Father's usually get the shaft when it comes to the holiday as it relates to kids making you something at school, or having any kind of celebration/remembrance at school, as school is out for the summer before Father's Day arrives.
I don't see a need at all to bring parents separately into the school to honor them for the day, but it has been traditional for kids to make something for their mom's at school (usually some kind of an art type project) to take home to them. I think this had it's base in the fact that traditionally and in the past, moms were the ones helping out at school, and doing the most hands on with kids.
Life has changed and in my opinion, if schools still want to do something like this, I don't see why, because of Father's Day being outside the school year, they can't have a 'relatives' day and celebrate that way. My son's school did this, and the school was open for the day, plays were presented, lunch provided, tours of their various classes to view their projects, work and studies, etc. Gifts were made ahead of time, and any and all of a child's relatives were invited...parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, even friends. It was kind of an extended open house, with a chance for kids to show whoever in their lives they wished to invite, what their school was all about, and what they were doing and working on.
This kind of alleviates all the who has two mommies, who doesn't have a dad, who is being raised in foster care, who lives with grandma kind of issues. There of course will always be some child somewhere that has no one to show up for them at all. My mom was that kid all of her life. No one ever came to anything to support her and it hurt. She still feels that hurt today. But she would never take the experience away from the those in the vast majority that did/do have people to support them.
No matter what we talk about...... any given holiday, a school play, the offering of a community meal, a concert in the park.....there will be someone feeling left out because they don't celebrate it, can't get to it, don't believe in it or support the 'cause', have no one to come share it with them. But that can't be the reason we simply don't do it. We don't deny the rights of the others to celebrate, share, enjoy, partake.
We attempt to know who may be feeling left out (the teachers know which kids will have no one show up, in this case) surround them with a little more attention from the staff, encourage other parents to include/interact with those students (no one ever had to do this at my son's school, parents simply embraced all the kids and interacted with them about their work and performance) and carry on.
Being inclusive is a great thing. Denying or eliminating things just because a very small percentage of the people might feel left out, is not, even when it involves children. We have to stop this notion that the entire group must not observe/celebrate/participate simply because one may not.
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