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 Children's Defense Fund (CDF) Freedom Schools® Sponsor Application for Returning Partners


Application Deadline: September 29, 2026 

                                                      Nonrefundable Application Fee: $175

The Children’s Defense Fund (CDF) Freedom Schools® program partners with organizations to sponsor and deliver high-quality comprehensive programming for children and families at no cost to participants. 


Sponsor organizations are responsible for securing the financial resources to operate program sites at no cost to families and paying licensing fees to the Children's Defense Fund to offset program costs.


A CDF Freedom Schools Sponsor Application cannot be reviewed until the application fee has successfully processed. All applicants can submit their application fee by ACH or credit card. If you would like to request an invoice for your application fee, please email Mary Fennell at mfennell@childrensdefense.org.

Ella Baker Child Policy Training Institute Orientation and Trainings
For the 2027 program year, all orientation and training sessions will be in-person and virtual. All in-person training sessions will be held at CDF Haley Farm and the Knoxville Convention Center. 

Mandatory Attendance:
All program staff are required to attend training sessions according to the official CDF Freedom Schools program calendar.

Licensing & Compliance:
Implementing a CDF Freedom Schools program without fully trained staff is a violation of the CDF Freedom Schools licensing agreement and the copyright protections for the program's model. 

Orientation and Training 

Required Participants

Dates

January Orientation and Training (Virtual)

Executive Directors (ED)

Project Directors (PD)

 

January 20, 2027

March Administrative Leadership Institute (In-person)

Executive Directors (ED)

Project Directors (PD)

Site Coordinators (SC)

 

March 12-14, 2027




National Training (In-person) 

Site Coordinators (SC)

Servant Leader Interns (SLI)

 June 2-5, 2027


January Orientation and Training for Executive Directors and Project Directors 

Dates: January 20-21, 2027

Location: Virtual - CVENT Attendee Hub

The Executive Director and Project Director Orientation and Training will be a fully virtual institute for 

first-and second-year Executive Directors and Project Directors. It will be both synchronous and asynchronous content. All registered participants will have access to training through our virtual attendee hub and must attend live. This training is mandatory as outlined in the licensing agreement. 

March Administrative Leadership Institute

Dates: March 12-14, 2027

Location: CDF Alex Haley Farm and Junior Achievement Center 

The March Administrative Leadership Institute will be in-person for first-and second-year Executive Directors, Project Director, and Site Coordinators. Directors who have served longer than two years will not be invited to attend in person, but those that still wish to attend in person will be assessed the additional person fee of $900, pending space availability. Participants are expected to arrive on Thursday, March 11th and training begins on Friday, March 14th. CDF Freedom Schools program fees will cover the cost of lodging (for required attends only), meals, and round-trip ground transportation. 

Participants are expected to arrive on the 11th and training begins on the 12th. 

 

National Training for Site Coordinators and Servant Leader Interns

Dates: Wednesday, June 2-5, 2027 

Location: Knoxville Convention Center (KCC), University of Tennessee Conference Center (UTCC), and CDF Alex Haley Farm 

National Training will be in-person for first-and second-year Servant Leader Interns ONLY and all Site Coordinators. All Site Coordinators and Servant Leader Interns will arrive on Tuesday, June 1st and will depart on Sunday, June 6th. For National Training, CDF will provide complimentary round-trip ground transportation to and from the airport, and CDF Haley Farm, from CDF Freedom Schools official hotels within the reserved block. CDF will also cover the costs of all lunches and three out of four dinners during training dates. All CDF Freedom Schools sponsoring organizations will be responsible for transportation to and from Tennessee, booking hotel rooms, and securing meals outside of training hours (e.g., breakfast, meals on designated travel days). The CDF Freedom Schools National Office will provide details on registration and room blocks. This training is mandatory as outlined in the licensing agreement.  

Thank you for your interest in partnering with CDF Freedom Schools for 2027. Please proceed with this application if you sponsored a CDF Freedom Schools site in the last two years (2025/2026).  

Section I: Applicant Information
Choose your State and Sponsor Organization name from the list. 

Begin typing the name of your state postal abbreviation or sponsor name to filter results

Begin typing the name of your state postal abbreviation or sponsor name to filter results
Please provide billing address for the sponsor organization
Staff Roles:
The person who is primarily responsible for the CDF Freedom Schools (CDFFS) program in your organization and will be the primary point of contact, is deemed the CDFFS Executive Director (ED).

Each organization must determine who will serve as their ED. Only one person may hold the role. If you are from an organization that has a main leader (President, CEO, Executive Director, Principal, Superintendent, Senior Pastor, etc.) with subordinates, the main leader does NOT have to also serve as the ED. Please keep this in mind, to structure your local program optimally. 

The contact information asks for years of service directly related to the CDF Freedom Schools program, NOT to your organization in general.
Contact 1: Executive Director
mm/dd/yyyy

Contact 2: Project Director
mm/dd/yyyy

Section II: Program & Site Information
Must be a number value
Must be a number value
Must be a number value
Must be a number value
Must be a number value

Section III: National Operational Fees Payable to CDF

For 2027, the following fees are due to the Children's Defense Fund: 

  • Application Fee - $175
  • National Program Operation Fee - $300 per scholar 
  • Registration Fee for Non-required Program Staff (if applicable) - $900 per person 
  • Late Registrant Training Fee (if applicable) - $100 per person*

It is mandatory for all required CDF Freedom Schools program staff to receive training through the Ella Baker Child Policy Training Institute. Please note, sponsor organizations will be assessed an additional fee of $900 for each non-required training attendee. An additional fee of $100 will be assessed onto all late registrations. 


Every sponsoring organization should have an Executive Director (ED) and a Project Director (PD). The same person may serve as the ED and PD. You can sponsor multiple CDF Freedom Schools sites across your community, but each site must have a minimum of 30 scholars to be considered 1 site. Each site is required to have 1 Site Coordinator (SC).


For larger sites, additional SCs may be needed. See the chart below for a breakdown of the recommended number of SCs and the required number Servant Leader Interns (SLI) at a site.

Any program staff beyond these allowances are considered non-required staff. Therefore, a $900 registration fee will be applied per non-required staff member. 


breakdown
Short Answer Response

Section IV: Signature
CDF Freedom Schools
Bullock County School District CDF Freedom Schools Program

Freedom Schools Application Fee




Payment Information






Card Information






USD
After you click the Submit button you must review your completed application and then confirm the submission. It is recommended that you use the "Print this page" button at the bottom of the screen to print or save a PDF copy for your records.  
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