RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) - The Wake County school system is partnering with the Government of Mexico to help Latino adults in the Raleigh area work toward earning high school diplomas.
The new “Plaza Comunitaria” program at Washington Elementary School in Raleigh will use materials provided by the Mexican Consulate to help Spanish-speaking adults improve their literacy skills. Wake County Superintendent Cathy Moore and Claudia Velasco, Consul General of Mexico in Raleigh, were at Washington on Feb. 28 for a ceremony signing the paperwork creating what will be the sixth Plaza Comunitaria program in North Carolina.
The Mexican government has worked with groups to establish Plaza Comunitaria programs across the nation. The program at Washington is the first one in North Carolina based at a K-12 school.
“This great work that volunteers carry out to allow Mexican and Latino American nationals to continue with their education is invaluable,” Velasco said at Friday’s ceremony. “The fact that we’re permitting adults to continue their elementary or middle school education so they can be more prepared, to work better, to find better jobs, to get their GED, to be an example to their children and to be proud of themselves is immeasurable.”
School leaders say the new local program is the culmination of two years of work by the school, the school system, the Government of Mexico and Tharrington Smith, the law firm that represents the district.
“The Plaza Comunitaria component will contribute to Latino adult academic literacy and serve as a bridge that will position Washington as a welcoming learning hub for the community,” Moore said Friday.
Moore became the first Latina superintendent of the Wake County school system in 2018. Moore, whose maiden name is Quiroz, was 2 years old in the 1960s when her family relocated from Ecuador to America.
Under the program, Latino adults from the community will be able, free of charge, to work toward their high school diploma two nights a week. They will complete the course at their own pace both online and through paper materials provided by the program coordinator two days a week from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m.
Moore said Plaza Comunitaria is the second key component of the magnet school’s GT CAREs program (Community Accelerated Response to Education). The first component is an accelerated after-school tutorial program for students that involves parents learning strategies to support their children at home.
Bob Grant, Washington’s principal, said it’s costing $22,000 to run the after-school tutorial program and Plaza Comunitaria. He said $15,000 is coming from a school system grant, with the rest of the money from community groups.
Grant told the elementary school students who attended Friday’s ceremony that the program will help adults learn and grow, just like the children do at the school.
“This program is going to help Latino adults who live in our community grow and expand their growing gifts and talents so they can further enrich our community,” Grant said.
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