School Supports for Grandparents Raising Grandchildren – Podcast Episode 205 | Classnotes Podcast 205

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Aurelio M. Montemayor, M.Ed.Classnotes Podcast (September 15, 2020). Across the country, 2.7 million grandparents have assumed full- or part-time responsibility for their grandchildren. They face a number of challenges navigating the school system and finding community support. Mercedes Bristol directs the Texas Grandparents Raising Grandchildren non-profit. In this episode, Aurelio M. Montemayor, M.Ed., talks with Mercedes about her experience as a single grandmother raising five adopted grandchildren as she tried to register them for school without the required paperwork and just understanding how schools work nowadays. She describes what schools can do to support “grand families.” Aurelio is IDRA’s family engagement coordinator.

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Show length: 17:36

Resources

Texas Grandparents Raising Grandchildren

Education Rights of Grandchildren, event slides by Mercedes Bristol

HelpGuide.org

Liderazgo Familiar Intergeneracional: Intergenerational Family Leadership as a New Paradigm of Family Engagement,
Aurelio M. Montemayor, M.Ed., and Dr. Nancy Chavkin

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Show Notes

  • Mercedes outlines the financial barriers confronting many grandparents who are raising their grandchildren.

  • Mercedes also addresses the array of challenges that grandparents face in navigating the education system, such as how to talk to the schools about their grandchildren’s personal circumstances, including any past trauma, behavioral issues, and learning disabilities that could impact academic performance and assessments.

  • Mercedes discusses the role that support groups play in guiding grandparents to the right educational resources and in learning what questions to ask the schools.

  • Mercedes explains how her organization supports grandparents who speak limited English.

  • Mercedes talks about the impact that the COVID-19 pandemic has had on grandparents and their families.

  • Mercedes considers training sessions that school districts could deliver to better inform and meet the needs of grandparents.