If you grew up anywhere else, the New Orleans school calendar takes some getting used to. Catholic and most independent elementary schools stop at 7th grade. High schools begin at 8th. The move happens a year earlier than the rest of the country, and the admissions process starts in the fall of 7th grade, with open houses in October and November, a placement test in December or January, and letters in February or March. LA GATOR's application window opens in March. Here is how to run the two calendars together.
The 18 approved high schools that admit at grade 8
Orleans
Northshore
East Bank
West Bank
River Parishes
Source: LDOE 2025-26 BESE-approved list; TDC 2024-25 list; NCES Private School Survey for single-sex status. Schools that run PK-12 (Newman, Holy Cross, Country Day, Christ Episcopal, Northlake Christian, John Curtis and others) also take new students at 8 and 9 but are listed in the directory rather than here.
The calendar, side by side
| When | High school admissions | LA GATOR |
|---|
| Sept-Nov (7th grade) | Open houses; shadow days; applications open | Nothing to do yet; check the previous year's amounts |
| Dec-Jan | Placement test (most archdiocesan high schools use the same test date); applications due | Gather income documents if you may be at or below 250% of poverty |
| Feb-early Mar | Acceptance letters; deposits due | Window opens (March 1 in 2026); apply or renew before you know your final school |
| Mar-Jun | Registration, uniforms, summer reading | Window closes mid-March; awards and waitlist notices after the Legislature sets funding (June) |
| Jul-Aug | School starts | First quarterly deposit; school bills Odyssey |
Three things families get wrong
- Waiting for the acceptance letter to apply. Apply in the March window regardless; you tell Odyssey which school later.
- Assuming the deposit is covered. Enrollment deposits are due before the first LA GATOR payment arrives. Ask whether the school will credit the deposit against a later quarter.
- Letting a protected amount lapse. A student with a Louisiana Scholarship Program amount keeps it only through the last grade of the school where the voucher was used. Moving to high school resets the award to the standard tiers.
The feeder schools
The largest approved PK-7 and K-7 schools in the area are St. Catherine of Siena School, Christian Brothers School, St. Peter Catholic School (Covington), St. Ann School, Our Lady of the Lake School, St. Dominic School, Immaculate Conception School, St. Pius X School. Each school page lists the approved grade-8 schools nearest to it.