Traditional school breakfast programs often have barriers that prohibit students from eating breakfast before school, such as:
- Transportation: The school bus doesn’t arrive in time for kids to get breakfast in the cafeteria.
- Busy mornings: Regardless of their socioeconomic status, many families are rushed in the morning and don’t always have time for breakfast at home.
- Stigma: There is often stigma associated with eating breakfast in the cafeteria before school starts; therefore, children avoid it, especially middle- and high-school students, for whom social status and the perceptions of their peers loom large.
- Lack of resources: For low-income families, there simply may not always be enough food at home for kids to have a healthy breakfast.
Across the country, educators, parents and community leaders are removing these barriers for kids by implementing Breakfast After the Bell programs. Because each school is unique, schools often create their own individualized Breakfast After the Bell programs that combine elements of multiple models so they can fully cater to the needs of their students and staff.
Breakfast in the Classroom
Students eat breakfast in their classroom after the official start of the school day. Students or staff deliver breakfasts to classrooms from the cafeteria via coolers or insulated rolling bags. Breakfast in the Classroom takes 15 minutes on average. Schools reach 88 percent breakfast participation on average with this model.*
Grab and Go
Students pick up conveniently packaged breakfasts from mobile service carts in high traffic areas that are convenient to students, such as hallways, entryways or cafeterias. Students can eat in their classroom or in a common area before and after the bell has rung. Schools reach 59 percent breakfast participation on average with this model.*
Second Chance Breakfast
Students eat breakfast during a break in the morning, often between first and second period or midway between breakfast and lunch. Schools can serve breakfast using a Grab and Go model, or they can open the cafeteria to serve breakfast during the break. Second Chance Breakfast can be effective for middle or high school students who may not be hungry first thing in the morning or prefer to socialize with friends. Schools reach 58 percent breakfast participation on average with this model.*
* Participation is measured by the average daily participation of free- and reduced-price school breakfast eaters / average daily participation free- and reduced-price school lunch eaters.
Universal Breakfast
Additionally, universal breakfast is a helpful addition to any breakfast model, as it removes the financial barriers students may face when participating in the National School Breakfast Program. Universal breakfast is when breakfast is offered to all students at no cost. Schools continue to claim federal reimbursement in the correct category for any student participating in the breakfast program. Offering breakfast at no cost generally increases breakfast participation, and removes stigma lower-income students often face when they eat breakfast at school. Schools can enroll in a few federal programs to assist with offering universal breakfast, including the Community Eligibility Provision and Provision 2. To compare these two options for providing universal free school meals, check out our resource: Providing Universal Free School Meals.
School Stakeholders
School staff are crucial, and their cooperation in the breakfast program is integral to its success. Inform and engage school stakeholders with the resources below:
For All School Stakeholders
Learn how each Breakfast After the Bell model is structured with Innovative Breakfast Delivery Options, and find out the percentage increase your school breakfast program can experience by adopting these models.
This template letter is designed to engage school staff and provide detailed information about how a Breakfast After the Bell program would operate.
These Talking Points for Introducing Breakfast After the Bell to School Stakeholders can help you get started as you educate teachers, principals and superintendents about Breakfast After the Bell.
The meal quality of school breakfast is often a topic of discussion in schools. School breakfast sometimes gets a bad rap for being unhealthy, when in reality the food options served at breakfast must adhere to strict nutritional guidelines and are often much healthier than store-bought breakfast. The following resource provides school stakeholders with helpful nutritional information about school breakfast, and comes in an English and Spanish language version:
- School Breakfast -- Healthier Than You Think (ENGLISH language version)
- School Breakfast -- Healthier Than You Think (SPANISH language version)
The USDA has several handouts specifying what school stakeholders can do to support school breakfast:
For Principals and Teachers
These short Breakfast After the Bell 101 videos are geared towards teachers and principals and outline how Breakfast After the Bell benefits students and classrooms, as well as how to incorporate these models into the instructional day.
Breakfast After the Bell Myths shed light on the most common myths that persist about Breakfast After the Bell, including that it takes away from instructional time and that it causes messes in the classroom. In actuality, teachers report that Breakfast After the Bell increases instructional time because kids are able to focus and participate, as opposed to being distracted by hunger. Additionally, when a robust clean-up plan is put in place, classroom messes are a rarity.
