Although ubiquitous members of schools, few scholars and/or practitioners recognize how custodians'/caretakers' associations with students reciprocally contribute to student welfare and custodian status. This ethnographic study documents custodians' lived experiences while interacting with young children in three socioeconomically different American school settings. The findings suggest that custodians' contextualized behaviors affect their associations and self-perceptions as professionals. Race and gender complicate this process. Recommendations for how scholars, practitioners, and policy makers can capitalize on custodians' ubiquitous roles and their contextualized self-understanding are provided for consideration. (Contains 1 table.)