 On September 3, 1963, Coral Way Elementary opened its doors as the first publicly funded bilingual program in the US with students from two different native-language backgrounds.With funding from the Ford Foundation, school district leaders (Dr. Pauline Rojas, Dr. Joseph Hall, Dr. Rosa Inclán, Mr. Ralph Robinett), teachers, and paraprofessionals, which were referred to as "Cuban aides," implemented a bilingual curriculum where students were taught academic content through two languages.The 1963 program began with about 350 grade 1-3 students, selected to maintain a balance of 50% English- and 50% Spanish-speakers.