When students are hungry, they can’t learn! And when students eat breakfast, the results are pretty spectacular:
- Improved academic performance on standardized tests
- Improved concentration and memory
- Better math scores
- Better attendance and fewer tardies
- Fewer trips to the nurse’s office, and fewer behavioral referalls to the front office
And that’s just for starters.
Fewer than half of students who are eligible for a free or reduced-price lunch also participate in the School Breakfast Program (SBP), but breakfast-in-the-classroom is a proven strategy to reach more students during the morning meal.
Benefits of Breakfast in the Classroom
Common barriers to school breakfast participation include lack of time/awareness, late bus and drop-off schedules, cost, and stigma. Moving breakfast to the classroom—and making it free, or “universal” for all students–addresses all of those barriers. By moving breakfast service to the classroom, after the first bell rings, and making it free for all students is a proven method for increasing school breakfast participation.
About the Partners for BIC Grant Opportunity
Schools and districts in Louisiana and nine other states are eligible to apply for a Partners for Breakfast in the Classroom grant: Ohio, Idaho, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Texas, and Utah.
The Partners for BIC grant is targeted to help high-need schools and districts cover up-front costs commonly associated with implementing breakfast-in-the-classroom; funds can be used to purchase equipment and supplies, provided some staff support and training, or to procure marketing materials and other related costs.
Eligibility criteria:
- Either 70 percent or more students qualify for FRP OR the school operations community eligibility (CEP) or Provision 2 (P2);
- Breakfast ADP is 50 percent or less;
- Ability to serve breakfast in the classroom at no charge to all students after the morning bell;
- Strong stakeholder commitment to making reasonable efforts to continue the program;
- Willingness to promote the program.
Technical Assistance
Don’t miss the Partners for BIC Technical Assistance video to learn more about the grant application process. Ongoing technical assistance is another thing that sets our grant apart.
https://youtu.be/0a8TsN6_Z9k
About Partners for BIC
The Partners for BIC are a consortium of national education and nutrition organizations, including:
- Food Research & Action Center (FRAC)
- National Association of Elementary School Principals (NAESP) Foundation
- NEA Foundation
- School Nutrition Foundation (SNF)
The Partners for BIC received a $7.5 million grant from the Walmart Foundation to implement BIC in high-need districts in ten additional states, to reach 30,000 additional students.
Learn more about our partners, and find additional breakfast-in-the-classroom resources for Louisiana schools and districts:
- Partners for Breakfast in the Classroom: Resources
- The NEA Foundation
- Partners for BIC Fact Sheet
- FRAC’s School Breakfast Scorecard & Large District Report
- FRAC’s Breakfast for Learning and Breakfast for Health fact sheets
We also recommend connecting with: Louisiana Appleseed, Louisiana Association of Principals, Louisiana Association of Educators, SNA of Louisiana, and Louisiana Department of Education.