committed to providing an equitable and empowering education for all. Our students will be prepared for a successful transition to the most rigorous and challenging middle school programs. Through their experience at tlsa, students will be held to the highest of standards both academically and socially, to prepare them for college and careers, as well as with leadership skills required of active and productive citizens in the 21st century. Through access and equity, students will follow a pathway to success for them and their communities. Tlsa is authorized by the volunteers of america-Minnesota and commenced its first school year on august 24th, 2015.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Grant-funded. 99% 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 - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Some related-organization disclosures are missing and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 83
- Transparency & Controls: 84
- Accountability: 66
- Sustainability: 35
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 96.4%; rating input score 96
- Program expense ratio: 89.3%; rating input score 89
- Fundraising efficiency: Limited
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 92.9%; rating input score 93; 13th percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: Limited
- Foreign activity oversight: Limited
- Grant itemization coverage: Limited
- Major donor itemization: Limited
- Related-party transparency: No; rating input score 0
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 60%; rating input score 60; 9th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 6 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 75
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Fail
- Document-retention policy: Pass
- CEO compensation review process: Pass
- Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
- Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Pass
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: -7.9%; rating input score 16; 16th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.7; rating input score 71; 71st percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 1.21; rating input score 3; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 5.5%; rating input score 50; 50th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 11.7% per year; rating input score 100; 70th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 10.5% per year; rating input score 100; 70th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 24.8% per year; rating input score 100; 89th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 96.4% of revenue deployed · 89.3% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 3 of 5 board members independent · 6 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $4M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $111K · 6 people listed
- Highest-paid contractors: 2 contractors listed · $555K reported
- Consistency: 29 of 30 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
- Schedules: 5 filed schedules
- Filing history: 11 filing years from 2014 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 3 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.
- 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.
- High — Transparency & Controls: Related-party transparency scored 0/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 8 not reported.
- High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 16/100.
- Review — Transparency & Controls: Schedule R controlled transactions itemized did not reconcile in the filed values.
- High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 3/100.
- Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 50/100.