Washington State Skill Center Association

The Maritime 253 Skills Center in Tacoma is nearing completion, offering South Sound high schoolers industry-relevant training in maritime fields. Set to open in fall 2026, the center will provide up to 1,080 hours of training, credentials, and college credits, preparing students for careers in shipping, port operations, and more. By Brian Hayes

Overlooking the Thea Foss Waterway and the future new headquarters for the Port of Tacoma is a sprawling, 21-acre construction project. It’s called Maritime | 253 and is the result of about a decade of work to build a home for a career and technical education skills center managed by Tacoma Public Schools. When it opens in fall 2026, high school students from around the South Sound will be able to enroll in half-day programs that cover topics like maritime manufacturing, port operations and sustainability along with their every day high school classes, and they can do so right next to a potential future employer.

The project has been in the works for about a decade, Kulaas told The News Tribune. With a budget of $42 million, the project is funded by a $535 million voter-approved bond from 2020 to finance capital improvements at schools across the district. Tacoma Public Schools offers summer classes related to maritime skills, but, once the building is up and running next year, the summer classes will be housed at the new building, Maritime | 253 director Kristie Wolford told The News Tribune. About 350 students enrolled in the summer program this past summer, and up to 600 can enroll in the regular half-day program during the school year once it gets up and running next fall, district spokesperson Kathryn McCarthy told The News Tribune. The enrollment application for the 2026-2027 academic year at Maritime | 253 will open on Oct. 27 of this year, according to the district’s website. McCarthy said the programming at Maritime | 253 will be open to Tacoma Public Schools students as well as students from school districts in Vashon, University Place and Sumner-Bonney Lake. About 70% of the spots in the program will be reserved for Tacoma students. Tacoma Public Schools is partnering with the Port of Tacoma to build Maritime | 253, a program that offers students the chance to earn a credential in the maritime trades, on Wednesday, Sept. 24, 2025, in Tacoma. Tacoma Public Schools is partnering with the Port of Tacoma to build Maritime | 253, a program that offers students the chance to earn a credential in the maritime trades, on Wednesday, Sept. 24, 2025, in Tacoma. Brian Hayes bhayes@thenewstribune.com

Read more at: https://www.thenewstribune.com/news/local/education/article312212836.html#storylink=cpy

tudents in the program will receive up to 1,080 hours of training, credentials and college credit to prepare them for jobs in shipping, maritime operations, marine engineering, programming and more. It’s part of an effort to ensure that kids who grow up in Tacoma can afford to stay in Tacoma by arming them with qualifications they need for steady, reliable employment at the Port of Tacoma – which is among the city’s top employers. Maritime | 253 will give “increased, equitable access to all of our learners to stay here, grow here, work here, live here, in livable wage jobs,” said Adam Kulaas, chief of schools for Tacoma Public Schools. Since Tacoma Public Schools and the Port of Tacoma broke ground on the project in January, crews with BNB Builders have set the building’s foundation and put the building’s exterior and interior walls in place, according to the district. Staff with TCF Architects, which is also working on the neighboring new port headquarters, have been at work on designing the interior layout of the classrooms.

“All of our discussions on the design team side, working with the district, working with BNB, even going out and talking with the community about this cool project that I’m so lucky to be a part of – everybody has been just so excited,” said Sheena Hewett, an architectural designer at TCF architecture. Tacoma Public Schools is partnering with the Port of Tacoma to build Maritime | 253, a program that offers students the chance to earn a credential in the maritime trades, on Wednesday, Sept. 24, 2025, in Tacoma. Tacoma Public Schools is partnering with the Port of Tacoma to build Maritime | 253, a program that offers students the chance to earn a credential in the maritime trades, on Wednesday, Sept. 24, 2025, in Tacoma. Brian Hayes bhayes@thenewstribune.com

The building is being built on the Tideflats adjacent to the Port of Tacoma’s new headquarters, which also are under construction. Officials from Tacoma Public Schools and the Port of Tacoma said the two buildings’ close proximity will be mutually beneficial for the port and to the students in the program. “Not only are students getting exposed to what happens in the industry, seeing it daily, they also get to live it. And then the port will be coming in and supporting our students on site, as well as our students going on site with the port,” Wolford said. Port of Tacoma commission president John McCarthy said workforce development is among the port’s top priorities, and officials are excited to work with the district to “train the workers of the future.” “The maritime industry is facing a gray tsunami of retirements, and industry leaders are looking for more workers and there are incredible family wage job opportunities in the skilled trades in the maritime and logistic industry,” McCarthy told The News Tribune. “So we wanted to make sure more young people in our community have access to them and it will also benefit the port and our industry partners by helping to build a pipeline of workers in the maritime and trades industry.”

Read more at: https://www.thenewstribune.com/news/local/education/article312212836.html#storylink=cpy