Having acquired ownership of the mall and spending millions of dollars in redevelopment and upgrading, Simon offered the school district a location in the newly opened food court area to house its Capistrano Home Outreach Option for Student Education program (CHOOSE). The new CUSD Education Resource Center will allow parents who are home schooling their children a chance to work with certified teachers in designing and implementing curriculum and administering tests. The center also will distribute textbooks and provide library services. The CHOOSE program has 50 students this school year.

"It's taken about a year in all, because they were developing the mall," said Jolene Dougherty, director of elementary school operations for CUSD. "The district has to incur the cost for the build-out. We're saving $100,000 a year for the lease we won't have to pay, so it's a big savings for us. Hopefully it will be done by the first of the year."

The shopping-mall location allows shoppers to stop at the center and learn about CHOOSE, as well as other educational services and programs that they may not know the school district offers. Additionally, the Capistrano Unified Foundation, the fundraising arm of the school district, will be housed at the center.