New focus, new direction at St. Paul's Arlington High

While much of Arlington High School looks just as it did last year -- a relatively new building, just off Rice Street in the north end of St. Paul -- there is something that stands out.

Signs at several points throughout the building herald the new Arlington.

"Arlington BioSMART" they read, touting the school's new focus: Science Math Academic Rigor Technology.

Arlington High has had well-publicized struggles for years. It's half-empty, more than 90 percent of the kids come from low-income families, and half the students speak English as a second language.

The school's challenges are not news to anybody in the St. Paul education community. But what is turning heads in St. Paul is what the school is doing to try to turn things around as it faces a federally mandated restructuring under the No Child Left Behind law.

Arlington is in the first full year of the BioSMART program, which is turning the school into a science, technology and math magnet school. Founded under a $6 million federal grant, the program introduces students to bio-industries -- including medical and health sciences -- and to business and marketing and engineering.

Over the next few years, the school district also hopes to establish a smaller, "academy type" feel to the school, which is projected to have 800 students next year.

"I think it's a great plan," said junior Aprill Moua, who is studying "bio-business and marketing" through the program.

"I think it's a genius, genius, A-plus plan."

Career pathways

Arlington's BioSMART program will take four years to fully implement, according to Eric Mjolsness, the school's BioSMART program manager.

Students can choose among three pathways in the program: bio-business and marketing, bioengineering and technology, and biomedical and health sciences. That means that each day, one of a student's seven classes is in the chosen specialty field.

The three-year federal grant is split between Arlington and Washington Technology Middle School, which also is developing a BioSMART program.

Mjolsness, formerly the social studies chairman, said he took the position as the program's manager because he felt that it could make a real difference in the school.

He said staff members have rallied around the program, and students appreciate that it can help them get a look at possible career options.

Staff changes looming

One part of the proposal though, stemming from No Child Left Behind suggestions that struggling schools replace their staffs, has cast a cloud over the mood at the school as it tries to improve.

While Mjolsness stays relatively mum about the subject, he says that many teachers have thrown themselves into the BioSMART focus, and that they've really teamed up with one another to help make it successful.

Moua, however, was not so coy about the possibility of some teachers being bounced.

"I think that's really a bummer," Moua said.

"I love my teachers. They've made me who I am."

Emily Johns • 651-298-1541