The past two months have been a whirlwind for Thea Bowman Leadership Academy, a Gary charter school launched in 2003.
Stunned school leaders saw their charter revoked Dec. 13 in a move they didn’t see coming. They regrouped quickly, obtaining a restraining order against their charter authorizer at Trine University to halt closing efforts.
Meanwhile, the school solidified plans for a new charter authorizer on Jan. 29, as Calumet College of St. Joseph agreed to become the school’s new sponsor.
Principal Marisa Simmons holds a hard hat as she welcomes the crowd during a groundbreaking ceremony on a million addition to the Thea Bowman Leadership Academy in Gary on Feb. 3, 2024. The addition will be a two-story eight classroom building for elementary students. There will also be a multipurpose room for athletics and arts, a health clinic, new athletic fields with a track and football field and a maintenance building.
At a joyous celebration Saturday, the school broke ground on an $8 million expansion project using its federal COVID-19 relief funding.
“It’s all about the children, that’s our bottom line. You start here, you finish here,” said school board president Eve Gomez before the ceremonial shovels met resistance from the frozen ground in front of the K-12 school.
Named after a groundbreaking Black Catholic nun who’s being considered for sainthood, Thea Bowman is home to about 850 students and there’s a wait list. The school maintained separate elementary and secondary campuses a decade ago when enrollment was about 1,450 students.
In 2020, elementary students shifted to the secondary campus, built in 2007, at 3401 W. 5th Ave. Four portable trailers holding eight classrooms line the school’s east side facing 5th Avenue.
Principal Marissa Simmons said at the groundbreaking the school got its start from a sketch on a napkin at a meeting between a Catholic priest, a former Gary mayor and a Gary educator.
The Rev. Robert Gehring, former mayor Thomas V. Barnes and educator Anne Thompson became Thea Bowman’s founders through a nonprofit they called the Drexel Foundation, named after Sister Katharine Drexel. A banking heiress, Sister Katharine founded Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament, a ministry for African-American and Native American families.
Eva Gomez, President Drexel Foundation, (right) leads the crowd in prayer during a groundbreaking ceremony on a $8 million addition to the Thea Bowman Leadership Academy in Gary on Feb. 3, 2024. The addition will be a two-story eight classroom building for elementary students. There will also be a multipurpose room for athletics and arts, a health clinic, new athletic fields with a track and football field and a maintenance building.
Simmons cited past school leaders and held up a white hardhat from the 2007 school groundbreaking.
“They passed the baton to me and it’s been mine since 2019,” she said. “I’m proud to carry that baton.”
She introduced Gary Police Chief Derrick Cannon, who said his now-grown children attended the school, and redevelopment director Chris Harris.
Eve Gomez, President Drexel Foundation, (center) hands out shovels during a groundbreaking ceremony on a million addition to the Thea Bowman Leadership Academy in Gary on Feb. 3, 2024. The addition will be a two-story eight classroom building for elementary students. There will also be a multipurpose room for athletics and arts, a health clinic, new athletic fields with a track and football field and a maintenance building.
“Thea Bowman means a lot to our city and community,” said Harris. “It’s just one piece of the puzzle in a greater Gary.”
The school plans to construct a two-story, eight-classroom addition on its southeast side to house K-5 students.
The new project also includes an expanded cafeteria to double its capacity. Future phases also include a new multipurpose room for athletics, arts classrooms, middle and high school classroom additions, a new health clinic and a football field and track.
Gary Police Chief Derrick Cannon addresses the crowd during a groundbreaking ceremony on a $8 million addition to the Thea Bowman Leadership Academy in Gary on Feb. 3, 2024. The addition will be a two-story, eight classroom building for elementary students. There will also be a multipurpose room for athletics and arts, a health clinic, new athletic fields with a track and football field and a maintenance building.
Last month, Education One, Trine University’s charter authorizing board in Angola, revoked Thea Bowman’s charter citing academic deficiencies and organizational issues.
The action caught school board members off guard, and they didn’t attend the meeting. They had been in discussions with Calumet College to switch authorizers when the revocation happened.
“Education One… has had little to no in-person contact with the school and instead relies solely on emails and virtual meetings,” Gomez said in a statement after the revocation.
The State Board of Education still needs to approve the authorizer change. Calumet College awarded the school a three-year charter.
Carole Carlson is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
