Original Research by School Decision on Louisiana Key Academy- Caddo
Louisiana Key Academy–Caddo is a public charter school district that opened in 2023 in Shreveport’s Broadmoor neighborhood, and it serves a very specific purpose: it is a tuition-free school designed exclusively for students with dyslexia. The district, which currently consists of a single campus, serves kindergarten through fourth grade according to its official profile, though the school’s own materials say it serves grades one through six and plans to expand through eighth grade. Families considering this school should expect that focus to be the central feature of every aspect of the experience.
The student body is small. The enrollment is modest for a district at this grade band, and the composition is majority white, with a substantial Black enrollment and a smaller share of Hispanic students. A handful of students identify as two or more races. Information about economic disadvantage and special education status, beyond the dyslexia mission, was not available.
Academically, this is not a conventional elementary school. Because the district is new and serves a specialized population, state testing data was not available in the records reviewed. That is not unusual for a school of this type; parents who want to understand how student progress is measured should ask the school directly about its own assessments and benchmarks. The district’s core academic offering is daily specialized reading instruction in groups of six or fewer, led by teachers who are IMSLEC-accredited Certified Academic Language Therapists. This is the primary academic pathway, and it is intensive and structured. The school is the only one in Louisiana endorsed by Drs. Sally and Bennett Shaywitz, prominent researchers in dyslexia, which gives it a recognized standing in that field.
Because the district is a single-school charter serving early grades, there is no graduation rate to report. The school draws families not only from Caddo Parish but also from Bossier, Desoto, Red River, and Webster parishes, suggesting that families are willing to commute for this specialized program. The setting is an urban neighborhood in Shreveport, the largest city in northwest Louisiana, but the school’s small size and focused mission give it a program-specific identity rather than a neighborhood-school feel.
The district’s brief history and limited grade span mean that families looking for a long-term pathway through high school will need to plan for what comes after. The school intends to expand through eighth grade, but for now it serves only elementary grades. For parents whose child has dyslexia and who want a public school option that provides structured, research-based intervention at no cost, Louisiana Key Academy–Caddo offers a clear and singular fit. For families seeking a broader, more conventional elementary experience, this district is likely not the right match. The peer environment will be made up of students who share a common learning difference, and the instruction is designed around that. It is a young school, still growing, and families should expect that some longer-term details about curriculum breadth, extracurriculars, and secondary programming are still developing.
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