Melrose Elementary School is a complete campus replacement project designed by Williamson Dacar Associates(WDA) for Pinellas County Schools’ Journalism Magnet School. The 29 month, phased project includes: four new buildings, a 2-story classroom building with 24 classrooms, a 2-story administration and dining space with art, music, and media center, kitchen, and community room, a covered play court area and a standalone enclosed central energy plant structure.

The entrance is highly visible, to enhance the administration as well as the Center for Journalism and Multimedia Studies located on the second floor. The second floor includes a TV studio, two multimedia technology classrooms, and media center with flexible seating arrangements adaptable for collaborative and individual learning.

The new campus also includes a community center created for wrap around services such as family enrichment and education activities, community leadership, adult education, and social services.

The goal of the project was to consolidate the learning environment into a single building, enhancing safety and security. WDA combined the “activity” based spaces such as dining, media, music and art into a separate building to promote more interaction between the students, parents and the local community. The two buildings were bridged together, creating an outdoor “commons” area.