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 in Windsor Village,

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

, 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 so ...

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

. The school was formerly named Gulf Shores Academy. In 2011 it merged with Benji's Special Educational Academy into Victory Preparatory Academy.

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 (Currency symbol, symbol: Dollar sign, $; ISO 4217, currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and International use of the U.S. dollar, several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introdu ...

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 U.S. government that oversees the domestic enforcement of federal laws and the administration of justice. It is equi ...

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 Windsor Village United Methodist Church 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 (government funded), 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 ci ...

(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) is an American academic and politician who 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 t ...

, 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 in Houston, Texas. He was a spiritual advisor to Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama. On March 1 ...

, the senior pastor of the church. The board became known as the Management Accountability Corp. In 2011 it merged with Benji's Special Educational Academy into Victory Preparatory Academy 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 former professional basketball player. He was drafted by the Boston Celtics with the 18th overall pick in the 2005 NBA draft. Known for his dunking skill, he has performed well in many slam du ...

(Basketball player) - Jennifer Radcliffe of the ''

Houston Chronicle The ''Houston Chronicle'' is the largest daily newspaper in Houston, 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''. ...

'' 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 (Basketball player) * Curtis Dennis (Basketball Player) *

Darington Hobson Darington O'Neal Hobson (born September 29, 1987) is an American professional basketball player for Botafogo of the Novo Basquete Brasil. He played college basketball for the New Mexico Lobos. Born in Las Vegas, Nevada, Hobson attended five h ...

(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 Defunct public high schools in the United States

History

Campus

Dress code

Notable alumni

See also

References