A short, honest guide to Shreveport daycare.
Shreveport anchors the third-largest metro in Louisiana and is the regional hub of the Ark-La-Tex. Willis-Knighton Health System, LSU Health Shreveport, Christus Health Shreveport-Bossier, Brookshire Grocery, and Barksdale Air Force Base across the Red River in Bossier City together anchor more than 60,000 jobs in the metro core. Demand for infant seats is steady year-round, and the South Highlands, Broadmoor, and Spring Lake centers run the longest waitlists. The good news: Louisiana has aggressively consolidated and modernized its early childhood system under the 2012 Early Childhood Education Act (Act 3), which moved oversight to the Louisiana Department of Education and standardized Louisiana Quality Start ratings across centers, family child care homes, and Head Start.
Louisiana licensing and Quality Start
Every legal daycare in Shreveport is licensed by the Louisiana Department of Education, Early Childhood Programs and Licensing Division. Louisiana Quality Start is the state's voluntary quality rating and improvement system, with ratings from 1 to 5 Star. Every provider in our directory is matched against the LDOE child care licensing search monthly. Family child care homes serving up to six children must register with LDOE; in-home providers serving seven or more must hold a full Class A or Class B license.
Source: Louisiana Department of Education, Early Childhood Programs and Licensing; Louisiana Quality Start QRIS standards; Louisiana Believes ECE policy page (LDOE); Louisiana Administrative Code Title 28 Part CLXVII (minimum standards for child care centers, Class A and Class B).
Louisiana ratios
Louisiana center ratios are 1:5 for infants under 12 months, 1:7 for 12 to 24 months, 1:11 for two-year-olds, 1:13 for three-year-olds, 1:15 for four-year-olds, and 1:20 for school-age. NAEYC-accredited and Louisiana Quality Start 5-Star centers in South Highlands and Broadmoor commonly operate well below these ceilings, often closer to 1:3 or 1:4 for infants. Family child care homes are capped at six children, of whom no more than two may be under twelve months old.
Caddo and Bossier school district pre-K
Caddo Parish Public Schools operates LA-4 classrooms at more than a dozen elementary campuses, with priority for income-eligible four-year-olds and a smaller share of seats open to families above the income threshold on a tuition or sliding-scale basis. Bossier Parish Schools runs a comparable LA-4 network on the east side of the Red River. NSECD seats live inside several Shreveport faith-based and independent preschools, and the Louisiana Believes Early Childhood Community Network for the Caddo and Bossier region (LCMC) coordinates a shared enrollment window each spring. Families who miss the spring deadline should ask whether the program runs a fall waitlist.
Subsidy waiting list and reimbursement
Louisiana's CCAP currently has no statewide waiting list for working families, but reimbursement rates vary by region and provider star rating. Caddo Parish CCAP rates for infants in a Quality Start 4-Star or 5-Star center are tied to the 75th percentile of regional market rates, which generally covers most or all of tuition at participating providers; copays are calculated on a sliding scale capped at 7 percent of household income under federal CCDF rules.
Barksdale AFB, Willis-Knighton, and employer options
Barksdale Air Force Base, home to the 2nd Bomb Wing and the Air Force Global Strike Command headquarters, operates an on-base Child Development Center and Family Child Care home network for active-duty and DOD-civilian families, plus accepts Air Force Child Care Fee Assistance at several off-base partners. Willis-Knighton Health System and LSU Health Shreveport, the two largest medical-center employers in the city, both maintain partner childcare arrangements with reserved seats and shift-friendly hours. Families working at the medical district or commuting from Bossier should ask about employer-partner enrollment priority before joining a public waitlist.
Where Shreveport parents tend to overpay
- South Highlands centers when a comparable Southern Hills or Shreve Island 4-Star or 5-Star program is fifteen minutes away at a 15 to 25 percent discount.
- Missing the LA-4 application window, which opens free high-quality public pre-K for every eligible four-year-old in Caddo Parish Schools and Bossier Parish Schools.
- Skipping the Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP) application when household income would qualify for partial or full subsidy at participating providers.
Financial help
Louisiana's Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP) covers most of the tuition bill for working families earning up to 65 percent of state median income at intake and 85 percent of state median income ongoing, at participating Shreveport providers. LA-4 and NSECD run free preschool seats for eligible four-year-olds. All families can use the federal Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit and a Dependent Care FSA. Our tax credit explainer walks through the math, and our subsidized daycare explainer covers state CCAP rules.
Before your first tour, download the free DaycareSquare comparison checklist and the tour questions list for a side-by-side scoring sheet.
