How one school district does Breakfast in the Classroom

They say breakfast is the most important meal of the day, and that goes double for schoolchildren.

Providing kids with a good, healthy breakfast so they can start off the learning day right is the mission behind Breakfast in the Classroom. Studies have shown that eating breakfast improves attendance, academic performance, health and behavior. But many children aren’t eating breakfast at home, for reasons that range from lack of time in the morning to living in households that struggles with hunger. And serving breakfast in the cafeteria before classes doesn’t always help.

Breakfast in the Classroom, which is part of the USDA’s National Breakfast Program, takes the traditional school-breakfast approach and improves it with one key ingredient: the classroom setting. When students eat breakfast in the classroom at the beginning of the day—after the opening bell—or during morning break time, participation is maximized, and so are the benefits of breakfast.

It’s a simple enough concept, but there are still issues that need to be worked out, says Sandra Kemp, BS, SNS, director of food and nutrition services for Albuquerque School District in New Mexico. “You have to be careful with the selection of items,” she explains, not only for taste appeal, cost and nutritional value but also for efficiency and convenience. “You want items that are individually wrapped, but they can’t be messy or sticky”—an important consideration for teachers as well as the janitorial staff.

Popular breakfast items at Albuquerque include cereal, toast and breads, whole-grain cereal bars, breakfast biscuits and pizza, yogurt and granola, sausage and pancakes on a stick, bagged dried cranberries and a variety of burritos—items that are handheld, nutritious, and much less likely to create a mess.

At Albuquerque School District, in-classroom breakfasts are packed at each individual site into a system of bins and carts that are picked up by teachers on a rotating basis. Every classroom gets a heavy-duty trash bag, and wet wipes are now also being provided.

Having been early to the Breakfast in the Classroom party, in 2008, Albuquerque has had some time to explore other best practices. Getting buy-in from everybody, from parents to administrators and staff, is key, says Kemp, and requires a certain amount of education. And with 70 elementary schools involved in the program, or about half of the total in the district, that’s a lot of communication.

In addition to information on the school’s website and other marketing vehicles, Kemp or a member of her staff attend principal’s meetings to explain the benefits of the program and answer questions. Kemp would also like to begin providing learning modules for the classrooms, which teachers can share with students while they are eating.

“We believe that nutrition education started early will get our students on track for lifelong healthy eating habits,” she says.

For more information about Breakfast in the Classroom programs and products, visit Foster Farms Prepared Foods here.