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CityWide Cultural Access Program for Schools
Enroll in our program to see all that a Cool Culture partnership offers to your school’s families.
Eligibility and Enrollment
We are happy to announce that enrollment is now open for the 2023-2024 program year. You can learn more about enrollment and our program by checking out our Enrollment Guide + FAQs.
Eligibility
Your school is eligible to be a Cool Culture partner if you are:
- A NYC elementary school serving students in 3K For All, UPK, or Kindergarten.
- A District 75 School.
- A Universal Pre-K (UPK) program.
- Receive Title I funding or serves at least 60% of 3K/UPK/Kindergarten students from low-income backgrounds (please refer to % of free/reduced-price lunch and any other DOE indicators that your school may use).
- Able to partner with Cool Culture for the duration of a year and be able to register families for the Family Pass, attend professional development workshops, and ensure that Family Passes are collected and distributed. Please review the Partnership Agreement form for details.
Timeline
Enrollment: Early enrollment for DOE schools and charter schools ended on September 30, 2023. Final enrollment for schools closes December 8, 2023.
Family Registration: Families at your school will be able to register for the Family Pass from October 16, 2023 to February 2, 2024.
Professional Development: Virtual and in-person workshops occur throughout the year, from late November 2023 through March 2024.
Please Note: For the 2023-2024 program year, we are implementing a new system to make it easier for educators to register families. This has created unexpected shifts in our timeline. Please refer to this timeline often as deadlines may change, and thank you for your patience as we build a better system.
2023
July 24 | Early Enrollment Opens for Schools |
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September 30 | Early Enrollment Closes for Schools |
Rolling Basis, starting in September | Enrollment decisions announced(Invoice and Partnership Agreement go out to eligible partners. Partners have 30 days from Enrollment Status Email to complete payments in order to receive Family Passes.) |
October 1-December 8 | Final Enrollment Opens for Schools Schools enrolled in the Final Enrollment period will receive Family Passes in January following the 2nd Family Registration Period unless the school is able to register and approve family applications by the November 10 deadline. |
October 16 | Family Registration Opens The Family Registration Period is on a rolling basis and passes are printed based on application submission date. Each Family must complete the Family Registration Form in order to receive a family pass. Each pass is printed and customized based on the information received on the Family Registration Form. |
October 16 – November 10 | 1st Round of Family Registration ONLY schools and centers enrolled by Sept. 30 can sign up families; Family Passes will be distributed in early December. Please Note: The deadline for 1st Round of Family Registration is Nov. 10th at 12:00pm EST. |
November 12 (11:59pm EST) | 1st Family Registration Approval Deadline for Partners Cultural Liaisons must review and approve their family applications for printing. |
Early December | Family Passes from the 1st Registration round are printed and distributed to educators in-person at our office or through mailing. (Due to technical challenges, passes will not be distributed at our first Curator for Educators workshop in late November) |
November 11-December 31 | 2nd Round of Family RegistrationAll enrolled schools and centers can sign up families; Family Passes will be distributed in January. Please Note: The deadline for 2nd Round of Family Registration is Dec. 31st at 12:00pm EST. |
December 8 | Final Enrollment Closes for Schools |
2024
January 3 (11:59pm EST) | 2nd Family Registration Approval Deadline for Partners Cultural Liaisons must review and approve their family applications for printing. |
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Late January | Family Passes from the 2nd Registration round are printed and distributed to educators at the Curators for Educators workshop, in-person at our office, or through mailing. |
January 1 – February 2 | 3rd and Final Round of Family Registration All enrolled centers and schools can sign up their families; Family Passes will be distributed in March. Please Note: The deadline for 3rd Round of Family Registration is Feb. 2nd at 12:00pm EST. Families cannot register for a Family Pass after this period. |
February 9 (11:59pm EST) | 3rd Family Registration Approval Deadline for Partners Cultural Liaisons must review and approve their family applications for printing. |
Late March | Family Passes from the 3rd Registration round are printed and distributed to educators at the Curators for Educators workshop, in-person at our office, or through mailing. |
June | Enrollment application launches for 2024-2024 program year |
October 31 | Current Family Passes expire October 31, 2024 |
early december |
About the Cultural Access Program
What does my school receive?
Family Passes for free general admission to NYC cultural institutions, Cool Culture Family Festivals, Seminars & Dialogues for educators to harness the power of arts and culture, and art-making and wellbeing resources will be available with your school’s enrollment.
What’s my program’s role?
All of our participating schools will have access to an array of creative and helpful seminars, symposiums and dialogues that will guide administrators and educators to:
- Register and distribute family passes and prepare families for visits to the Cultural Institutions.
- Co-design experiences and activities for our annual Bring the Cool Family Festival.
- Create projects that engage and build family engagement.
- Empower families and communities to become civically engaged in dialogue that acknowledges addresses critical community issues and creative opportunities to address them.
What is a Cultural Liaison, and how do I select them?
A Cultural Liaison is a school staff member who has a good relationship and love for your community of children and adult caregivers. Typically the school’s Parent Coordinator may serve in this role. Your Liaison will need to have email access, know their way around a computer, be prepared to engage heavily through email and have administrative skills to keep the site’s program organized. This leadership role calls for someone who will enjoy leading family art making workshops and will be a voice for the community, sharing their needs and concerns.
Did You Know?
Cool Culture is aligned with national, state and local Learning Standards. Our Citywide Cultural Access Program is aligned with DOE EarlyLearn requirements for community partnerships and family engagement, Blueprint for the Arts, and NYS Pre-K Learning Standards in social-emotional development and approaches to learning. Further, our programs, pedagogical frameworks, and practices are rooted in Cool Culture’s social justice values and situates families at the center of our work.
Did You
Know?
Cool Culture is aligned with national, state and local Learning Standards. Our Citywide Cultural Access Program is aligned with DOE EarlyLearn requirements for community partnerships and family engagement, Blueprint for the Arts, and NYS Pre-K Learning Standards in social-emotional development and approaches to learning. Further, our programs, pedagogical frameworks, and practices are rooted in Cool Culture’s social justice values and situates families at the center of our work.
