Cathedral Carmel School

LA GATOR at Cathedral Carmel School

Cathedral Carmel School holds accredited status on the state's 2025-26 BESE-approved list. That approval is what allows a family's LA GATOR account to pay the school directly, provided the school completes its yearly Odyssey registration, a step the state does not report publicly. The school's Brumfield v. Dodd approval, which any school serving state-funded students needs, is dated 1976.

The state list shows 717 K-12 students and 85 pre-K children, which puts it at number 4 by enrollment among the 49 approved schools in the eight parishes that reported a figure.

It is one of the Catholic schools of the Diocese of Lafayette, whose territory covers the eight parishes on this site except Morgan City. Diocesan parish schools usually quote a parishioner rate and a non-parishioner rate, and the difference is the first number to ask about.

The school ends at grade 8, and the account goes with your child to the next approved school that admits them. The closest approved schools enrolling grade 9 are Ascension Episcopal School, Lafayette Christian Academy, Teurlings Catholic High School, St. Thomas More Catholic High School.

It did not appear on the 2024-25 Tuition Donation Credit list, so a family hoping to add an STO scholarship should ask whether the school takes STO students for 2026-27. The LA GATOR award itself does not depend on it.

In the federal Private School Survey for 2023-24, the school reported 715 students, 42.6 full-time-equivalent teachers and a ratio near 16.8 students per teacher. Listed memberships: National Catholic Educational Association.

Adding up the funded years

From kindergarten to grade 8, a student can spend 9 school years here. At 2026-27 award levels that adds up to about $47,187 on the standard award, $68,634 at the 250%-of-poverty level, and as much as $137,277 for a student served under IDEA. The Legislature sets funding each year, so use this to plan, not as a promise. The pre-K years are not covered; eligibility starts at age 5.

Covering the balance

Start with the parishioner rate and what the parish asks of a family to qualify for it. Then ask for the fee schedule, whether fees are billed through Odyssey as required fees, and whether the parish or the school offers its own tuition assistance for the balance.

Check my funding for this school →

What to ask the school office

1. Have you registered in Odyssey for 2026-27, and how do you bill against the four quarterly deposits?
2. What is the registered-parishioner rate, and what does our church parish require before we qualify for it?
3. What is the full cost for my child's grade, fees included, and what would a family on $5,243 or $7,626 still owe?
4. Will you take an STO scholarship for 2026-27, and do you apply it after LA GATOR?
5. Where did your most recent grade 8 class go next?
6. Does a pre-K place carry into kindergarten, the first year the account can pay?

Nearby private schools

Straight-line distance from federal campus coordinates; road distance across the Atchafalaya basin and the bayous is longer.