SPOKANE – Spokane Public Schools is doubling down on its push to prepare students for life after graduation — with a new Trades High School in the works and fresh partnerships aimed at filling Spokane’s growing demand for skilled workers.
The project is being developed with Spokane Community College, where district and college leaders hope to open a full-day, four-year high school focused on hands-on career training.
“Our region has an aging workforce that’s crying out for students with real career-building skills — especially in manufacturing, health sciences, and construction,” said Scott Kerwien, Chief of Student Success for Spokane Public Schools.
Unlike most skill centers that only serve juniors and seniors for part of the day, the proposed Trades High School would serve students in grades 9 through 12 full time. It’s part of the district’s broader “life readiness” strategy — a plan to help every student graduate ready for college, careers, or apprenticeships.
Kerwien says the idea is to give students more opportunities to learn through real-world experience, not just standardized testing.
Earlier this fall, the Spokane school board approved a new performance-based graduation pathway, allowing students to demonstrate proficiency in English or math through projects, work experience, or creative portfolios.
Across town, those workforce needs are already being felt.
At Spokane Community College, instructors like Dwayne Haley, who teaches aviation maintenance, are seeing that demand firsthand.
“There’s a huge demand in aviation maintenance,” Haley said. “A report just came out showing a shortage of about 7,000 commercial mechanics in the U.S. — and that doesn’t even include private industry.”
During an open house this week, SCC invited high school students to tour classrooms, workshops and even hangars at Felts Field — where aviation students train alongside live aircraft.
“When people step into that hangar, they’re in awe,” Haley said. “They see just how many of the planes they fly on are maintained by real people who learned those skills right here.”
Both SPS and SCC say the trades partnership is about meeting Spokane’s economic needs while giving students options beyond the traditional four-year path.
“Life readiness is really about the skills students need to launch into the adult world — things like financial literacy and self-sufficiency,” Kerwien said.
District leaders will travel to Phoenix later this month to visit a similar trades-education model, with hopes of breaking ground on Spokane’s program in the near future.
