Arlington High School in St. Paul has been awarded a three-year, $6 million federal grant to help it transform into a biotech magnet site.

Arlington already opened this fall as a "BioSmart" school, but the federal money will pay for additional administrative staff - including an internship coordinator - and more high-tech equipment and supplies, Principal Patty Murphy said.

All students at Arlington now are required to pick one of three academic tracks: bioengineering and technology, bio-business and -marketing or biomedical and health sciences.

The idea is to start directing students at Arlington, one of the city's most academically struggling high schools, toward careers in a field that continues to evolve and need new workers.

"This is where the jobs are going to be in Minnesota," Murphy said.

Arlington is partnering with Washington Middle School and with postsecondary institutions and employers to provide students interested in bioscience a pathway from seventh grade through college and, potentially, into the work force.

The decision to remake the entire school with a biotech focus, instead of simply adding a program to the existing academic structure, has meant a lot of change for staff and students.

"People are coming together to have conversations that have never, ever happened," Murphy said. "It's a whole different approach. It's really exciting."

- Doug Belden