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.
Students 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…