LA GATOR and Brighter Horizon School
Brighter Horizon School is on the Louisiana Department of Education's 2025-26 list of BESE-approved nonpublic schools, classified as non-accredited. BESE approval is what a school needs to accept LA GATOR tuition from a family's account. Its federal Brumfield v. Dodd nondiscrimination approval dates to 1999.
The state doesn't publish which approved schools registered with LA GATOR each year (statewide, more than 240 took part in the first year), so ask the office whether it is set up for 2026-27 and how it bills the account.
The school reported 147 K-12 students and 14 pre-K students on that list. That ranks #43 of 69 approved schools in our ten-parish directory by K-12 enrollment.
Brighter Horizon School was not on the 2024-25 Tuition Donation Credit participating list, so STO scholarships may not be available here. Ask whether the school has joined since.
Because enough of its students came through the former Louisiana Scholarship Program, the state calculated a 2025 Scholarship Cohort Index for the school: 58.4, with a K-8 assessment index of 46.7 and a progress index of 95.3. The index is built like a public school performance score and covers only scholarship students who took state tests.
In the federal Private School Survey (2023-24), it reported 125 students, 16.8 full-time-equivalent teachers and about 7.4 students per teacher. It lists membership in Islamic School League of America.
From kindergarten through grade 12 is 13 school years. At 2026-27 amounts, a student funded every year here would bring about $68,159 at the standard amount, or $99,138 at the 250%-of-poverty amount. Amounts are set each year and new awards depend on funding, so treat this as a planning number. LA GATOR starts at age 5, so pre-K years are paid privately.
Paying the balance
Faith-based schools of every tradition can take LA GATOR on the same terms once BESE-approved. Ask about community-funded tuition assistance for the balance.
Check my funding for this school →
Questions to ask the school
- Are you registered as a participating LA GATOR school in Odyssey for 2026-27, and how do you bill the account?
- What is the full cost for my child's grade, including mandatory fees, and what's left after the account?
- Do you accept STO scholarships (ACE, Arete, Aspiring Scholars, Son of a Saint), and in what order do you apply them?
- Which state test or national norm-referenced test do LA GATOR students take here?
- Which dual-enrollment courses do you offer, and can those fees come from the account?
- Does a pre-K seat here carry into kindergarten, when LA GATOR starts?
Closest private schools
| School | Type | Grades | Distance | BESE |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jehovah-Jireh Christian Academy | Christian | PK-12 | 0.3 mi | ✓ |
| Our Lady of Mercy Catholic School | Catholic | PK-8 | 1.5 mi | ✓ |
| St. Luke's Episcopal School | Episcopal | PK-8 | 2.0 mi | ✓ |
| Hosanna Christian Academy | Assembly of God | PK-8 | 2.1 mi | ✓ |
| Martin Luther King Jr. Christian Academy | Seventh-day Adventist | PK-8 | 2.3 mi | ✓ |
| St. Lillian Academy | Learning differences | K-12 | 2.5 mi | ✓ |
Straight-line distance from federal survey or address coordinates.