Discovery Schools began serving families in 2013. Originally an idea held by a small group of Jefferson Parish residents to reform public education has since grown into an academically successful and high demand charter school network. The first Discovery School, Kenner Discovery opened in 2013 with 412 students. Now, Kenner Discovery serves over 2,000 students in grades Pre-K through 12th. In 2018, the formidable founding team at Kenner Discovery developed a central office -- Discovery Schools -- and decided to expand the school’s success to serve the needs of more Jefferson Parish residents. The second school, Dr. John Ochsner Discovery, opened in August 2020.

Baton Rouge Ochsner Discovery will be Discovery Schools' third school implementing the structures and best practices that have contributed to the success of Kenner Discovery and Dr. John Ochsner Discovery.  

All Discovery schools are free public charter schools that have the flexibility to adapt to the educational needs of individual students.

The mission of Discovery Health Sciences Academy is to provide a rigorous learning environment where students achieve academically, develop intellectual curiosity, and practice environmental responsibility while exploring health and science topics and careers.

Core values are the HEART of our school culture. Our core values; Honor, Endurance, Academic Achievement, Responsibility, Tolerance (HEART) are the pulse that reinforces positive student behavior. Discovery incorporates social skills and character development into the daily academic curriculum. School culture is shaped by a character skills program, positive behavior techniques, restorative justice, and conflict resolution skills.

The Discovery Health Sciences Foundation Board of Director's vision is to establish a Pre-K through 12th grade charter school network. Our concept allows us to “home grow” future healthcare professionals and healthy citizens for our community. The experienced leadership team of Discovery delivers an innovative accountable model of education. Discovery students will be college and career ready.

Lower school students learn about good nutrition, healthy lifestyle choices, physical fitness, and a sustainable environment. They explore science and technology with 21st century tools across all subjects. They help maintain a butterfly and herb and vegetable garden. Reading, writing, and assessments are connected across all subjects. From an early age, students understand how they learn, make informed choices, set learning goals, and track their progress.

Middle and high school students follow the scientific method and practice science exploration. Through health and environmental literacy they'll learn about preventive physical and mental health measures, establish personal health goals, examine public health concerns, analyze environmental issues and research effective solutions. They learn to propose questions and research answers. They use technology, traditional research, and writing to create evidence based reports. Reading, writing, and assessments are connected across all subjects in the curriculum. Our students understand their personal learning style, act as their own best advocate for learning, and track their personal learning goals and academic progress.

Student achievement is the most important and first unifying theme. With a shared leadership model which develops school wide ownership, Discovery administrative team and stakeholders established a creative and rigorous academic learning environment with a strong school culture. At the core of our academic philosophy are data-driven planning, high quality instruction, college and career readiness, health & sciences infusion across subjects, 21st century educational technology, hands-on learning, inquiry instruction, and problem solving through synthesis and evaluation.

We believe education is a joint effort and commitment from teachers, students, and parents. Discovery emphasizes and creates multiple opportunities within the school for student-parent relationships to grow and flourish. The entire framework—pedagogy, curriculum, informed, high quality instruction, rigorous assessment, careful and caring character development, health sciences integration, and the home-school partnership—is built to provide students with knowledge and inventive, flexible minds that they will use to continue their education or training to be active citizens in this diverse nation and global world.