Arlington ISD > DISTRICT > DEPARTMENTS > Administration > Parent and Community Engagement > Dads Engaged for Excellence

Department Contact:

Eric Phillips

Family Engagement Specialist
(682) 867-7386
ephilli3@aisd.net

Department Contact:

Johnathane Gaffney

Title I Parent Facilitator
(Dads Outreach)
(682) 867-7204
jgaffne1@aisd.net

Arlington ISD Dads Engaged for Excellence is an initiative to encourage dads, uncles, brothers, and other positive male role models to become more active in their students’ education.  The presence and involvement of dads and other positive male role models protect children from many vulnerabilities. Engaged fathers, whether living in or outside of home, help foster a child’s overall health and socio-emotional well-being.  Statistics reveal when fathers or father figures are engaged in their student’s education they are more likely to

  1. Learn more.
  2. Perform better in school.
  3. Exhibit healthier behavior.
  4. Have fewer discipline problems.
  5. Participate in extracurricular activities.
  6. Enjoy school more.

Arlington ISD provides programming and support to all their campuses by

  1. Providing an opportunity for fathers and father figures to get engaged.
  2. Providing a structured environment for father/student interaction.
  3. Engaging fathers in their children’s education.
  4. Building stronger bonds between father and child.

Here are some ways you can be a part of what AISD is doing to "engage dads for excellence"!

AISD Dad Clubs

AISD Dad Clubs provide an opportunity for dads to spend quality time with their children that will strengthen their relationship, as well as benefit their child’s school and the entire community. If you would like to launch a dad club on your campus, please contact Eric Phillips ephilli3@aisd.net.

Dad Challenge

This program is designed to promote parental engagement and volunteerism of fathers and fathers’ figures on campus. We are challenging fathers to complete seven tasks within an academic school year. The dads who complete the challenge will be recognized as Dad Champions. Our goal is to have 1000 men actively volunteering on AISD school campuses for at least 2 hours per semester by May 2020.

Ambassador Program

The goal of the Ambassador Program is to increase meaningful male engagement of fathers in student academic life through strategic community partnerships to support dad outreach efforts at local campus. This creates a bridge to the community to support the four core components of PACE’s engagement strategy by recruiting community organizations to promote and/or host district approved workshops on parenting, home to school connections, health wellness and professional development of fathers.

Fathering in 15 Minutes

Fathering in 15™ is an interactive online tool that helps build the skills of dads anytime, anywhere. Fathering in 15™ takes dads through 15 interactive, engaging topics, each in 15 minutes. The best feature is accessibility on any computer or mobile device. AISD provides this resource to district fathers because it will

  1. Build pro-fathering knowledge, attitudes, and skills.
  2. Provide content from National Fatherhood Initiative’s research and evidence-based programs.

Build with Dad

Build with Dad is a program by Dads Engaged for Excellence highlighting opportunities for fathers and father figures to connect with students through fun STEM related activities on campus and in the community. The activities will reinforce learning concepts in Math, Reading and Science through real world application of constructing a craft. Dads Engaged for Excellence has highlighted below opportunities offered by community stakeholders that give dads an opportunity to interactively bond with their students while supporting their academic growth.

Community opportunities:

Move Your Way "Dad" Campaign

We want to inspire father and father figures to become more physically active with their children in support of the Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (ODPHP) “Move Your Way Campaign”! Move Your Way is a physical activity campaign from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to promote the recommendations from the Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans. Click below for access to FREE “Move Your Way” activity planner!

Father Fest Arlington 2020

This is a day where we celebrate responsible fatherhood in Arlington ISD with an event for the entire family. This event consists of fun activities with food, games and live music. This is a FREE event and open to the entire city.

Subscribe to Calendar (ICS)

Parent and Community Engagement