The Long Beach City Council and Mayor Robert Garcia have proclaimed June 1 Dual Immersion Day in Long Beach, in honor of Patrick Henry Elementary’s groundbreaking “Two Way Immersion Program,” the Patrick Henry Foundation announced today.

According to a release issued Friday, Patrick Henry’s program, which teaches all of its students to become bilingual, bi-literate and bi-cultural in English and Spanish, has made the school highly sought-after.

“The dual immersion program at Patrick Henry has been a great success, and I’m proud to recognize their accomplishments today,” said Mayor Robert Garcia in a statement. “The teachers, parents and students have created a welcoming and supportive campus.”

The dual immersion program began as a pilot program in 1989 to teach all academic subjects to students in English and Spanish. It gradually spread beyond Patrick Henry Elementary to four elementary schools, a middle school and a program at Wilson High School.

According to the release, alumni of dual immersion education often advance to learning additional languages in college, high school and beyond.

The Dual Immersion Day will be celebrated at Patrick Henry with performances by students in the Ballet Folklorico program on June 1.