Episode 48: Nonprofit Spotlight featuring The Gray Academy for Exceptional Children with Neurological Disorders

Episode 48: Nonprofit Spotlight featuring The Gray Academy A School for Exceptional Children with Neurological Disorders.

On Episode 48 of the Mainspring Family Wellness Podcast, Jenna & welcome Kristen Gray and Dana Tompkins of the Gray Academy, a non-profit, non-public K-5 Elementary School for exceptional children with neurological disorders in Santa Monica, California, looking to expand their program and services with a second location in Orange County. Each guest shares their extraordinary circumstances as parents to children with special needs and how that journey prompted them towards their passion for meaningful impact within the community, leading to the creation of The Gray Academy and its current plans for expansion.

 

01:49

Introduction of guests: Kristen Gray & Dana Tompkins

 

02:15

Kristen’s story:

• Daughters’ diagnosis of Batten’s Disease
• Launching a foundation to find a cure
• Enrolling daughters into a clinical trial of gene therapy along with 13 other children

 

06:55

The search for a school that prompted the inception of The Gray Academy in Santa Monica

 

09:21

About the Gray Academy

 

10:28

Dana’s story:

• Son’s birth and journey with cerebral palsy
• Connecting with Kristen Gray over expansion of the Gray Academy to serve Orange County, CA

 

14:49

Kristen and Dana share a “typical day” for families with neuro-different children

 

21:58

The Gray Academy’s multi-pronged services to treat children with neurological disorders

 

25:13

Insight into how traditional schools with services for neuro-different children might not be able to meet the needs of their students

 

28:28

The Gray Academy’s plans for expansion into Orange County

 

30:34

The Gray’s Academy’s upcoming fundraiser to support the expansion

 

32:52

Get connected with the Gray Academy and more information about the fundraiser

 

34:00

Kristen & Jenna reflect on Kristen & Dana’s incredible journeys, their willingness to share and impact positive change

 

35:55

Guests share on their personal resolve and commitment to their children that drives them forward in their work within the community

 

37:22

Jenna & Kristen’s perspective on the episode

 

 

GUEST: Kristen Gray & Dana Tompkins

KRISTEN GRAY:

Kristen Gray, founder of the Charlotte and Gwenyth Gray Foundation to Cure Batten Disease and mother of Charlotte (11), Gwenyth (9), Callan (2) and Gavin (6mo) started the foundation with her husband, Gordon, in June of 2015 after learning of their daughters' diagnosis of Batten Disease CLN6.  In two years, Kristen and Gordon, alongside a community of supporters raised over 7 million dollars to fund critical research in hopes of a cure for Batten Disease CLN6.  That research led to a clinical trial starting in March of 2016 and to date the foundation has funded treatment for 15 children.  

Kristen and Gordon, having experienced firsthand the challenges and daily struggles that most families face when trying to juggle special education with crucial medical treatments, therapies, doctors’ visits and other needs, envisioned a new kind of school with a transformative, integrated and holistic approach that could help fill the void often experienced by parents and their children suffering from severe neurological disorders. In 2018, Kristen and Gordon founded The Gray Academy in Santa Monica, a school for medically fragile children, serving families with children of moderate to severe disabilities.

 

DANA TOMPKINS:

 

After earning her MBA from the Marshall School of Business at USC and a career in corporate marketing, Dana followed her entrepreneurial spirit to open a popular women's clothing store in Newport Beach called Bardot in 2012.  Following the diagnosis of her son with cerebral palsy in 2020, Dana decided to close her shop to focus on the needs of her family.  Since then she has spent her time seeking the best therapies and treatments for her son, now almost 4, and in doing so has connected with Kristen Gray of the Gray Academy.  Dana is now taking the lead to open an Orange County branch of The Gray Academy- a school for children with moderate to severe neurological disorders, helping to fill a gap in our community to provide an educational program that is suited for children with complex medical needs.

 

Connect with The Gray Academy

Website: The Gray Academy

Facebook | Instagram

 

Connect with Mainspring Family Wellness:

Website: Mainspring Family Wellness

Facebook | Instagram | LinkedIn

 

Connect with Kristen & Jenna:

Kristen: LinkedIn

Jenna: LinkedIn