This paper considers the characteristics and outcomes that occurred for girls who experienced suspension or expulsion from school using data (N=1,084; 527 boys and 557 girls) from an ongoing investigation of suspension within 5 sections of elementary schools in the Baltimore public schools. The data included gender specific analysis of shared and non-shared risk factors between boys and girls. Girls were found to be half as likely to be removed from school as their male peers. Being rated as more aggressive than their peers in first grade increased their risk for removal, as did being of African American descent. Understanding gender specific variations related to school removal will allow a clearer understanding of the precursors leading up to school problems for girls. Ongoing work on how to evaluate individual baseline characteristics for school entry and academic success will help schools identify at-risk students. Being aware of the relationship among individual, school, and community characteristics will provide information for developing interventions to prevent later school difficulties. Evidence of the important gender differences in school removal highlights the risk factors that need to be targeted in future preventive interventions to increase the likelihood of successful outcomes. (Contains three tables.) (JDM)