The Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) is currently evaluating selected campuses which are presently considered underutilized or inefficient, for opportunities to infill with compatible, but alternative land uses. Alternative uses could include work force housing, community and health facilities, office space and public open space. Meléndrez was asked to contribute to this study by exploring the possibilities for synergy and connections between reorganized school facilities, potential new on-campus development and the existing neighborhood beyond.

The prototype study focused on Francis Polytechnic High School located in the Sun Valley, 17 miles north of downtown Los Angeles. A 13 - acre redevelopment parcel had been identified on a corner of the site. Meléndrez developed two alternatives that addressed community connections through pedestrian paseos and greenways, streetscape and intersection improvements, crosswalks and sidewalk improvements, bikeways, dispersed student drop-off zones and additional transit stops. Design alternatives sought to redefine or reinvent the "town and gown" relationship between the school and its neighborhood.

One concept explored the idea of siting housing, office space, school/ community services, and open space in a campus village linked by pedestrian paseos connecting to and through the school campus. This approach blurs the traditional line between school and neighborhood by providing services, like a library, community rooms, after school care or computer centers and offices, into a new village accessible by school and residents alike. In a second concept a "green seam" was created joining campus and community. This greenway feature could accommodate off street bicyclist and pedestrian access to open space. This scheme features an embedded town square which would be accessible to both school and community users. It is envisaged that development fronting the town square would be mixed use with residential uses above community serving uses at street level. These schemes, combined with highly illustrative proposals for the surrounding streetscapes have provided LA USD with the material needed to ignite enthusiasm for this fledgling program.