The ARKGroup (Adults Relating to Kids)

Since its inception in 1992, the ARK (Adults Relating to Kids) Group has been on a mission to improve relationships and build healthy environments through the understanding and application of unconditional love. ARK is a 501(c)(3) non-profit that offers a variety of programs for a diverse list of demographic groups with its flagship programs being ARK for Parents and ARK for Teachers.

ARK programs, which also include curriculums for teens, college students and other groups, are research-based, stemming from a study conducted in partnership with the University of Texas School of Public Health. This ground-breaking study revealed a new paradigm for building the self-concept of a child. Rather than being a product of performance, healthy self-esteem is primarily generated by a child receiving unconditional love from an adult (parent, teacher, counselor, etc.) who is central in the child's life. ARK programs were founded and designed based on this principle. Our 3 most popular programs in the DFW area are:

ARK FOR PARENTS & CAREGIVERS: This ARK program (available in English and Spanish) empowers parents and other adult caregivers to develop "love-based" rather than "fear-based" relationships within their families. The program provides a parenting skill-set that allows families to break the cycle of uninformed (and, in some cases, abusive) parenting and enables children to acquire a positive self-concept. Parents learn how to discipline behavior while still affirming the worth of the child.

Parent Engagement Program (PEP): PEP is "SEL for parents". It is in Spanish and English and allows districts/schools reach out to all parents in the district.

Social Emotional Learning for Teachers: This program helps school districts implement "empathetic teaching" models designed to build the student/teacher relationship through a process of intentionally extending unconditional love and care to students-disciplining their behavior while still valuing them as persons. (Empathetic teaching is distinctly different from authoritative teaching in that it places a much greater emphasis on the prevention of classroom misbehavior with the understanding that kids behave better and perform better for teachers they believe care about them).

Our Needs

Your support helps build families and communities by improving the self-concept and transforming the lives of children from all walks of life. Contributions to ARK help fund our efforts to support the social-emotional health of youth through schools, community organizations, churches, in the home and beyond. We are currently raising funds to supplement the cost of social service agencies that use the ARK programs but can only pay a portion of the program cost as well as to help fund overhead costs, staff expansion and updated video lessons and training materials.