Submitted by Dr. Bill Ebarb

The Louisiana School was created by state law in 1981 (Act. No. 932). The law stated the intent of the Legislature that the school be "an independent, residential school for certain high school students" and that the school’s purpose was to develop such students "to their full potential."

To that end, the school was located on the campus of Northwestern State University where Louisiana School students could take advantage of the resources available to the university’s students, i.e., library, arts facilities, recreational facilities, speaker series, etc. College-qualified faculty members were employed, and college textbooks and materials of instruction were purchased. From a student body of 208 incoming juniors in 1983 and a faculty of 14 instructors, the school has grown to a target student enrollment of 400 and a faculty of 43. More than 75 per cent of those faculty members possess terminal degrees in their subject field.

When students first enrolled in 1983, classes were conducted on the first floor of Prudhomme Hall while the second floor served as the girls’ dormitory. Meals were served on the first floor of Bossier Hall while the top two floors served as the boys’ dormitory. Today Prudhomme Hall is the boys’ dorm, and Caddo Hall is the girls’ dorm; the school has a 66,000 square foot classroom-laboratory-administration building, a gym and Student Activities Center; and a major construction/renovation project is underway to provide another 52,000 square feet of space for creative and performing areas instruction and performance, computer labs, long-distance teaching, and a kitchen/cafeteria.