New Orleans Center for Creative Arts

The New Orleans Center for Creative Arts (NOCCA) is a premier regional, pre-professional arts training center located in the historic Faubourg Marigny neighborhood of New Orleans. Founded in 1973, the school serves as a haven for students in grades 9–12 who demonstrate exceptional talent in various artistic disciplines, including creative writing, culinary arts, dance, media arts, music, theatre, and visual arts. Unlike a traditional academic high school, NOCCA operates as a supplemental conservatory where students receive intensive, professional-level instruction from working artists, providing them with the technical skills and creative discipline necessary to pursue careers in the arts.

The school is renowned for its unique dual-enrollment model, which allows students to maintain their enrollment at their home high schools for academic coursework while attending NOCCA for specialized artistic training. Its campus, situated on Chartres Street, features state-of-the-art facilities that foster a collaborative and vibrant creative community. By bridging the gap between high school education and professional artistic development, NOCCA has earned a national reputation for excellence, consistently preparing its graduates for acceptance into prestigious conservatories, universities, and professional companies across the world.