Watch Dogs Looking Out for Alta Loma Schools

What child wouldn’t want to be welcomed every at his or her school day by a watch dog?

And what parent wouldn’t rest a bit easier knowing there was a watch dog protecting all the students at their children’s school?

How about a “pack” of watch dogs?

The watch dogs looking out for the students at three schools in the Alta Loma School District aren’t the ferocious canine variety, but rather fathers, grandfathers, uncles and other father figures of students at Carnelian, Deer Canyon and Hermosa elementary schools in Rancho Cucamonga.

They’re volunteers in the national Watch DOGS program – or Dads of Great Students – a one-of-a-kind, school-based father involvement program that works to support education and safety. The program is run by the National Center for Fathering, a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the lives of children through the active involvement of fathers or father figures.

“I’ve heard from so many of the dads in the program that this is truly a life-altering experience, not just for the kids, but for them,” says Joan Sanders, principal at Carnelian School. “More than one has told me that his own life has been enriched and that he’s improved his fathering skills by getting to know the kids better.”

The volunteer Watch DOGS fathers, grandfathers, uncles and other father figures are helping schools to boost safety and reduce bullying. At schools where more than 90 percent of faculty and staff are female, they’re positive male role models for the students.

“Statistics show that students are more likely to be successful and to stay on track when they have a positive male influence in their lives,” Sanders says. “This gives children and fathers more time to interact, and it also provides me with an extra set of eyes and ears to know what’s happening around the school.”

“It just works,” says Hermosa Elementary Principal Valerie Bires. “It has changed the climate of the campus.”

First adopted in the ALSD by Carnelian Elementary School in October of 2013, the program has since spread to the district’s Hermosa and Deer Canyon schools, thanks to Sanders’ efforts to share the success she has seen at Carnelian. They are among the 4,562 schools in 46 states that participate in the Watch DOGS program, in addition to schools in China, Canada, Mexico, Puerto Rico and Barbados that are also participating.

“I wanted to find a way to get more dads on campus,” says Michele Rachielles, principal at Deer Canyon Elementary School, where the program launched this past January. “It can get to be a bit of a ‘coffee klatch’ with only women volunteering in the work room.”

Bires took over as principal of Hermosa this past fall after a long career in the Monrovia Unified School District, including the past eight years as principal of Bradoaks Elementary School, where she was first introduced to the Watch DOGS program. Just months into her new position, Bires got the ball rolling with a pizza kickoff event for dads in November before launching the program in January.

“We had standing room only, and the dads were chomping at the bit for us to start right then,” she says. “We put out a calendar beginning in January and filled every day for the rest of the school year.”

Bires says research indicates that when a father is on campus four times a year, “it changes and shapes their child’s life. Now the kids are recruiting their dads to be part of this.”

“Our dads are very visible and engaged, and the children love having their fathers and father figures come to their school – they’re very proud of them,” Sanders says.

Volunteer dads at Carnelian School greet students before school with high-fives, and watch to make sure children are getting to and from the campus safely. The total of 78 who volunteer at Carnelian also help during lunch recess, checking that school access gates are locked and assisting on the playgrounds.

Rachielles says DOGS at Deer Canyon perform similar duties, along with other activities during the day, including assisting in the teacher workroom and helping in classrooms.

DOGS at Hermosa School are contributing in classrooms. “We’ve identified a number of kids who don’t have fathers, and we’ve put dads in their classrooms. Every day those students get checked on by a dad – not theirs, but someone who will give them positive attention. Seeing the change in those kids is what makes my job fun.”

Each school’s program is overseen by a “Top Dog” volunteer, who works with the principal and school administrators to coordinate schedules and assignments for the volunteer dads. Watch DOGS must attend a comprehensive training with the principal before serving, and all are required to wear their official Watch DOGS t-shirts or a distinctive badge to be easily identified.

“Everybody who volunteers at schools throughout our district – moms and dads alike – receive a volunteer packet with very specific rules and expectations, and they need to sign that they will adhere to the policies,” says Rachielles. “The code of conduct for the DOGS is much more strict and rigorous than that.”

Bires shared a note from a volunteer father who said that “being around the kids today was the highlight of my year.” Although the father’s daughter is in the sixth grade, he spent the day assisting in a kindergarten classroom, where the children jumped up to say goodbye when he had to leave. Clearly touched, he wrote, “… a perfect way to end my short day at Hermosa.”