Harper Woods School District

Building a $3 Million Institute for Students Who Will Fill Jobs That Don’t Exist Yet

In Wayne County, Michigan, a School District is Rethinking How Its Schools Prepare Economically Disadvantaged Students for the Careers of Tomorrow.

In a compact 2.2 square mile district where 54% of students qualify for free or reduced lunch, Harper Woods School District is making an outsized investment in its future. The Wayne County district serves 2,581 students across seven schools, yet it recently secured $3 million in state grants to build what Superintendent Steven McGhee calls the Excellence Institute—a state-of-the-art facility designed to prepare students for careers that don’t yet exist. The timing aligns with Michigan’s explosive growth in Career and Technical Education, where completers have more than doubled from 27,014 in 2014-15 to 55,431 in 2024-25.

“We talk about excellence above all,” McGhee says. “I always say that we cannot open tomorrow’s doors with yesterday’s keys. We’re planting seeds of flexible and malleable learning, preparing students for careers that have not been thought of so they can compete in a global society.” The district’s approach focuses on skill mastery rather than traditional curriculum, which McGhee describes as “dinosaurs and passé.” Harper Woods emphasizes academic preparation and real-world application, ensuring students can transition seamlessly into either higher education or the workforce.

McGhee frames the district’s mission in absolute terms: “I would rather train children than repair broken adults any day.” With more than 500,000 skilled trades jobs expected to become available in Michigan through 2026, Harper Woods is positioning its graduates to fill critical gaps in construction, manufacturing, healthcare, and information technology, sectors that dominate the local economy in surrounding Wayne County communities.

Building Resilience in a Post-Pandemic World

The COVID-19 pandemic forced educational institutions worldwide to rethink their approach to learning, but for Harper Woods, the crisis reinforced principles already in place. McGhee spent months traveling between the district and Lansing during the pandemic, building relationships with state senators that would later yield the $3 million in grants funding the Excellence Institute. The district emerged from lockdowns not with a pivot strategy, but with an acceleration plan.

“We don’t look at resiliency as something we instill,” McGhee explains. “It’s embedded in what we do. When you’re preparing students for careers that haven’t been defined yet, you’re inherently teaching them to adapt.” The district maintained its focus on flexible learning even as schools nationwide struggled to transition between remote and in-person instruction. Rather than viewing the pandemic as a setback, Harper Woods used the disruption to strengthen partnerships with state agencies and secure funding streams that might otherwise have remained inaccessible.

The resilience McGhee describes isn’t abstract character building. It manifests in practical skills aligned with Michigan’s workforce demands. Statewide, CTE students who complete at least half their programs achieve a 97% four-year graduation rate compared to 82% overall. Harper Woods applies this principle across all grade levels, starting in elementary school where students begin developing the adaptability that will serve them through career transitions decades later. “These generations with technology and AI are flexible, they’re malleable, they’re ready to move at any given time,” McGhee notes. “You have to have those skill sets that allow for that.” The pandemic didn’t teach Harper Woods to be resilient. It simply proved the district already was.

The Excellence Institute

Construction crews are currently working to complete the Excellence Institute by early January. The $3 million project combines funding from two state sources: $1 million from Career and Technical Education grants and $2 million from Health and Human Services, specifically designated for construction trades programs. McGhee secured the money through persistent advocacy in Lansing, meeting repeatedly with state senators to make the case for Harper Woods.

The Institute houses three core components that address different aspects of student development. A state-of-the-art workout facility will support athletic training and physical education classes, featuring what Thomas Wilcher, District Athletic Director, believes may be “one of the largest training facilities in the state.” Students will learn proper exercise techniques using current equipment, then transition directly onto an adjacent track and football field without leaving campus. “We can get a whole class in and be out to the next classroom, go to your English class, have everything done,” Wilcher says.

Virtual reality rooms will enable students to participate in international classroom experiences, connecting them to learning environments across different countries. Meanwhile, the culinary arts program takes a practical approach to nutrition education. “Students have a level of control of what goes into their body and how to consume food,” McGhee explains, emphasizing the reduction of sugars and salts. The facility also addresses social-emotional learning, recognizing that technical skills alone don’t guarantee career success. Community members will have access to the track and workout facilities during designated hours, making the Institute a shared resource rather than an exclusive school amenity.

Rethinking Educational Outcomes

Dr. Michael B. Carrauthers, Chief Academic Officer, rejects the language that has dominated education policy discussions for decades. “We don’t focus on narrowing the achievement gap,” Dr. Carrauthers says. “We think that is deficit thinking. We want our students to be opportunity-ready.” The distinction matters in a district where 88.7% of students are Black and more than half qualify as economically disadvantaged. Deficit thinking assumes students are behind. Opportunity-ready thinking assumes students need the right tools.

