Urban Discovery Schools

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
262333338
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
San Diego, CA, USA
Phone
6197884668
Rating
82
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Charter Schools

Reported finances

Revenue
$7,068,891
Expenses
$7,740,210
Assets
$22,790,803
Liabilities
$22,598,751

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

Leadership & pay

8 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • MAELIN LEVINE (PRESIDENT)
  • EDWARD ABEYTA (VICE PRESIDENT)
  • JENNI OWEN (SUPERINTENDENT/CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • RONNIE DYSTE (MS/HS PRINCIPAL): $166,523 total reported compensation
  • JENNI OWEN (SUPERINTENDENT/CEO): $133,987 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Urban discovery academy develops design thinkers who lead by example, making active, positive contributions to their local and global communities.

What it reported doing in 2024

Foster learning environments where students consistently achieve our urban discovery academy learner outcomes. As an educational system grounded in continuous improvement, we: design challenging, real-world projects that elicit passion and excitement about lifelong learning; actively engage in the design thinking process and mindset; develop learning opportunities which foster resilience through productive struggle and reflection; and cultivate opportunitites for students to meaningfully interact and contriute to our school and community.

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.
  • 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. Expenses are high relative to revenue and liabilities are high compared with assets.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 83
  • Transparency & Controls: 74
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 36
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 83.7%; rating input score 84
  • Program expense ratio: 76.2%; rating input score 76
  • Fundraising efficiency: $7,964.16 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 100; 100th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 2 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 33
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • 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: 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: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -9.5%; rating input score 14; 14th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.94; rating input score 73; 73rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.99; rating input score 5; 5th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 3.9%; rating input score 62; 62nd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 7.8% per year; rating input score 100; 55th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 8.5% per year; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 14.8% per year; rating input score 100; 74th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 83.7% of revenue deployed · 76.2% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 6 of 6 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $5.9M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $167K · 8 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $813K reported
  • Consistency: 31 of 31 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 2 filed related-organization links
  • 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 14/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 5/100.