Trafton Academy

LA GATOR and Trafton Academy

On the state's 2025-26 BESE approval list, Trafton Academy appears as non-accredited. Approved schools can accept LA GATOR tuition once they register in the Odyssey platform for the year. Its federal Brumfield v. Dodd nondiscrimination approval dates to 1987.

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 210 K-12 students and 40 pre-K students on that list. That ranks #36 of 69 approved schools in our ten-parish directory by K-12 enrollment.

Trafton Academy was also on the state's 2024-25 Tuition Donation Credit participating list, so it accepts scholarships from Louisiana's school tuition organizations (ACE Scholarships, Arete Scholars, Aspiring Scholars and Son of a Saint). Those scholarships stack with LA GATOR: the account pays tuition and mandatory fees first, and an STO award can cover the rest, up to actual tuition and fees.

In the federal Private School Survey (2023-24), it reported 219 students, 15 full-time-equivalent teachers and about 14.6 students per teacher.

From kindergarten through grade 8 is 9 school years. At 2026-27 amounts, a student funded every year here would bring about $47,187 at the standard amount, or $68,634 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

Independent schools set their own need-based aid. Ask whether LA GATOR is counted before or after aid is calculated.

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After grade 8: where students can continue

Trafton Academy ends at grade 8. These approved schools serve grade 9:

• St. Thomas Aquinas Diocesan Regional High School (Hammond, grades 8-12, about 2 mi)
• Oak Forest Academy (Amite, grades PK-12, about 14 mi)
• Open Door Christian Academy (Denham Springs, grades PK-12, about 28 mi)
• St. Michael the Archangel High School (Baton Rouge, grades 9-12, about 33 mi)
• Ascension Christian School (Gonzales, grades PK-12, about 34 mi)

Questions to ask the school

1. Are you registered as a participating LA GATOR school in Odyssey for 2026-27, and how do you bill the account?
2. What is the full cost for my child's grade, including mandatory fees, and what's left after the account?
3. Do you accept STO scholarships (ACE, Arete, Aspiring Scholars, Son of a Saint), and in what order do you apply them?
4. Which state test or national norm-referenced test do LA GATOR students take here?
5. Does a pre-K seat here carry into kindergarten, when LA GATOR starts?

Closest private schools

Straight-line distance from federal survey or address coordinates.