Students, parents, and LAUSD officials gathered at John F. Kennedy High School in Granada Hills on Tuesday, April 1, to celebrate a major milestone in the campus’s ongoing renovation.

With cheers and applause, about 45-50 attendees watched the red ribbon fall in front of a sleek two-story classroom building—the first of many additions in a sweeping campus modernization project designed to improve the building’s seismic safety, enhance the study environment, and upgrade classrooms to enrich the student learning experience.

“This was an idea that began its implementation back in 2023, and today we have the delivery on the very first phase–this beautiful building behind me with classrooms, laboratories, science classrooms, even a little space for the youngest among us,” Los Angeles Unified Superintendent Alberto M. Carvalho said in a speech before the ribbon-cutting.

The new classroom building is equipped with science classrooms, laboratories, workrooms, a dedicated early childhood development classroom with an outdoor playground, special education spaces, and even an outdoor classroom.

Akshita Islam, 16, a junior, plans to take six AP classes next year, three of which will be in the science department.

“Hopefully, three of my classes will be here,” Islam said. “I am very excited. I didn’t even get to go on the tour, so I am so excited for my first day to even go inside.”

Islam said the new facilities are a much-needed improvement over what students have been using.

“So in my old science labs and my old science classes, the water was barely functioning as it is,” she said. “I mean the water was not clean, but it’s a very old lab station, so the fact that we’ll have something new is just very nice.”

The new building is part of a $274 million modernization project funded by LAUSD bond programs. Most of the funding comes from Measure Q, with additional support from Measure RR, according to the district’s Chief Facilities Executive Krisztina Tokes.

“This high school was identified as a school that would benefit from seismic strengthening at a number of its buildings, just due to the time when these buildings were built, there were deficiencies that we wanted to make sure that we addressed,” Tokes said.

District staff collaborated with a team of architects and structural engineers who specialize in identifying seismic vulnerabilities and reinforcing steel structures to withstand earthquakes. As a result, they were able to seismically strengthen the buildings to ensure they’re safe for generations to come, she added.

In addition to the seismic upgrades, Tokes noted that the project also addressed the abundance of aging portable classrooms on campus.

“There was an opportunity to take those portables out that were way past their useful life, and replace them with classroom buildings,” Tokes said. “When we do those classroom buildings, we have a chance to really provide state-of-the-art classroom buildings that are specialized.”

Oscar Vazquez, principal of the school, said a lot of renovations are happening on the north end of campus. There are three phases in the project, and this new building is the first phase.

Construction kicked off in Quarter 1 of 2023, and is expected to be completed in Quarter 3 of 2028, according to school officials.

“I want the students to know we do this for you. This is all for you. This is all for public education in the Los Angeles Unified School District,” said LAUSD Board President Scott Schmerelson, whose District 3 includes the school.