The district's new Plaza Comunitaria, established in partnership with the Mexican Consulate in San Jose, provides online coursework for parents working to complete their elementary or high school education. Funded by Mexico's Insituto Nacional para la Educacíon de los Adultos, the computer lab was established at no cost to the district, and parents can log on to the online classroom free of charge.

Talia Jara, an instructor in the district's office of parent education, says the program benefits the Mexican economy in the long term.

"These parents will be back in Mexico, and they want them back educated," Jara says.

Jara points out that many of the officials who attended the plaza's March 2 grand opening--including Bruno Figueroa, the local consul general of Mexico--were born in Mexico and educated in the United States.

"This is what happens when people come here and get the opportunity to get educated," Jara says.

INEA has established more than 100 plazas comunitarias throughout the United States. According to Elizabeth Bliss, manager of the office of parent education, the district is the only one to locate a plaza at its offices instead of a school site. Bliss says her office and INEA have similar goals.

"The office of parent education was created to find opportunities for parents to get informed and gain skills," she adds. "When parents are educated and informed, they're better participants in their children's education."

Jara is developing classes and training tutors to help with the program. Down the line, the district plans to offer these classes in English as well as Spanish.

Plaza Comunitaria is located in the San Jose Unified School District's office of parent education, 855 Lenzen Ave. For more information or to volunteer as a tutor, call 408.535.6404.