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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
Enrollment for the academic year 2022-2023 is open from May 2022 to July 2022.
View the Enrollment Guide + FAQs for more details. An application link will go live in late May.
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 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.
Enrollment Pricing
Your elementary school pays a flat fee of $3,200 for the school year.
Timeline
Enrollment: Enrollment for DOE schools and charter schools is open from May to July.
Family Registration: Families at your school will have multiple opportunities to register for the Family Pass in the fall and winter.
Professional Development: Virtual and in-person workshops occur throughout the year, beginning in late October and ending in May.
2022
Week of May 23 | Enrollment opens |
|---|---|
July 29 | Enrollment Closes |
Rolling Basis | Enrollment decisions announced |
September 26 | 1st Family Pass Registration round opens |
October 28 | 1st Family Pass Registration round closes and 2nd Registration round opens |
Early December | 1st Family Pass Registration round passes are mailed |
December 2 | 2nd Family Pass Registration round closes and 3rd Registration round opens |
2023
February 3 | 3rd Family Pass Registration round closes and 4th Registration round opens |
|---|---|
Early March | Family Passes mailed |
March 3 | 4th Family Pass Registration round closes |
Early April | Family Passes mailed |
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 and Cool Pops, Seminars & Dialogues for educators to harness the power of arts and culture, and artmaking and wellbeing resources will be available with your child care center’s enrollment. [Learn More]
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.
- Design, plan and partner with a Cultural Institution to bring a Cool Pop to their families.
- 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. The Citywide Cultural Access Program is aligned with DOE Early Learn requirements for community partnerships and family engagement, NYS Pre-K Foundation for the Common Core in social/emotional development, approaches to learning, and literacy, and Blueprint for the Arts. 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. The Citywide Cultural Access Program is aligned with DOE Early Learn requirements for community partnerships and family engagement, NYS Pre-K Foundation for the Common Core in social/emotional development, approaches to learning, and literacy, and Blueprint for the Arts. 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.
