Girls and Boys Preparatory Academy (GBPA) was a K-12 state-chartered primary and secondary school located in Greater Sharpstown, Houston, Texas.

[3] According to an article of the African-American News and Issues, Carroll Salley, a former employee of the Houston Independent School District (HISD), opened the school because she did not like how African-American students were treated in that district.

Soon after the opening, the school administrators learned that they needed to spend $30,000 so the building was in compliance with City of Houston fire codes.

[3] In 2008 the Texas Education Agency (TEA) ranked the school "academically unacceptable.

[8] According to Texas Education Agency (TEA) spokesperson Debbie Ratcliffe, the charter school establishment process was, in 1995, simpler and less arduous compared to the 2015 process, and that therefore many of the earlier charter schools did not have the foundation to ultimately survive.

Ratcliffe stated that the school frequently faced financial problems and instability, and that the agency had on two occasions each attempted to correct it with conservators and monitors, respectively.

[5] Of the Houston-area charters the TEA was seeking to close that year, Girls and Boys was the largest.

Downing concluded that GBPA "ultimately sank under the weight of those ambitions in a manner both very public and profound".

Of the peak population, 90% were classified as economically disadvantaged as they were signed up for free or reduced lunches.