New Orleans is one of the last American metros where single-sex schooling is the default for Catholic high school. Of the 18 approved high schools that admit at grade 8, 13 are boys' or girls' schools, and two elementary schools (Stuart Hall and Christian Brothers' City Park campus) are boys-only too. LA GATOR treats them exactly like coed schools; the differences are in admissions, sibling logistics and the aid each school offers.
Boys' schools (8)
| School | City | Grades | K-12 students | STO list |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jesuit High School | New Orleans | 8-12 | 1,267 | ✓ |
| Brother Martin High School | New Orleans | 8-12 | 1,024 | ✓ |
| Saint Paul's School | Covington | 8-12 | 878 | — |
| Holy Cross School | New Orleans | PK-12 | 802 | ✓ |
| Archbishop Rummel High School | Metairie | 8-12 | 640 | ✓ |
| St. Augustine High School | New Orleans | 8-12 | 579 | ✓ |
| Archbishop Shaw High School | Marrero | 8-12 | 524 | ✓ |
| Stuart Hall School for Boys | New Orleans | PK-7 | 284 | — |
Girls' schools (11)
| School | City | Grades | K-12 students | STO list |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mount Carmel Academy | New Orleans | 8-12 | 1,238 | ✓ |
| St. Mary's Dominican High School | New Orleans | 8-12 | 734 | ✓ |
| Archbishop Chapelle High School | Metairie | 8-12 | 669 | ✓ |
| Academy of the Sacred Heart | New Orleans | PK-12 | 641 | — |
| St. Scholastica Academy | Covington | 8-12 | 587 | ✓ |
| Academy of Our Lady | Marrero | 8-12 | 488 | ✓ |
| St. Mary's Academy | New Orleans | PK-12 | 469 | ✓ |
| Ursuline Academy | New Orleans | K-12 | 393 | ✓ |
| The Louise S. McGehee School | New Orleans | PK-12 | 355 | — |
| Cabrini High School | New Orleans | 8-12 | 297 | ✓ |
| St. Katharine Drexel Preparatory School | New Orleans | 8-12 | 128 | ✓ |
Source: LDOE 2025-26 BESE-approved list, which marks single-sex sites; NCES Private School Survey. Jesuit and Rummel are listed by BESE as junior and senior sites and shown here as one school each.
What's different about funding them
- Tuition runs higher. The boys' and girls' high schools are among the most expensive approved schools in the state. Even the $7,626 award covers less than two-thirds of tuition at most of them; plan on an STO scholarship or school aid for the rest.
- Each has its own aid office. Unlike parish elementary schools, these schools are governed by religious orders or independent boards and run their own need-based aid, usually via FACTS. Ask where LA GATOR enters the calculation.
- Siblings split. A family with a son and a daughter uses two awards at two schools with two deposit schedules. Siblings of current participants are the third priority group, which helps the second child get funded.
- Protected voucher amounts end at grade 7. A child with a Louisiana Scholarship Program amount at a PK-7 school moves to the standard tiers on entering 8th grade.
Placement tests
Most archdiocesan high schools use a common placement test date in winter and accept the same test; a few independent schools test separately. Test-prep tutoring is an approved LA GATOR expense if you buy it through the marketplace, which is one of the few ways to spend 7th-grade money on the transition.