If you work in a North Carolina school or district with a high free-and-reduced rate student population, but you’re struggling to achieve good participation at school breakfast, The Partners for Breakfast in the Classroom can help. We are currently offering breakfast-in-the-classroom grants in ten target states, including North Carolina and the application period is OPEN.
North Carolina dropped two positions in FRAC’s most recent School Breakfast Scorecard, from the 21st to the 23rd spot. Currently, North Carolina is reaching 57.4 free/reduced priced students at breakfast for every 100 served at lunch. North Carolina dropped spots in spite of serving slightly more students than in SY 2014-15, but a breakfast-in-the-classroom program is a great way to increase participation—and move up that Scorecard! That’s where the Partners for Breakfast in the Classroom come in.
Why Implement Breakfast in the Classroom in Your North Carolina School District?
There are a lot of excellent reasons to implement breakfast-in-the-classroom. Our stakeholder-driven approach has helped us customize BIC programs to solve a variety of problems such as:
- Long cafeteria lines that can’t accommodate all students before the morning bell;
- Disciplinary issues in the cafeteria/common areas;
- Stigma;
- Late drop-offs and bus schedules prevent all students from accessing the cafeteria for breakfast.
These are just a few examples of how breakfast-in-the-classroom has been used as a creative tool for administrators and educators to address food insecurity, disciplinary issues, tardiness and absenteeism, and trips to the school nurse—and that’s on top of improved academic outcomes for students who eat school breakfast!
Did you know that fewer than half of students who eat free- and reduced-price lunches also take advantage of the School Breakfast Program? A universal, alternative delivery school breakfast—like direct delivery, Grab-n-Go, and Breakfast After the Bell—increases access to the morning meal to all students, and improves participation while also creating a calm, structured start to the instructional day.
Grant Criteria: Do You Qualify?
The Partners for BIC grant was designed to be flexible and customizable, to help high-need districts implement breakfast-in-the-classroom in one or more schools. The unique flexibility of our school breakfast grant means we can tailor the program to meet your specific needs—in one school, or in every school in your district. View our website to review our grant eligibility criteria.
Video: The Dollars & Cents of Breakfast in the Classroom
About the Partners for BIC
Funding for the Partners was made possible through a generous $7.5 million grant from the Walmart Foundation. The Partners for BIC is made up of the Food Research & Action Center (FRAC), the School Nutrition Foundation (SNF), the NEA Foundation, and the National Association of Elementary School Principals (NAESP) Foundation. Learn more about our grant by visiting our website: https://live-breakfastintheclassroom.pantheonsite.io, and following us on Facebook and Twitter.
We also encourage you to visit the following websites for more information about education and school nutrition in North Carolina:
North Carolina Association of Educators
North Carolina Department of Public Instruction (NCDPI)
North Carolina Principals and Assistant Principals Association