WATCH D.O.G.S. ® in Renaissance Academy Hallways

PHOENIXVILLE, PA – On Thursday, November 2, 2017 the Renaissance Academy Lower School (grades k-6) welcomed a very special visitor. Sporting his official WATCH D.O.G.S. ® tee shirt, Mr. Jeffrey Boggs arrived at the school at 7:45 am as the school’s very first WATCH D.O.G.S. ® program volunteer.

WATCH D.O.G.S. ® (“Dads Of Great Students”) is a newly implemented program at Renaissance Academy (RA) which encourages father involvement at school. A national, school-based program founded in 1998, the primary goals of the WATCH D.O.G.S.® are to provide positive male role models for the students, demonstrate by their presence that education is important, and to provide extra sets of eyes and ears to enhance school security and reduce bullying*. WATCH D.O.G.S. ® volunteers must register with their student’s school, as well as, go through all appropriate volunteer clearance processes and background checks.

Back on October, 18, 2014, RA hosted an event to share information about the WATCH D.O.G.S. ® program with its family community. Over 80 fathers and male family members took time out of their busy lives to attend. Mr. Boggs, father of 1st grader, Austin Boggs and one of the event attendees, said that what interested him about the WATCH D.O.G.S. ® was having the opportunity to participate in, not only his own student’s day but those of other students as well.

Some of the ways that Mr. Boggs assisted at the school included doing classroom activities with kindergarten and 1st grade, monitoring lunches and playground time, as well as, checking visitors in at the Lower School office. When asked if he would return another day as part of this program, Mr. Boggs said, “Absolutely! I am already signed up for another day. I truly enjoyed working with the students. They really warmed up to having me as a WATCH D.O.G.S. ® and seemed to really appreciate my presence.”

Mrs. Christine Herman, RA Lower School Principal, said that she is encouraged by the community response to this new program. “I'm thrilled to see the amount of Dads that sign-up to be a part of our new volunteer program. I was hoping for at least 20 for startup year and we have 4 times that amount! It shows that our parents are a vested part of our school community. We are so grateful to the RA Family School Organization (FSO) for supporting the launch of this worthy initiative.”

Founded in 1999, Renaissance Academy is a fully-accredited, tuition-free, K-12, college-prep, award-winning, public Charter School located in Phoenixville, PA which currently educates over 1050 students from 22 surrounding school districts. Its dedicated staff works collaboratively with students and their families to ensure that each and every student achieves their personal best as students and citizens with a strong emphasis on character development and core values. To learn more, visit us at www.rak12.org.

*Information from the WATCH D.O.G.S.® website, http://dadsofgreatstudents.com.

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