The challenge: Take one of the state's lowest-performing schools and transform it into a place the county's best students are clamoring to attend.

When classes resume next Monday, the historic Miami Edison Senior High School will reopen as the Edison Edu-Plex, a cutting-edge high school with an emphasis on international studies.

The new Edison will be structured like a university, offering a diverse array of high-level classes. Its campus will soon boast a student-run cybercafe and organic gardens for growing eco-friendly food.

``We are completely reinventing this school,'' Miami-Dade Schools Superintendent Alberto Carvalho said.

``We're throwing the pebble as far as we can into the lake and creating the biggest splash possible,'' he said.

Despite the sweeping changes, the outcome is far from certain.

The Little Haiti school has received seven F grades from the state over the past eight years.

It continues to face tremendous challenges. About 80 percent of the 900 students are poor. A quarter are learning English as a second language. And the school community is still smarting from a racially charged melee that broke out on its campus in 2008.

Will the school's new structure lead to student success?

Will teenagers from outside of the Little Haiti and Liberty City communities take a chance on a reinvented Edison?

``I am convinced that this place is going to change,'' said Pablo Ortiz, the school's new provost. In keeping with the university model, the school's chief administrator has shed the traditional principal title.

``The stigma is going to be gone,'' he added.

Driving along Northwest 62nd Street, traces of the school's transformation are already apparent.

Crews are outside the school planting trees and shrubs to hide the chain-link fences. A splash of lime is being added to the traditional Raider Red on the exterior walls.

The school's trademark will be a row of flags lining the driveway -- a symbol of Edison's commitment to international studies.

But the changes to Edison are more than just cosmetic.

Edison Version 2.0 will be organized into four colleges, each specializing in a different discipline. Students will choose one academy based on their academic interests.

The choices include Visual and Performing Arts; Health and Public Affairs; and International Studies.

A fourth option, the College Board college, will offer rigorous coursework for high-achieving students.

Students will continue taking core courses in English, math, science and social studies. But they will also be able to take electives in their chosen college.

This year, the teenagers won't choose a college right away. They'll spend the first two weeks of the school year taking intensive reading, math and science courses. That program should help students catch up, Carvalho said, and he is confident they will.

``We're raising the ceiling as to what is possible.''

Of course, Edison won't change overnight. The superintendent expects the entire transformation to take three years. He has assembled a team of leaders to help.

Ortiz, the new provost, is coming to Edison from Jorge Mas Canosa Middle in Southwest Miami-Dade, an A school. The veteran educator has won a bevy of awards, including district Principal of the Year in 2006.

Craig Robins, the Miami developer who dreamed up the Design District, volunteered to come up with a bright new look.

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