One big piece of the puzzle for school district administration and education stakeholders is how school breakfast gets funded. The school nutrition budget, which funds all school meals programs, is separate from the school district general fund. Therefore, the school breakfast program does not compete for the same resources that teachers and classrooms do. This educators guide to school breakfast funding illuminates how the funding that supports school breakfast and lunch makes it way from Congress to cafeteria. It also answers common questions that educators have about how the school meals programs work.
For Teachers
- Teacher Guide – Classroom Set Up and Clean Up: This resource outlines how classrooms can be affected by Breakfast After the Bell and shares best practices on how to create a plan for classroom set up and clean up where breakfast is served or eaten.
- We Are Teachers is an online community for educators committed to one of the toughest, most rewarding jobs out there.
For School Nutrition Staff
School nutrition staff work on the front lines, preparing and serving meals to students. Building relationships with school nutrition staff is vital to expanding access to school meals through initiatives that maximize student participation, like Breakfast After the Bell.
It is important to understand who makes up the school nutrition team and the general roles and responsibilities within the school nutrition program. This guide to building relationships with school nutrition staff is intended to help you decide when to approach school nutrition staff and which members of the staff to approach.
Parents
Parents can be powerful champions for your breakfast program, especially when they understand how it benefits their kids and the student body. It is important to inform parents about the Breakfast After the Bell program before it launches and engage them in the process. Use PTA meetings, Back to School nights and other venues to talk to parents about the importance of breakfast and how the Breakfast After the Bell program will work.
No Kid Hungry’s Breakfast FAQs for Parents is a customizable resource that answers those frequently asked questions that school nutrition directors and principals get from parents regarding Breakfast After the Bell:
- Breakfast FAQs for Parents (customizable English and customizable Spanish)
This template letter can be customized by schools to inform families about a new Breakfast in the Classroom program:
Use these breakfast flyers and posters to add more visibility to your program:
- Breakfast is Essential to Success flyer (Spanish & English)
- Did You Know School Breakfast flyer (English & Spanish)
- Rushed Morning breakfast flyer (Customizable Spanish)
- Powered By Breakfast Posters (Customizable)
- Breakfast is Part of the School Day postcard (Customizable Spanish)
- USDA “How Does School Breakfast Help Families?” flyer
- USDA school newsletter inserts
Students
Students are the customers of Breakfast After the Bell programs and should be treated as such. Schools should inform students about changes to the school breakfast program in advance of the launch date and, if necessary, provide training.
Making Breakfast After the Bell Work in Middle and High Schools shares the best practices that schools from across the country have used to increase their middle and high school breakfast participation. Tactics such as engaging students in the planning process, soliciting student feedback and offering Second Chance Breakfast have shown success in getting more middle and high school students to eat school breakfast.
Marketing is an essential component to increasing school breakfast participation. Getting the word out about school breakfast helps to ensure that more kids start the day with the fuel they need to learn, grow and thrive. School Breakfast Promotion Strategies highlights ways that you can build awareness, generate excitement and ultimately increase school breakfast participation.
Engage students with competitions to involve students directly in the breakfast program, gain buy-in and increase participation.
These USDA elementary school posters promote breakfast and provide a fun way to engage and educate students about the breakfast program.
Community Members
Engaging the community is also important because the positive effects of school breakfast extend well beyond the school walls.
The local newspaper can be an effective way to reach out to the community about the value and impact of school breakfast. Here are some tips and best practices to ensure your letter or op-ed piece will convey the right message to the community while meeting the newspaper’s needs and standards.
These "Food for Thought" No Kid Hungry social media graphics provide schools with sample Facebook and Twitter graphics to add to posts and tweets:
Checklists for Getting Ready
The following tools have been created for school nutrition directors and administrators to identify key aspects of the preparation process, including the need to identify necessary equipment for your Breakfast After the Bell Program, utilizing stakeholders in the school for planning assistance and developing an implementation timeline.
