Too many of our young people are troubled, depressed and prone to “acting out” behavior. Without high self-esteem, they lack the ego-strength to say “no” to negative peer pressure. Consequently, an unacceptable percentage of our youth are involved in truancy, acts of violence, gang activity, teenage pregnancy, and substance abuse. Building their self-esteem is a necessary precursor to any attempts at character development. Through the ARK Program, schools can elevate the self-esteem and register a tremendous, life-changing impact upon children and their families.

The ARK (Adults Relating to Kids) Program was developed by the ARKGroup, a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation. The concepts embodied in ARK are based on research conducted in cooperation with the University of Texas School of Public Health and the University of Texas Medical School (Houston). This research shows the essential connection between a child’s sense of self-esteem and his receiving unconditional love from the primary adults (parents and teachers) in his life. Unconditional love involves saying to a child, “I may not like what you are doing, but you are my child (or student) and I care about you. Furthermore, there is nothing that you can ever do to keep me from caring about you.” When a child feels unconditionally loved for who he is rather than for what he does, he is enabled to value himself in spite of his imperfections. The resulting feelings of high self-esteem are an adult’s greatest gift to a child’s mental and emotional health.

ARK for Parents and ARK for Teachers coaches participants in becoming vessels through whom unconditional love is channeled into the lives of children. ARK teaches adults how to discipline behavior while affirming the worth of the child. As a result, young people are encouraged to learn from their mistakes and to take greater responsibility for their conduct in the future.

The ARK Program for Schools is being successfully implemented at all levels—from pre-kindergarten through high school. The concepts embodied in ARK are proven tools for elevating academic performance and reducing violence in our schools.

The Three Components of ARK for Schools

ARK for Teachers

• Fosters academic success through the creation of a caring environment in the classroom
• Enables teachers to reduce school truancy and violence by establishing nurturing relationships with students
• Reduces teacher burnout by creating peer-mentoring groups among teachers, administrators, and counselors
• Teaches an effective method of disciplining behavior while still affirming the worth of students

  ARK for Parents (in English and Spanish)

• Profoundly improves parenting behaviors which may have been passed down through families for generations—makes great parents even better—helps at-risk families to develop new parenting styles
• Helps parents deal with practical issues such as school work, sibling rivalry, and bully-proofing
• Increases parental involvement at school
• Creates a support group for parents

ARK for Teens

• Gives tools for dealing with real life issues such as peer pressure, sex, bullies, substance abuse, anger control, grief, trust, and health issues
• Helps teens learn to be accepting of themselves and others
• Teaches teens to accept responsibility for—and to learn from-- their own mistakes
• Facilitates good relationships with parents, teachers and peers
• Promotes positive character development

Why ARK is so Effective

The ARK for Teachers Program helps teachers learn how to create a nurturing environment in the classroom. Educational experts such as Dr. William Glasser tell us that no learning will EVER take place in the classroom unless there is a nurturing relationship between the teacher and the student. If the student sees the teacher as an adversary, the student will fight the teacher the entire school year. However, if the student sees the teacher as an advocate, then, even if the teacher is very demanding, the student will work hard on behalf of a teacher that he believes cares for him. Sonny Donnellson, former Superintendent of the Aldine ISD (Houston), comments on the benefits of ARK, “I have come to believe that, if we want the test scores to go up, helping teachers learn how to relate to their students is at least as important as helping them to teach the curriculum.”

The principles of ARK are also a key factor in alleviating the problem of school violence. If a child receives unconditional respect and regard from at least one (and hopefully all) of the adults who are important in his life, it will alleviate his or her feelings of alienation and rage. Dr. Robert Brooks, clinical psychologist with Harvard Medical School, contends that the key element in alleviating violence in our schools is to help each child to feel “connected” to a caring adult--a person whom the child feels will “be in my corner no matter what!”1 Nothing will combat the problem of school violence as will a caring cadre of parents and teachers who are intent on making children feel wanted and loved.

The Benefits ARK Provides to Schools

The ARK Program for Teachers Program benefits the learning process in the following ways:

1. Improves test grades and scores - A nurturing classroom environment is essential in order for children to maximize the learning opportunity
2. Lessens the potential for classroom violence - The key figure in removing student violence and disruption from the classroom is a nurturing teacher
3. Decreases school truancy rates - Children will want to go to school if they feel valued and nurtured there
4. Provides a venue for teachers to bond as a team - ARK’s peer-mentoring format is an ideal setting in which teachers can share and problem-solve
5. Helps teachers and parents to support each other’s efforts - ARK helps teachers and parents to colloborate in terms of their shared goals in educating and nurturing children

A key provision of the No Child Left Behind legislation requires that all public school teachers be “highly qualified” to teach. A study released by the Denver-based Education Commission of the States (ECS) on July 14, 200--which was based on 92 prior research studies--found that having a bachelor's or master's degree in a subject does not necessarily render a teacher effective in teaching that subject. The study suggests that effective teachers must have both a grasp of the subject and an understanding of pedagogy--how to teach.2 ARK provides the methodology of nurture and encouragement that helps teachers to be highly qualified instructors of children.

ARK meets and exceeds the federal requirement for parenting programs to be of long enough duration to make a sustainable difference in the lives of children and their families. ARK for Schools enables teachers, counselors, administrators, and all other caring adults to provide the caring, nurturing environment that is characteristic of all great schools.