THEA BOWMAN LEADERSHIP ACADEMIES
About Our School
WELCOME TO THEA BOWMAN LEADERSHIP ACADEMY
ABOUT THEA BOWMAN
Thea Bowman Leadership Academy (TBLA) is a tuition-free public charter school located in Gary, Indiana. Our academies focus on providing an outstanding educational experience for grades K-12 on one beautiful campus. Thea Bowman was established by the Drexel Foundation for Educational Excellence in 2003, serving grades K-6. Each year, the next grade level was added until we reached the 12th grade. In 2007, the middle and high school campus was built. In 2020, we integrated the elementary campus into the middle/ high school campus and converted to a K-12 model.
“I think the difference between me and some people is that I’m content to do my little bit. Sometimes people think they have to do big things in order to make change. But if each one would light a candle we’d have a tremendous light.”
– Sister Thea Bowman of the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration
THE DREXEL FOUNDATION FOR EDUCATIONAL EXCELLENCE, INC.
About
The Drexel Foundation for Educational Excellence, Inc. was the vision of Thomas V. Barnes, two-term mayor of the city of Gary, Indiana, small business owner, and lay ministry leader of his church. Inspired by the memory of the superior education, both public and private, which Gary once offered its children, Atty. Barnes brought together a group of committed citizens, the Vision Team, to organize for the maintenance or resurgence of quality education in the city of Gary, Indiana. Several months of intense searching and planning gave birth to the Drexel Foundation, incorporated as a 501(c)3 agency in 2001. The life of St. Katharine Drexel, multimillionaire who gave up all to promote social justice through education of African American and Native American peoples, prompted the name of the Foundation.
From the Vision Team emerged the founding members of the Drexel Foundation for Educational Excellence, Inc.: Attorney Thomas V. Barnes, Mrs. Anne Thompson, and Reverend Robert Gehring. The initial purpose–to facilitate enhanced educational opportunities for Gary inner-city schools–developed into the mission as it is now expressed.
During the same year that Drexel was founded, the State of Indiana passed Senate Enrolled Act No. 165, Section 21.1C 20-5.5, which gave approval for the establishment of charter schools. Drexel Foundation made one of its immediate goals to investigate the possibility of establishing a charter school in Gary.
Continued planning and study led Drexel to American Quality Schools (AQS), Inc. of Chicago, IL, which at that time was successfully managing five charter schools. The marriage of Drexel’s vision and AQS’s expertise led to authorization by Ball State University for Thea Bowman Leadership Academy, K-6, to open in 2003. In August 2004, grade 7 was added with enrollment of 441 students and thirty-nine classroom instructors and teaching assistants.
MISSION
The Mission of the Drexel Foundation for Educational Excellence, Inc. is to support educational programs for the children of Gary, Indiana. It seeks funds to provide opportunities for the growth of the total child through quality education in a safe, values-centered environment.