USDA’s Breakfast Method Fact Sheet can be a helpful guide in choosing a breakfast model. Below, No Kid Hungry's Key's to Success Model Guide, can also help you choose which Breakfast After the Bell model best suits your school.
| No Kid Hungry’s Keys to Success Model Guide | |
|---|---|
| Breakfast in the Classroom |
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| Grab and Go (GNG) to the Classroom |
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| Second Chance Breakfast |
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No Kid Hungry’s Pre-Implementation Checklist is a mapped out list of action steps schools can take to prepare for BAB implementation, from creating a school breakfast team to connecting with schools that have already implemented BAB to learn from their experiences.
No Kid Hungry’s Breakfast After the Bell Rollout Timelines outline action steps school stakeholders can take to help prepare for the launch of Breakfast After the Bell. The rollout timelines span both long-term action steps and short-term action steps -- starting at 8 weeks before implementation and counting down each week until launch:
This Equipment Tip Sheet from No Kid Hungry may also provide helpful guidance as schools assess their equipment needs.
USDA has multiple resources that schools can use to determine how expanding school breakfast will affect the revenue, variable costs versus fixed costs and overall operation of breakfast.
Plan the Menu
Breakfast in the Classroom and Grab and Go to the Classroom will need to have easily transportable food items that are healthy and appealing to students.
Menu Assistance
- The Alliance for a Healthier Generation’s Smart Food Planner has recipes and four-week cycle menus that can be useful for food service directors to use in their districts.
- USDA’s Nutrition and Menu Planning Resources provide menu ideas, nutrition basics and suggested resources for additional assistance with breakfast menu planning.
Student Feedback
Soliciting student feedback for the school breakfast program can increase student buy-in for the program, as well as create a more sustainable Breakfast After the Bell program. Partners for Breakfast in the Classroom’s In-Depth Survey Toolkit provides survey ideas and templates.
Train Staff
Train staff who will be directly affected by the change in breakfast, including cafeteria staff, teachers and custodians. Appropriate training enables teachers and food service staff to have the necessary support they need during the start-up phase of implementation and ensures program integrity. As the implementation process rolls out, additional training may be necessary.
Teachers will benefit from this Classroom Set Up and Clean Up guide, which informs them about how Breakfast After the Bell affects their classroom and provides guidance on how they can create a morning routine that works for them.
Reduce Food Waste
Reducing food waste is important to students, parents, educators and food service staff alike. Strategies to Reduce Food Waste in Schools & Child Nutrition Programs highlights some of the most effective strategies to help reduce, recover and recycle food waste from school meals. For example, incorporating strategies such as scheduling recess before lunch, giving students enough time to eat school meals so they aren't rushed, and donating surplus food can make a big difference in reducing the amount of food that is thrown away each year.
Improve Participation
High breakfast participation is the result of many different aspects of the breakfast program running smoothly, from the logistics of the program, to gaining buy-in from the student body. These resources highlight how to increase breakfast participation.
Grab and Go to the Classroom: Successful Grab and Go programs serve meals from convenient, high-traffic areas of the school and allow students to eat them in the classroom after the official start of the school day. Check out these tips for implementing an effective Grab and Go program to make sure that your school’s program reaches the most students possible.
Communications and Nudges: Spend adequate time promoting the new breakfast program, as stakeholders may need several rounds of messaging to understand the logistics of the new program or the impact expanding school breakfast will have on them. For students in particular, once the new program has been implemented, they may need reminders that school breakfast is available to them in a new way. No Kid Hungry Breakfast Nudges outlines how the subtle act of asking students if they’ve had breakfast that morning can increase participation.
Middle and High Schools: Making Breakfast After the Bell Work in Middle and High Schools shares the best practices that schools from across the country have used to increase their middle and high school breakfast participation. Tactics such as engaging students in the planning process, soliciting student feedback and offering Second Chance Breakfast have shown success in getting more middle and high school students to eat school breakfast.
Provide Universal Free School Meals: Removing the financial barrier of breakfast increases participation. Providing Universal Free School Meals offers a comparison of three options for offering students school meals at no cost to them: the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP), Provision 2, and non-pricing.