The curriculum aligns with this philosophy through what Dr. Carrauthers calls asset-based instruction. “We want them to move from being consumers to producers,” he explains. “When you’re a producer, you can own your own things. You can own your own business; you can set your destiny. When you are a consumer, you are always at the whim of what people are selling to you.” Harper Woods serves a demographic that represents some of the largest consumer groups in the country, making this transition particularly relevant. The district offers programs in marketing, information technology, web design, radio and TV broadcasting, culinary arts, and cybersecurity, all fields where students can create rather than simply purchase.

Dr. Carrauthers frames the approach around a simple question McGhee poses to students: “Do our children know the skills to pay the bills?” The district maintains flexible classrooms that adapt to changing industry demands rather than rigid traditional instruction. All students must complete a college or career plan before graduation, and the district annually awards millions in academic scholarships. The Excellence Institute name applies not just to the building but to the entire district culture, where instruction and outcomes aim for the same standard.

Athletics as Community Connection

Harper Woods made history in 2021 when it became the first Wayne County school to join the Oakland Activities Association, breaking into a conference that had been exclusively Oakland County territory for decades. The move gave the district access to competitive athletics across 26 sponsored sports among 24 member schools, elevating the profile of programs that had operated independently. Wilcher sees athletics as a showcase for what the district can accomplish.

“Once you have that Excellence Centre going, the community has an opportunity to see really up-to-date equipment and how to really work out,” Wilcher says. “I want everyone to know that Harper Woods is a great place to be, a great place to learn, and we are working harder and harder to bring the community and get our students out there in the public.” The district plans to host its first kickoff classic at the University of Toledo next fall, moving the season opener to a university stadium. The event will increase visibility and attract attention to a small district that often gets overlooked.

The Excellence Institute will transform how athletes train, with direct connections between the workout facility, track, and field allowing seamless transitions during practice and competition preparation. Wilcher highlights a virtual reality room designed specifically for football instruction, using technology developed by a colleague to teach game strategy and technique. Athletes studying culinary arts will learn how nutrition directly affects performance, creating practical connections between classroom learning and athletic success. The district competes in the OAA Gold division, where the boys’ basketball team recently captured a championship with four players earning first-team all-league honors.

Technology and Infrastructure

Operating within 2.2 square miles introduces constraints most districts don’t face, but Harper Woods has converted geographic limitation into strategic advantage. The district maintains a one-to-two technology ratio rather than the more common one-to-one model, with multiple classrooms equipped with WebEx, Cisco, and Zoom technology that students use daily. McGhee emphasizes the district keeps pace with technological advancement using innovative means.

“We rely more on our partnerships and the grants themselves, as well as replenishing and bringing in schools of choice to allow us to stay in the black in terms of our funding dollars,” McGhee says. The school of choice program has been fundamental to the district’s financial stability for nine years, allowing students from outside Harper Woods to enroll and bringing per-pupil funding with them. This revenue stream enables infrastructure expansion that would otherwise strain a district where 54.3% of students are economically disadvantaged and the student-teacher ratio is 25 to 1.

The district spends $10,697 per student annually, with 74.3% of revenue coming from state sources, 17.5% from local sources, and 8.2% from federal sources. McGhee has built relationships with state agencies and legislators that create ongoing funding pipelines. “Through grants and collective partnerships, we’ve been able to garner dollars that allow us to continue to expand our infrastructure,” McGhee notes. The district maintains 93.6% of teachers with proper licensing while managing resources that serve nearly 2,600 students across seven schools.

A Vision for the Next Decade

The district maps priorities across five and ten-year horizons, anticipating workforce shifts that haven’t materialized yet. “We are looking at not just two years, but five years and ten years down the line,” McGhee says. The approach requires transforming traditional classrooms into laboratories aligned with specific career pathways, where skill mastery determines outcomes and outcomes determine the lifestyles students will eventually lead.

The superintendent identifies his strengths as visionary and transformative leadership, but recognizes those qualities require building teams capable of executing long-term plans. “I have to continue to build those around me so they can help me perpetuate the vision that aligns back to the community, the students, as well as our staff,” McGhee says. The vision starts at elementary level, where flexibility becomes foundational rather than remedial. Older students sometimes develop fixed mindsets, but younger generations demonstrate natural adaptability. Harper Woods capitalizes on this by introducing malleable learning early, preparing students for careers and plans that haven’t been written.

The district’s approach increasingly aligns with state policy trends. Michigan’s Department of Education now requires Career and Technical Education grants to integrate literacy and numeracy components, exactly the kind of cross-disciplinary structure Harper Woods already implements. Dr. Carrauthers ensures curriculum remains viable and flexible, matching instruction to available opportunities rather than forcing students into predetermined academic tracks. Wilcher continues expanding athletic programming and community engagement. Together, they’re building what McGhee calls “futuristic” spaces in the Excellence Institute.

AT A GLANCE

Who: Harper Woods School District

What: Public school district offering Career and Technical Education programs in cybersecurity, culinary arts, information technology, marketing, and broadcasting.

Where: Harper Woods, Wayne County, Michigan

Website: www.hwschools.org