Education
Education F
amilies moving to the Traverse City area will discover a satisfying variety of quality schools for their K–12 children, a nationally ranked community college, and a University Center that offers four-year college degrees through relationships with accredited universities.
K–12 Education
The Traverse region offers families several good options for finding the right size and type of school setting for their children. Within the region-wide Traverse Bay Area Intermediate School District there are 16 separate school districts, five public school academies and 14 private and parochial schools spread across five counties: Antrim, Benzie, Grand Traverse, Kalkaska and Leelanau. Graduation class sizes range from about 550 in the two Traverse City high schools to just 10 students who graduate from tiny Northport each year. In addition, the area supports a number of high quality private schools, including a complete K-12 education through the Grand Traverse Area Catholic Schools, an acclaimed K-8 education through Pathfinder School, charter schools and the internationally renowned music and arts high school academy at Interlochen Center for the Arts. Traverse City Area Public Schools, by far the largest district in the region, offers the widest variety of experiences and course offerings for students. In addition to strong core offerings, the district has such offerings as a well-developed technology and robotics program and teaches a number of foreign languages. The performing arts programs—theater, choir, band—are highly developed, as are the sports programs. Smaller schools in the region have strong core offerings, and many have state and national academic awards—but the breadth of offerings is generally not as large as at big schools. What families love about their smaller schools is that students have easier access to the full high school experience because positions in things like the school play or the football team are not so competitive, and smaller class sizes assure that teachers know students well. Students also have access to career tech programs offered through the intermediate school district.
TODD ZAWISTOWSKI
TODD ZAWISTOWSKI
Traverse Bay Area Intermediate School District
In Michigan, intermediate school districts are umbrella organizations that offer special services to local school districts within their jurisdiction, the types of services that each individual district might not be able to support. The TBAISD supports schools in five counties, and offers services like special education, speech therapy and career tech programs. Some of the most acclaimed TBAISD career-tech programs are culinary arts, welding, teacher
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prep, and health care. Families considering a move to the area should review the TBAISD website to investigate the complete course and service offerings. tbaisd.k12.mi.us.
Northwestern Michigan College
Ranking among the top community colleges in the nation, Northwestern Michigan College offers recent high school graduates and adults returning to school many opportunities to advance their careers. The college offers associate’s degrees in several career disciplines, including niche careers like operating remotely controlled underwater robots and airplane pilot training. The college also has a strong culinary arts program and is one of a handful of schools nationwide that offers maritime training for students seeking work on the world’s freighters. The college has recently taken steps to add four-year degrees to its offerings and intends to expand those programs in coming years. NMC also works with regional school districts to enable students who are still in high school to take college courses at no cost to the students. The program can significantly reduce the cost of college tuition. nmc.edu.
University Center
Working in conjunction with several four-year accredited universities, Northwestern Michigan College also offers students the opportunity to earn bachelor’s and master’s degrees while taking classes in Traverse City. Check the NMC website for a list of university partners and degree possibilities. nmc.edu Traverse City Region Careers
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