French Immersion Schools in
Louisiana

Louisiana has the most French-language schools of any state in the national directory — 39 programs spread across New Orleans, Acadiana, the Baton Rouge area, and rural parishes in the heart of French-speaking Louisiana. Two fundamentally different systems coexist.

In New Orleans, 10 free public charter schools form the most concentrated French immersion charter network in the United States, run by Lycée Français de la Nouvelle-Orléans (3 campuses), International School of Louisiana (2 campuses), Edward Hynes Charter (2 campuses), and Audubon Public Charter (2 campuses). In Acadiana, a network of traditional public schools in Lafayette, Lake Charles, Breaux Bridge, Cecilia, and surrounding Cajun parishes maintains French bilingual education as a cultural continuity effort — not an immersion trend.

Behind both systems is CODOFIL — the Council for the Development of French in Louisiana — the state agency that places certified French-language teachers from France, Belgium, and Québec in Louisiana public school classrooms. Louisiana is the only US state with a dedicated government agency whose mission is preserving and expanding French-language education. Cajun French has been spoken in these parishes for three centuries.