Christian, Episcopal and Montessori schools around Lake Charles

The one Episcopal school, and why it stands apart

Bishop Noland Episcopal Day School on Division Street is the largest approved school outside the Catholic system, with 376 K-12 students and 58 pre-K children on the state list. It is the only school here with both a pre-K-through-12 span and a full federal record: 36 teachers, roughly 10.1 students per teacher, and membership in the National Association of Episcopal Schools. It does not appear on the 2024-25 STO list, so a family using an STO scholarship should ask whether that has changed.

Baptist and non-denominational academies

First Baptist Christian Academy on Old Highway 171 runs pre-K through 8 and reported 224 K-12 students to the state; the federal survey counted 35 teachers there, one of the lowest student-to-teacher ratios in the five parishes. Hamilton Christian Academy (300 K-12 students, pre-K to 12) and Life Christian Academy (243, pre-K to grade 10, with a Brumfield v. Dodd approval dated 2022) are both on the state list but missing from the federal survey, which is why they show no address here. Cornerstone Christian Academy in DeRidder reported 109 K-12 students and is on the STO list; the federal file gives it only a post office box.

Two schools the account cannot pay

Covenant Grace Academy on McNeese Street, with 72 students in the 2023-24 federal survey and membership in ACSI, and Liberty Baptist Academy in Oakdale, with 31, do not appear on the 2025-26 BESE-approved list. That means LA GATOR cannot pay their tuition. It does not say anything about their quality; many Louisiana schools choose not to seek state approval. A family set on one of them could still use the account's marketplace mode for outside tutoring or courses only if the student is not enrolled full time somewhere unapproved, which is a question to settle with the program line before applying.

Small and new

Indian Bible Academy near Elton reported 10 K-12 students and Little Learners Montessori in Sulphur, which runs only through kindergarten, reported 14. Both are approved. For Little Learners, remember that the account cannot fund the pre-K years at all, so only a kindergarten year there is billable.