BATON ROUGE, La. (Stacker) — America’s private high schools opened long before their public counterparts and even before the United States was first established. The Roman Catholic Church in the 1700s started private schools in Florida and Louisiana while in New York (a former Dutch colony called New Amsterdam), the Dutch West India Company and Dutch Reformed Church set up private schools that filled the void left by the colonies’ lack of an education system.
That changed in the 1840s when the U.S. instituted a uniform public school system. To stay relevant, private schools changed from marketing themselves as the only option to portraying their education as the “best” option. To this day, private high schools have positioned themselves as fast-tracks to admittance into elite universities. Faced with the rigorous demands of the highly competitive college admissions process and increased pressure over getting into the “right” school, parents (most often parents with means) often consider private schools for their children.
Stacker compiled a list of the best private high schools in Louisiana using rankings from Niche. Private schools have historically catered to America’s most elite, with exorbitant tuition and legacy admissions ensuring the socioeconomic exclusivity of student bodies. Scholarships, incremental transparency in the admissions process, and improved (albeit still imperfect and unequal) access to excellent early education for students of all backgrounds have allowed more low-income students and minorities today to take advantage of these schools. Still, white students continue to represent the vast majority of private-school students.
Read on to find out the best private high schools in your state.
25. Academy of the Sacred Heart (Grand Coteau)
- Enrollment: 220 (7:1 student to teacher ratio)
- Niche grade: A
24. St. Louis Catholic High School (Lake Charles)
- Enrollment: 589 (10:1 student to teacher ratio)
- Niche grade: A
23. Cabrini High School (New Orleans)
- Enrollment: 375 (11:1 student to teacher ratio)
- Niche grade: A
22. Christ Episcopal School (Covington)
- Enrollment: 620 (11:1 student to teacher ratio)
- Niche grade: A
21. Brother Martin High School (New Orleans)
- Enrollment: 1,206 (11:1 student to teacher ratio)
- Niche grade: A
20. Ursuline Academy of New Orleans (New Orleans)
- Enrollment: 588 (9:1 student to teacher ratio)
- Niche grade: A
19. St. Mary’s Dominican High School (New Orleans)
- Enrollment: 886 (15:1 student to teacher ratio)
- Niche grade: A
18. De La Salle High School (New Orleans)
- Enrollment: 595 (10:1 student to teacher ratio)
- Niche grade: A
17. St. Joseph’s Academy (Baton Rouge)
- Enrollment: 1,129 (16:1 student to teacher ratio)
- Niche grade: A
16. Mount Carmel Academy (New Orleans)
- Enrollment: 1,250 (9:1 student to teacher ratio)
- Niche grade: A
15. Archbishop Hannan High School (Covington)
- Enrollment: 650 (11:1 student to teacher ratio)
- Niche grade: A
14. Baton Rouge International School (Baton Rouge)
- Enrollment: 238 (7:1 student to teacher ratio)
- Niche grade: A
13. Loyola College Preparatory High School (Shreveport)
- Enrollment: 436 (12:1 student to teacher ratio)
- Niche grade: A
12. Catholic High School (Baton Rouge)
- Enrollment: 1,114 (10:1 student to teacher ratio)
- Niche grade: A
11. Ascension Episcopal School (Lafayette)
- Enrollment: 709 (8:1 student to teacher ratio)
- Niche grade: A
10. St. Paul’s School (Covington)
- Enrollment: 879 (14:1 student to teacher ratio)
- Niche grade: A
9. The Dunham School (Baton Rouge)
- Enrollment: 764 (8:1 student to teacher ratio)
- Niche grade: A
8. St. Martin’s Episcopal School (Metairie)
- Enrollment: 600 (7:1 student to teacher ratio)
- Niche grade: A
7. Louise S. McGehee School (New Orleans)
- Enrollment: 510 (5:1 student to teacher ratio)
- Niche grade: A+
6. Jesuit High School (New Orleans)
- Enrollment: 1368 (11:1 student to teacher ratio)
- Niche grade: A+
5. Academy of the Sacred Heart (New Orleans)
- Enrollment: 635 (8:1 student to teacher ratio)
- Niche grade: A+
4. Episcopal School of Baton Rouge (Baton Rouge)
- Enrollment: 942 (9:1 student to teacher ratio)
- Niche grade: A+
3. Episcopal School of Acadiana (Broussard)
- Enrollment: 588 (6:1 student to teacher ratio)
- Niche grade: A+
2. Isidore Newman School (New Orleans)
- Enrollment: 917 (8:1 student to teacher ratio)
- Niche grade: A+
1. Metairie Park Country Day School (Metairie)
- Enrollment: 720 (8:1 student to teacher ratio)
- Niche grade: A+
Article has been re-published pursuant to a CC BY-NC 4.0 License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/?ref=chooser-v1