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City School District Hopes to Spur Father Involvement

The Rochester City School District is calling on fathers to step up and become more involved in the classroom.

The Fatherhood Initiative Campaign kicks off this week. Dads in the district will gather to brainstorm ways to be more effective in city schools.

Kareem Hayes is the Community Liaison Specialist with the Office of Parent Engagement.

He says the initiative is focusing on visibility, "We would like for more fathers to be more visible in the schools being visible means that you know you can be a lunch monitor, having dads also in the hallways while students going to and from class, also having dads outside when the kids are getting off the bus going into the schools."

Hayes says the initiative will also increase fatherhood support groups and training programs for dads, such as custodial assistant and GED training.

He says while it’s an ambitious goal - he believes a year from now - the school setting will look much different than it does now, “And hopefully next year we'll see a higher number of graduation rates. So, I know what we're looking to do is very ambitious, but we do believe it's very achievable."