Original Research by School Decision on The Net Charter High School
The NET Charter High School sits in New Orleans, a dense urban city-parish that serves as a major port and commercial hub for the Gulf Coast region. The city is known for its distinctive cross-cultural heritage, music scene, Creole cuisine, and annual festivals like Mardi Gras. Its historic French Quarter features French and Spanish Creole architecture and vibrant street life, and the city has earned the nickname “Hollywood South” for its role in the film industry. That backdrop matters because the school itself is a small, alternative charter high school serving students in eighth through twelfth grade, and it operates with a specific mission and structure that sets it apart from a traditional comprehensive high school.
The school is designated as an alternative school, which is its defining characteristic. That label signals that it is designed for students who have not succeeded in a conventional school setting, often because of credit deficits, disengagement, or other challenges. The student body is small, with an enrollment that is modest for a high school covering multiple grades. The largest group is the senior class, followed by juniors and sophomores, with a much smaller cohort of eighth graders, which suggests the school may take students entering high school and then carry them through to graduation. The student population is predominantly Black, with a smaller share of Hispanic students, a very small number of white students, and a handful of American Indian or Alaska Native students. About two-thirds of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, indicating that the school serves a community with substantial economic need.
State testing results for the school are largely suppressed, which means they are not reported publicly. This is a common practice when the number of tested students in a group is very small, and it is consistent with what you would expect in an alternative school where enrollment in any given grade is limited and testing conditions may differ from those in a traditional school. The data that is available shows that only a handful of students were tested in the grades and subjects that are part of the state assessment. Because the results are suppressed, there is no publicly available proficiency information for math, English language arts, science, or social studies. A parent should understand that the lack of test scores does not necessarily indicate poor performance; it reflects the nature of the school and the small numbers of students in each tested group. If academic performance data is a priority for you, this may be a gap worth exploring directly with the school.
The school does not have a reported graduation rate in the available data, and there is no information on chronic absenteeism or discipline. The absence of these metrics is notable. For an alternative school that works with students who are often at risk of dropping out, the graduation rate is a particularly relevant measure. You may want to ask the school directly about its graduation outcomes and how it tracks student progress toward a diploma. The school also has no reported data on special education or English learner populations, which may mean those counts are small or unreported.
The NET is its own district, meaning it is a single-school charter district that operates independently within New Orleans’ broader school landscape. Because of that structure, the comparison data available places it relative to other districts in Orleans Parish, but with the caveat that many of the comparison metrics, including proficiency and graduation rate, are not applicable because the school’s data is missing. The school’s location on Oretha Castle Haley Boulevard puts it in the Central City neighborhood of New Orleans, an area that is part of the city’s denser, mixed-use urban fabric.
The housing context around the school reflects the broader New Orleans market. Home values in the zip code are roughly in line with the state average, though they have shown a modest decline recently. Rents are slightly above the state average and have been increasing. The national mortgage rate environment is around six and a half percent, which is a factor for any family considering a home purchase in the area. The city’s population, which was severely reduced after Hurricane Katrina, rebounded for a time and then showed a slight decrease between the 2020 census and a recent estimate, a pattern that reflects ongoing changes in the city’s growth and development.
For a parent considering the NET, the key takeaway is that this is a small alternative school with a specialized mission. It is not a setting where you will find a broad array of Advanced Placement courses or a large extracurricular program, and state test scores are not available to evaluate. What the school offers is a second-chance pathway for students who need a different structure to finish high school. The student body is economically diverse, with many students from low-income households. The school’s location in urban New Orleans means families need to consider transportation and the surrounding neighborhood. If your student has struggled in a traditional school environment and needs a smaller, more individualized setting to earn a diploma, the NET may be worth investigating. But the lack of outcome data means you will want to have a direct conversation with the school about its graduation rates, post-graduation plans for its students, and how it supports students academically and personally.
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