Student Support



  • Foster Grandparent Program

    Foster grandparents stay active by giving back to our community's vulnerable children. They develop one-on-one relationships with children ages 3-18 by tutoring, mentoring, and offering caring support to special and exceptional needs children. Grandparents volunteer between 15 and 40 hours each week and draw from personal wisdom and experience to help children meet social, academic, and developmental goals under the supervision of teachers and center directors.

    Foster grandparents serve at one of the following educational sites: Head start centers, Buffalo Public Schools, charter or parochial schools, educational preschool programs and select after school educational programs.

    Eligible adults are age 55 and above, live in Erie County and meet income guidelines.

    Benefits include:

    • Making a difference in the life of a child
    • A small stipend
    • Partial transportation and meal reimbursement
    • Volunteer insurance
    • Monthly trainings

    For more information or to request an application please call (716) 896-6388.



    B.E.S.T. (Basic Emotional Skills Training)


    Teaching Kids to Care and Too Good for Violence          

         
    B.E.S.T. (formerly the Inner I Program) helps young children enter school ready to learn.  Children who develop healthy social and emotional skills have the tools they need to interact with peers, teachers and family members in a respectful, age-appropriate manner.  B.E.S.T. is a classroom-based program provided by our staff in two curriculum formats:

    • Teaching Kids to Care     
    • Too Good for Violence

    B.E.S.T. is independently evaluated by Buffalo State College’s Center for Health and Social Research who recently concluded, “Results support the program’s ability to demonstrate its positive impact on behavior at a young age.”

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