Arlington Senior High School
| Arlington Senior High School | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Location | |
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Saint Paul, Minnesota USA |
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| Information | |
| Type | Public |
| Established | 1996 |
| School district | Saint Paul Public Schools |
| Principal | Patty Murphy |
| Grades | 9–12 |
| Enrollment | 875 |
| Campus | Urban |
| Color(s) | Blue and White |
| Mascot | Phoenix |
| Website | www.arlington.spps.org |
Arlington Senior High School was a public high school in Saint Paul, Minnesota. It was located north of Downtown Saint Paul on Rice Street, west of Interstate 35E in the city's North End neighborhood. Arlington opened on September 3, 1996 as the newest high school for the Saint Paul Public School district. The school was the first high school to be built since Humboldt Senior High School in 1976. The school was closed after the 2010-2011 school year.
By its final year, the school enrolled only 875 students in grades 9-12, despite having operated near its capacity of 2,000 most of the years it was open. The school consistently served a population that was around 95% students of color, 50-60% ELL, and 90-95% students on free/reduced price lunch.
Arlington was the only high school in Saint Paul with no attendance boundaries and enrolled students from throughout the city. Beginning in the 2009 school year, the school's main educational focus was "Bio-SMART," a program that emphasizes bioscience and the use of technology in health care. The school offered several Advanced Placement classes as well as several College in the Schools classes, in conjunction with the University of Minnesota.
As early as 1991 the school district began to plan for an additional high school. Initial projections were to add 2 new high schools to the then 6 operating by 2000. However a lack of funds allowed the construction of only one high school. The increasing number of children who attend public rather than non-public schools was attributed to part of the need. In 1974, 53% of children born in St. Paul later entered kindergarten in the city public schools. In 1990, 67% of the city's children attended public schools. Overcrowding was so severe that in 1992 a citizen's group recommended moving 9th grade back into junior high buildings. The overcrowding was blamed on a surge in the birthrate in Saint Paul and a sudden influx of students from the suburbs, an unusual occurrence in an inner city school district. Plans for a "high tech" high school were put in place in as early as 1992.
In order to accommodate an estimated 4,000 additional students, existing commercial buildings were sought to convert into high school buildings. After scouring the city, two possible sites were chosen. One near the Minnesota State Fairgrounds and the other near the school's current location. The proposed area was the former site of an auto scrap yard. Officials were worried that the location would be polluted and would require an expensive cleanup. As a result, the location was moved to a site approximately .5 miles (0.80 km) west. Of the current 29 acres (0.05 sq mi; 0.12 km2) acre campus, roughly 20 acres (0.03 sq mi; 0.08 km2) were from a failed housing project and the other 9 acres (0.01 sq mi; 0.04 km2) were from homes that were bought and cleared. Some of the soil on the site was unstable and was replaced. Critics considered the location for being too close to Como Park and Johnson high schools and for being located in a residential neighborhood. Original estimates for the project cost $54.3 million and as a result the Saint Paul school district authorized a $20 million bond. Knutson Construction Co. was chosen for the project.
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