Tacoma’s Most Unusual New School Opens Next Week

When Tacoma students return to school on September 9, some will begin their day somewhere that looks considerably different from a traditional high school.

Instead of spending the entire day moving between familiar subjects and ordinary classrooms, they might operate a logistics simulator, work with industrial robots, learn marine welding or explore how drones and autonomous vessels are changing the maritime industry.

Those experiences will be waiting at Maritime|253, a new 42,000-square-foot skills center opening on the Tacoma waterfront at 1225 Maritime Center Drive.

The school is the result of a partnership between Tacoma Public Schools and the Port of Tacoma—and it was designed to connect students with the industries operating just beyond its doors.

Despite its specialized campus, Maritime|253 is not a standalone high school. Students remain enrolled at their regular schools and spend half of each day at the new waterfront center.

The regional program is open to high school students from throughout the South Sound, although the advanced courses are primarily intended for juniors and seniors. Tacoma Public Schools has also been working with the Vashon, Sumner-Bonney Lake and University Place school districts to make seats and transportation available to their students.

Maritime|253 will eventually be able to serve as many as 600 students per day—300 during a morning session and another 300 in the afternoon.

Each two-year program provides as many as 1,080 hours of training. Depending on the pathway they choose, students can earn industry-recognized credentials and dual college credit while preparing for apprenticeships, employment or additional education after graduation.

Enrollment for the 2026–27 school year remains open.

Students at Maritime|253 can choose from four broad career pathways.

The advanced maritime manufacturing pathway includes shipbuilding, marine and robotic welding, computer-aided design, composites, marine engineering and naval architecture.

The port operations and logistics pathway focuses on shipping, aviation, rail transportation, maritime operations and port security.

Students selecting the technology pathway can study information technology, cybersecurity, programming, mechatronics, drones, autonomous vessels and design.

The fourth pathway, sustainability, examines solar and wind energy, alternative fuels, environmental science, automation and sustainable construction.

These aren’t merely subjects chosen from a catalog. Tacoma Public Schools assembled a 30-member advisory group of engineers, educators, business leaders and maritime professionals to help ensure the training reflects what employers actually need.

“The excitement and participation of industry partners has blown me away,” Maritime|253 Director Kristie Wolford said when enrollment opened. Her goal is for every student to eventually have an industry mentor.

The building itself is designed to support that emphasis on real-world experience.

Maritime|253 includes a marine technologies and robotics lab, a mechatronics lab, a welding workshop, a logistics simulator classroom and a room dedicated to vessel operations and drone simulation.

A separate 6,400-square-foot covered outdoor work area will allow students to work on hands-on projects and vessel maintenance outside the main building.

Incoming and prospective students recently received their first opportunity to explore the completed spaces during an August open house. They toured the labs, examined the industry-grade equipment and met the instructors who will guide them when classes begin.

Tacoma Public Schools said finishing touches are now underway before students arrive September 9.

The new school sits on 21 acres of Port-owned waterfront property that will eventually include the Port of Tacoma’s new business center, scheduled to open in spring 2027. A public promenade with walking paths, landscaping, lighting and benches will also connect the campus to the shoreline.

Construction of Maritime|253 was funded through the $535 million school-construction bond approved by Tacoma voters in 2020.

For the Port, the partnership addresses a challenge that extends far beyond education: introducing a new generation to maritime careers that many students may never have considered.

The Port and its related operations support tens of thousands of jobs, but much of that work remains largely invisible to people who drive past the Tideflats without knowing what happens there—or what kinds of careers exist behind the cranes, terminals and warehouses.

Maritime|253 is intended to change that by putting students close to the industries they are studying and giving them a clearer path from the classroom into apprenticeships, college programs and employment.

“We’re building a dream,” Tacoma Public Schools Superintendent Josh Garcia said of the project. “This skills center belongs to all of us—and the students trained here will help shape our region’s future.”

Learn more about the school, its programs and enrollment at the official Maritime|253 website here.