Thea Bowman Leadership Academy (TBLA) is a tuition-free public 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, K-6. In 2004, 7th grade was added. Each year the next grade level was added until we reached the 12th grade. In 2007, the junior/ high school campus was built. In 2020, we integrated the elementary campus into the junior/ high school campus and converted to a K-12 model.Thea Bowman prides itself on engaging scholars in rigorous & robust curricula and instruction, affording students a college prep curriculum, a high-quality STEM program and a plethora of dual credit course offerings.