A charter school in Kenner, La., is building a $36 million facility to house its high school students.

The New Orleans Advocate reports that the Kenner Discovery Health Sciences Academy is constructing a 125,000-square-foot high-school building that will include nine science labs, a teaching kitchen, a counseling center, a cafeteria and a library/media center.

It is scheduled to open in 2020. 

Kenner Discovery's already has four campuses that serve more than 1,500 students from pre-kindergarten through 11th grade.

Next year, the school will welcome its first class of high-school seniors, increasing enrollment even further. The high school now has about 400 students; next year it will approach 600.

 praised the school's record success.

"A building, no matter how shiny, is just a building," says Jefferson Parish Schools Superintendent Cade Brumley. However, he adds, "this modern, state-of-the-art facility will add value to the portfolio of Jefferson Parish schools, especially when our average school is 54 years old."

A recent consultant's report recommended $700 million in upgrades for the parish's aging public schools.