You’ve heard it from principals. You’ve heard it from superintendents. You’ve heard it from teachers, from school nutrition directors, from the PTA and the dietitian—breakfast-in-the-classroom works!
That’s why we are so excited to announce that the Partners for Breakfast in the Classroom has received $7.5 million in new funding to distribute breakfast-in-the-classroom grants in ten new states! With generous funding from the Walmart Foundation, the Partners for BIC will help bring breakfast-in-the-classroom to 30,000 children in the following states: Ohio, Oklahoma, Missouri, Utah, Texas, Idaho, Mississippi, Louisiana, North Carolina, and Nebraska.
The grant awarded to PBIC is one of eleven grants awarded to national nonprofit organizations, totaling more than $33 million to fund nutrition education and meal programs for youth, and increase families’ access to fruits and vegetables through state and federal nutrition assistance programs. The grant will allow us to continue our work funding alternative breakfast programs; to date, the Partners for BIC have helped 36 school districts in 18 states feed over 63,000 additional students at school breakfast.
The approach is simple: Breakfast becomes available to all students—no matter their income level—and is eaten at the beginning of the school day—making it possible for all children to participate. Meals are picked up from a cart in the hallway, in the cafeteria, or directly delivered to the classroom where students eat breakfast while the teacher takes attendance, collects homework, or teaches a short lesson plan, so no instructional time is lost.
Our grant is available to high-need schools in the ten states listed above, and eligible schools must meet the following criteria:
- Either 70 percent or more students qualify for free or reduced-price (FRP) meals, or the school operates community eligibility or Provision 2;
- Average Daily Participation (ADP) in school breakfast is at 50 percent or less;
- Able to serve breakfast-in-the-classroom at no charge to all students after the morning bell;
- Strong stakeholder support from school leadership and staff;
- Three-year commitment to making reasonable efforts to continue the program; and
- Willingness to promote the program through social media and school district communication channels.
Are you interested? We hope so! To learn more, make sure you sign up for our Tuesday, November 1, 2016 webinar with School Nutrition Foundation, and watch the technical assistance video embedded below. Visit our website to learn more about the Partners for Breakfast in the Classroom, and to start your grant application today.
About Partners for Breakfast in the Classroom
The?Partners for Breakfast in the Classroom?(the Partners) came together in 2010 in response to their shared passion for childhood nutrition and its potential for improving educational outcomes and child health. The Partners is a consortium of national education and nutrition organizations including the Food Research & Action Center (FRAC), the National Association of Elementary School Principals (NAESP) Foundation, the School Nutrition Foundation (SNF), and The NEA Foundation. The Partners provide technical assistance and support to school districts to implement the Breakfast in the Classroom programs.
The mission of the Partners is to increase breakfast consumption among schoolchildren and spark the academic and nutritional gains associated with the morning meal through the implementation of Breakfast in the Classroom programs.