Grand Rapids — The new home of Southeast Career Pathways is on track to be ready well ahead of schedule, and with plenty of time to spare before the start of the 2025-26 school year.

The Grand Rapids Public Schools alternative high school is in the process of relocating to the former Sigsbee Elementary School site from its current location on Jefferson Avenue.

The Sigsbee building has been undergoing renovations since fall 2024 in preparation for the transition, and while construction is still in progress, a recent walk-through revealed that things are coming right along.

“This project has been on budget and on time,” said Luke Stier, the district’s director of communications, adding that renovation work should be complete within the next month or so.

“They’ve been running ahead of schedule the whole project,” Stier said. “This will be done in early July, so plenty of time to get furniture moved in here and for everything to get ready to roll for August.”

‘I think it’s just going to be an inspiring space from the moment you walk in.’ — Luke Stier, director of communications

Safety, Bright Colors, Natural Light

The relocation of Southeast is the first major renovation project of the “Reimagine GRPS With Us!” facilities master plan and its associated bond, which voters approved in November 2023, Stier said.

The $7 million upgrade to the former Sigsbee building includes larger windows; new interior finishes, carpet, paint and LED lights; an improved HVAC system that will help this district in its goal to bring air conditioning to 100% of its buildings; a new secure entrance and office space; a student commons area; and new signage along Fuller Avenue.

The parking lot will also be resurfaced, and the neighborhood park behind the building will continue to be maintained by GRPS.

Once complete, the building will feature five classrooms, two computer labs and a teaching lab.

Stier said the work is going to make for a great new home for Southeast, which helps GRPS high-schoolers get back on a path to graduation.

“I think it’s just going to be an inspiring space from the moment you walk in,” Stier said. “There’s a new safe-and-secure entrance when you walk in, into a new office area that’s filled with bright colors and natural lighting.”

Stier said better natural light has been one of the key goals of the renovations.

“There’s a lot of studies that talk about how important it is for there to be daylight and windows in learning environments and how that helps our scholars, so we’re really focusing on doing that and making it a bright, warm, welcoming place,” he said.

The building’s fall opening will mark the first time it’s housed GRPS students since Sigsbee Elementary closed in 2003, Stier said. In the interim, the building was leased out to an outside organization as an early childhood center up until about a year before renovations started, after which point it was used only by some special education and library services staff, said Stier.

Once open, the revamped space will enable the district to continue to operate the Southeast program in even better conditions; that’s important, Stier said, because Southeast serves a vital role.

“It’s a program where our high-school scholars can come to get caught back up and achieve graduation,” Stier said. “It’s a program that really impacts the whole district; it ends up pulling kids from all of our high schools.”

As for what’s to become of the former Southeast Career Pathways building on Jefferson Avenue, Stier said the district will work with the community to gather feedback on possible future uses.

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