Do you work in a Nebraska school or district with a high free-and-reduced rate student population, but you’re struggling to achieve good participation at school breakfast? We can help! The Partners for Breakfast in the Classroom are currently offering breakfast-in-the-classroom grants in ten target states, including Nebraska and the application period is now OPEN.
In FRAC’s most recent School Breakfast Scorecard Nebraska scored 48th; in SY 2015-16, Nebraska served 43 free/reduced priced students at breakfast for every 100 served at lunch—less than half. A breakfast-in-the-classroom program is an excellent strategy to help increase participation, and that’s where we come in.
Why Implement Breakfast in the Classroom?
School officials—school nutrition directors, principals, educators, custodians, parents, and students—cite a variety of reasons why they love the “breakfast-in-the-classroom solution.” 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 associated with school breakfast;
- 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 creatively by 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!
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—helps increase access to the morning meal for all students, and improves participation while creating a calm, structured start to the school 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 encourage you to visit the following websites for more information about education and school nutrition in Nebraska: