What’s New at TCAPS: Major Projects for the 2025-26 School Year and Beyond

Virtual learning, new buildings, student support, and safer schools

By Anna Faller | Aug. 23, 2025

Like everyone else, Traverse City Area Public Schools (TCAPS) is headed back to school. And this year, the district has several major projects in the works or nearing completion, from construction to curriculum and beyond.

Virtual Learning

In the truest back-to-school form, a top order of business for TCAPS is enrollment and attendance. Though the region is still below pre-pandemic enrollment levels, TCAPS leaders are optimistic.

“We’re hoping we might be up just a touch with what we’re doing with innovative options, but even to maintain that [current enrollment level] would be a win,” TCAPS Superintendent Dr. John VanWagoner says.

One of those innovative options is the district’s new Middle School Virtual Program, which TCAPS has poised to launch in time for fall and with it, a potential influx of about 25 students. Per VanWagoner, the program will be housed at East Middle School, and much like the Compass Learning Center for senior grades, will offer a Michigan Merit-aligned curriculum, complete with certified teacher instruction, that students can access via the Acellus platform.

Along with offering virtual coursework and customized schedules for those with exceptional needs (think: travel, medical requirements, and the like), the new center will also provide “drop-in” opportunities, where students can receive in-person support from their teachers when needed or complete certain assessments.

“We’ve had a lot of [demand] for a middle school option, which we haven’t had [in the past]. This was a new opportunity, and we’re excited to see where it goes,” VanWagoner says.

For more information on the Middle School Virtual Program, contact Traverse City East Middle School at (231) 933-7300.

Innovation & Manufacturing Centers

The 2025-26 school year also marks the hard launch of the long-awaited Innovation and Manufacturing Centers (IMCs) at Central High and West Senior High schools.

The facilities, which were funded by the district’s 2018 capital bond, first opened at temporary occupancy in early May, allowing teachers and students to enjoy a few weeks of pre-summer settling. Since then, the TC Central location’s played host to two weeks of STEM-themed camps, and both facilities are earmarked as home base for each school’s First Robotics teams.

Inside, the facilities have nearly-identical square footage and will offer access to state-of-the-art equipment, from band saws to jet cutters and 3D printers (VanWagoner hints at a mini-CNC mill!), to allow for broader instruction in manufacturing, engineering, and STEM topics—especially for the schools’ freshmen and sophomores, who are too young to take Career Tech Center courses.

Consequently, the IMCs have already seen a wave of fresh curricula, including new training and demonstration opportunities for established courses, as well as proposed mathematics and skilled trade concepts that are increasingly sought-after by local employers. There’s even talk of connecting students with industry mentors through organizations like Traverse Connect.

Central Grade

Another big project on the TCAPS docket is the renovation of Central Grade School, a concept that’s been in the school board’s periphery for decades.

“At this point, Central Grade was the last elementary school [in the district] that had not received a major update,” says VanWagoner, with other recent sites including Eastern Elementary (2018) and the relocation of TC Montessori. In response to public feedback, the board ultimately agreed to consider restoration efforts at Central Grade as part of the 2024 bond. From there, he adds, they’re “moving forward with those plans as they identified.”

Though details of the renovations are still in the early planning stages, the district anticipates a three-year timeline and $50 million budget, with construction scheduled to begin following the 2025-26 year. In the interim, the Glenn Loomis building will serve as a temporary outpost for Central Grade staff and students, while administrators will be dispersed to buildings throughout the district.

According to recent visioning sessions, the reconstruction will involve restoring the building’s century-old facade while also outfitting the interior with the trappings of a 21st-century facility like updates to electrical function, modern plumbing, HVAC, etc. A complete renovation of the school’s third floor, which poses health issues due to asbestos, as well potential classroom expansions, and updates to Lars Hockstad Auditorium are also part of the plan, VanWagoner notes, though he stresses that finalized design will hinge on what’s possible for work crews.

“Right now, that’s what we’re looking at, but we won’t know exactly where [those things] might land until we get to construction and bid times,” he adds.

Other large-scale projects throughout the district include a sweeping series of HVAC replacements, headlined by the installation of about 200 new heat pumps at West Senior High, as well as 20 additional bathrooms and an overhaul of the building’s entrance and parking facility, the first half of which is scheduled for completion by September 1.

A few building expansions are also underway at Traverse Heights Elementary, as are locker updates throughout the district and a new elementary reading curriculum.

The creation of permanent music spaces at each of the district’s elementary schools is also scheduled to wrap up in time for the fall semester. Meanwhile, TCAPS’ secondary music facilities are on the table for future expansion, with West Middle School taking top priority, as are talks of security and ADA-compliance upgrades to Central High School.

Student Support Network

The TCAPS Student Support Network (SSN), which provides free services for students in need of housing and other necessities, is another program TCAPS hopes to grow this year through increased community action.

Some sobering, but necessary context: according to the federal definition, which highlights the lack of an “adequate nighttime residence,” more than 200 TCAPS students qualify as homeless every year (though note that the exact number often fluctuates).

“People are often amazed to hear that,” VanWagoner says. “So many people think of Traverse City as Front Street and the bay. They don’t realize the reality of some of the rural poverty we have.”

According to the district’s estimates, about $100,000 of student needs aren’t covered by federal funding, and while VanWagoner underscores the impact of local outreach already in place—the Sunrise Rotary’s Backpack Program, “Sunshine Bus” summer meals, and Boots for Kids, as well as in-kind and cash contributions—local need consistently exceeds the supplies and dollars those efforts provide.

“It’s an awesome program, and we’re planning to increase outreach to [inform] the community of that need and what we’re doing with those funds,” says VanWagoner. “We want to do everything we can for these kids to get them a diploma and help them step into a successful life.”

For more information on the TCAPS Student Support Network or to make a donation, head to tcaps.net/page/student-support-network.

Safer Kids, Safer Schools

In addition to district-led initiatives, TCAPS has also partnered with a number of community organizations to better meet the needs of its students, one of which is Safer Kids, Safer Schools (SKSS).

Founded more than three years ago in response to the school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, SKSS is a Traverse City-based advocacy group focused on developing strategies to support the safety of local youth.

Per the organization’s co-founder, Jay Berger, safe and supervised spaces where kids can interact with their peers, like after-school programs, are an effective way to do that. Resources for high-quality programs, though—like LIFT Teen Center in Suttons Bay, The Rock of Kingsley, or SEEDS—are all but nonexistent through TCAPS funding.

To bridge that gap, SKSS has partnered with Megan Motil of Parallel Solutions, a local strategic planning consultant, and through a $10,000 grant through the Rotary Club of Traverse City, conducted a study aimed at determining how best to implement this kind of programming.

Berger expects the findings to reinforce what the SKSS already knows: “that school connectedness to the community is something we really need to focus on,” he says. The next step, he adds, is to use that data as a tool to garner community funding, and from there, build a number of pilot programs, which the group hopes to launch in area middle schools by January, 2026.

“We know that this is going to be up to us,” Berger adds. “We have the [TCAPS] space, we have the community to bring along with us, and we hope the report will help with that.”