Leader's Academy High School for Business and Academic Success, previously the High School for Business and Economic Success (HSBES), was a Grade 7–12 state charter school located on the campus of

Windsor Village United Methodist Church The Windsor Village Church Family is a United Methodist megachurch in Windsor Village in far Southwest Houston, Texas. As of March 2020, the church's senior pastor is Suzette Caldwell. Prior to 2020, Kirbyjon Caldwell, who continues to maintain a v ...

Windsor Village Windsor Village is a community in Houston, in the U.S. state of Texas. The Windsor Village United Methodist Church is located in the community. The name of the community reflected a British motif popular in the late 1950s and early 1960s.Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

, in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sover ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

. The school was formerly named Gulf Shores Academy. In 2011 it merged with

Benji's Special Educational Academy Benji's Special Educational Academy Independent School District (or Benji's Academy Charter School) was a state charter school with two campuses (including Benji's II) in the Northside district of Houston, Texas,Victory Preparatory Academy Victory Preparatory Academy or Victory Prep (VPREP) was a charter school in Houston, Texas that had two campuses: one in the city's south, Victory Preparatory Academy South; and a northern campus, Victory Preparatory Academy North. The system all t ...

History

Gulf Shores Academy opened in 1998. The

Texas Education Agency The Texas Education Agency (TEA) is the branch of the government of Texas responsible for public education in Texas in the United States.

tried to shut down the charter school for several years. At a point the school owed the state

US$ The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...

11 million for over-reporting attendance. Harris County prosecutors said that the original founders of the academy sold forged transcripts to undercover investigators. The school moved around from location to location and had a high teacher turnover rate. In 2006 its student body count was between 500 and 600. In 2008 the

U.S. Department of Justice The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a federal executive department of the United States government tasked with the enforcement of federal law and administration of justice in the United State ...

criminally charged the school's leader, Linda Johnson, along with document tampering due to the school making false academic transcripts, as parents paid her to create transcripts not reflecting actual academic performance. Johnson received a federal prison term of two years. In the late 2000s the

took over the school. Originally the church planned to use the former charter, but it decided to ask the

Houston Independent School District The Houston Independent School District (HISD) is the largest public school system in Texas, and the eighth-largest in the United States. Houston ISD serves as a community school district for most of the city of Houston and several nearby and ...

(HISD) to turn the campus into a district charter. The HISD board voted regarding turning Leader's Academy for High School for Business and Academic Success into a district charter. Leader's Academy was established as an HISD-affiliated charter school in 2007. Members of the charter school's board of trustees as of 2009 included

Rod Paige Roderick Raynor Paige (born June 17, 1933) served as the 7th United States Secretary of Education from 2001 to 2005. Paige, who grew up in Mississippi, moved from college football coach and classroom teacher to college dean and school superinten ...

, the former

Secretary of Education An education ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for education. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of Education, Department of Education, and Ministry of Pub ...

of the U.S., and

Kirbyjon Caldwell Kirbyjon H. Caldwell is the former senior pastor of Windsor Village United Methodist Church, a 14,000-member megachurch at Windsor Village, Houston, Windsor Village in Houston, Texas. He was a spiritual advisor to Presidents George W. Bush and Ba ...

, the senior pastor of the church. The board became known as the Management Accountability Corp. In 2011 it merged with

after Leader's Academy's board took over Benji's School. Victory Prep was established as a charter school directly overseen by the state instead of as an HISD charter.

Campus

The school was last located in the former sanctuary of the Windsor Village United Methodist Church. It was formerly at 6000 Heatherbrook.

Dress code

The charter school planned to require students to wear "business attire" and carry briefcases to school.

Notable alumni

As Gulf Shores Academy: *

Gerald Green Gerald Green (born January 26, 1986) is an American professional basketball player who last played for the Rio Grande Valley Vipers of the NBA G League. He was drafted by the Boston Celtics with the 18th overall pick in the 2005 NBA draft. Known ...

(Basketball player) - Jennifer Radcliffe of the ''

Houston Chronicle The ''Houston Chronicle'' is the largest daily newspaper in Houston, Texas, United States. , it is the third-largest newspaper by Sunday circulation in the United States, behind only ''The New York Times'' and the ''Los Angeles Times''. With it ...

'' wrote that Gulf Shores Academy was best known for the problems in management, but that the fact that Green was an alumnus was the second-most-prominent aspect of the school. As ????: *

Aubrey Coleman Aubrey Gene Coleman (born October 9, 1987) is an American professional basketball player for Spartak Primorye of the Russian Super League. He played college basketball as an all-Conference USA player for the University of Houston where he became ...

(Basketball player) *

Curtis Dennis Curtis Lamont Dennis (born January 15, 1988) is a Former American professional basketball player from the Bronx, New York. He first attended the University of New Mexico, then transferred to University of Toledo, and finished his collegiate caree ...

(Basketball Player) *

Darington Hobson Darington O'Neal Hobson (born September 29, 1987) is an American professional basketball player for Minas Tênis Clube of the Novo Basquete Brasil. He played college basketball for the University of New Mexico Lobos men's basketball team. Born ...

(Basketball Player)

References

{{authority control Public high schools in Harris County, Texas Public schools in Harris County, Texas Public middle schools in Houston Educational institutions established in 1998 Charter schools in Houston Charter high schools in Texas Public high schools in Houston 1998 establishments in Texas 2011 disestablishments in Texas Educational institutions disestablished in 2011

History

Campus

Dress code

Notable alumni

See also

References