Using LA GATOR at The Louise S. McGehee School
The state classifies The Louise S. McGehee School as accredited on its 2025-26 BESE approval list, which is the gate for LA GATOR tuition. Louisiana doesn't publish which approved schools signed up with Odyssey in a given year, so ask the school directly. Its Brumfield v. Dodd nondiscrimination approval, required for any state-funded placement, dates from 1976.
On that list the school reported 355 K-12 students plus 43 in pre-K, which makes it the 41st-largest of 114 approved schools in the eight-parish area.
By enrollment it is the 16th of 42 approved schools within Orleans Parish; the nearest comparable schools with the same grade span and affiliation in the area are Isidore Newman School. Its pre-K program (43 children) is the usual route into kindergarten here, which is the first year LA GATOR can pay.
The school did not appear on the 2024-25 Tuition Donation Credit list, so an STO scholarship may not be usable here unless it has since joined. LA GATOR itself is unaffected.
The federal Private School Survey (2023-24) recorded 390 students, 55 full-time-equivalent teachers and a ratio of about 7.1 to 1. The school reports membership in National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS).
Kindergarten to grade 12 is 13 years at this school. Funded every year at 2026-27 levels, that is roughly $68,159 at the standard amount or $99,138 at the 250%-of-poverty amount, before any STO scholarship. Awards are reset annually and depend on the appropriation, so use it for planning, not budgeting. Pre-K years aren't eligible; the account starts at age 5.
Covering the rest
Independent schools publish tuition and run need-based aid through FACTS or a similar service. Ask where LA GATOR sits in that calculation; at the larger campuses the account covers a fraction of tuition and aid does the heavy lifting.
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Ask the admissions office
- Is the school registered with Odyssey as a LA GATOR school for 2026-27, and does it bill tuition quarterly to match the deposits?
- What is the all-in cost for this grade, including fees, and what does a family at the $5,243 and $7,626 levels owe after the account?
- Do you take STO scholarships (ACE, Arete, Aspiring Scholars, Son of a Saint)? Which is applied first, LA GATOR or the STO award?
- Does a PK-4 seat guarantee a kindergarten seat, which is when the account can start?
Nearest private schools
| School | Type | Grades | Distance | BESE |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Trinity Episcopal School | Episcopal | PK-8 | 0.2 mi | ✓ |
| St. Alphonsus School | Catholic | PK-7 | 0.4 mi | ✓ |
| Raphael Academy | Learning differences | — | 0.7 mi | — |
| Waldorf School of New Orleans | Independent | PK-8 | 0.7 mi | ✓ |
| The Chartwell Center | Learning differences | PK-11 | 0.8 mi | — |
| St. Michael Special School | Learning differences | PK-12 | 0.8 mi | ✓ |
Straight-line distance between campus coordinates.