Disability Pride Parade
We’re excited to share that NYCPS will be participating in this year’s Disability Pride Parade, and we’re looking for volunteers to help represent our schools and programs during this joyful and important event!
- When: Sunday, October 19, 2025
- Time: 11 am - 3 pm (parade line up 10 am)
- Where: Madison Square Park to Union Square
Want to be part of the Disability Pride Parade?
We invite all students, staff, leadership, and families to attend this year’s NYC Disability Pride Parade. We strongly encourage all schools to have as many people as possible representing your school community at the parade!
Parade Theme, Registration and School Project Information:
This year marks the 10th anniversary of the NYC Disability Pride Parade, and we’re celebrating with a “throwback through time.” Students, families, educators, and advocates from across the city will come together to honor disability through the lens of history, advocacy, and celebration. The parade will span 10 blocks, with each block representing a different era, bringing its own unique energy and showcasing the disability pride movement across time.
We invite schools to select a decade to research and join in the celebration by creating posters, banners, costumes and signs that reflect the spirit of disability pride, history, advocacy, and inclusion from that era.
For more information check out the Disability Pride Project
Next Steps:
- If your school would like to participate, please complete this form below by October 3, 2025.
- We encourage schools to have as many people as possible represent your school community - select multiple classes at your school to complete the Disability Pride Parade Project
- Please bring the posters, banners, costumes, and flags to the parade to showcase the students talents and advocacy!
Follow the Disability Pride Parade Project for information and activities.
If your school would like to participate in the NYC Disability Pride Parade, please complete the form by October 1, 2025 to register for the parade
Together we will march as one NYCPS group! All districts will march together, highlighting the themes, celebrations and projects of individual schools. Additional details about parade logistics, meeting points, and guidelines will be shared soon after registration is complete.
We look forward to celebrating with you and being part of a powerful event that honors disability history while showcasing the strength, creativity, and voices of our community.
Inclusive Schools NYC and Disability Pride
This section highlights NYC Public Schools' commitment to inclusion, disability pride, and student-led support networks. Learn about available clubs, mentorship opportunities, and resources for fostering belonging in every school.
Disability Affinity, Inclusion, and Disability Pride Student Clubs
New York City Public Schools has a citywide network of Disability Affinity, Disability Pride, and Inclusion Clubs to celebrate the identities of our students with disabilities and to support a culture of belonging and community! This initiative is under the banner of InclusiveSchoolsNYC. These clubs are open to all students in all grades. Interested NYCPS staff or students please click the link to the interest and registration form(Open external link).
The Neurodiversity Alliance is proud to partner with Inclusive Schools NYC to offer free, student-led neurodiversity clubs for all NYC Public High Schools. This initiative will provide neurodivergent students with access to advising, leadership development, and peer support through The Neurodiversity Alliance’s innovative club model.
All schools are welcome to join the Inclusive Schools NYC movement! InclusiveSchools NYC offers resources, student mentorship opportunities, a monthly newsletter, community events, and supports for all grades pk-12 with the support and help from our partners, Parents for Inclusive Education (PIE).
Disability Pride Visual Arts Contest
The New York City Public Schools Disability Pride Visual Arts Contest celebrates people with disabilities in their struggle for equity and equal access, opportunity, and inclusion. People with disabilities are proud of their identity and their accomplishments that resulted in the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). NYCPS invites all NYC Public School students and teachers to join in the celebration of Disability Pride through participation in submitting an art piece that educates our communities about an element of the Disability Rights Movement, Disability identities, Disability History, or Special Education services.
Compilation Video of the Winners for 2025
We’re proud to announce that the winning submissions from the 2025 Disability Pride Arts Contest will be featured citywide throughout July on public LinkNYC kiosks and in select JPMorgan Chase Bank lobbies. This powerful showcase highlights the creativity and voices of our students while celebrating Disability Pride Month. JPMorgan Chase’s participation reflects a meaningful commitment to inclusion and representation—amplifying the importance of equity in all spaces, from classrooms to public streets to industry leaders.
Annual Student Inclusion Summit
The Inclusion Summit is an action-packed day where NYC public school students with and without disabilities celebrate diverse disability identities, build inclusive school communities, and learn from one another. The goal is to shift mindsets, promote anti-ableist and inclusive ideas, as well as incorporate the perspectives of those with lived disability experience. This year's event took place on April 4, 2025, with the theme
“WE tell our stories.” Over 750 NYC Public School students participated in Workshops, Arts Activities, a Movie screening and more at the spring 2025 summit.
The event is co-hosted by New York City Public Schools and our proud partner Parents for Inclusive Education (PIE).(Open external link)
Inclusive and Interdependent Language Initiative
The words we use are critical: how we refer to people is how we think about them. Language and how we talk about people creates our social frameworks and tells us how to treat others around us. With that in mind, we created the Inclusive and Interdependent Language Glossary as a community resource
By creating a glossary of inclusive terminology that matches student preference and best practice, and implementing these language changes both internally at NYC Public Schools and externally with the families and students that we serve, we can help create an environment that is truly inclusive and interdependent at its core.
If you identify as a student with a disability and you would like to contribute to our language initiative to reimagine the language we use to describe students with disabilities and special education, please submit to the survey.