Local Success Stories
Breakfast Participation Increases 80 Percent During Pilot Program
Breakfast can really play a part in a child's learning-something of which David Lloyd, foodservice director of the Harrisburg (Pa.) City School District, was all too aware. While 79 percent of all students in his district were eligible for free and reduced participation in school meals, only 30 percent were taking part in breakfast. By working with Mid-Atlantic Dairy Association on a pilot program for expanding breakfast, Mr. Lloyd was able to increase breakfast participation to 80 percent!
Breakfast in the classroom
According to Mr. Lloyd, the greatest change he has seen in his 22 years with the Harrisburg City School District is adults realizing that breakfast is just as important, if not more so, for students to succeed. As a way to help more students start their day right with a nutritious meal, he used the Expanding Breakfast concept to create breakfast in the classroom.
While the teachers in the pilot program were understandably nervous about breakfast cutting into their teaching time, they were pleasantly surprised. Their principal allotted 20 minutes for the program, from 8:20 a.m. to 8:40 a.m. each morning, with breakfast being delivered by 8:10 a.m. and stored in insulated bags.
The teachers reported that their morning time actually became more orderly as students were eating quietly, enabling teachers to take attendance and perform other administrative duties with minimal interruption.
A success for all
From teachers to support staff, the additional breakfast option was seen as a welcome change to the participating classrooms. The school nurse reported fewer visits due to lack of morning hunger, and the school secretary reported that the well-fed students really "cut down on the insanity in the office in the morning." And perhaps most important, the teachers in the program noted that the students were more attentive in the morning than they had been before the program was started.
As for costs, the district was only minimally affected by the added labor needed to place the breakfast items in the insulated bags and deliver them to each classroom. In addition, the added costs were easily covered by the reimbursement from the larger amount of free and reduced breakfast meals served.
A new day for Harrisburg Schools
Based on the success of the pilot program, David Lloyd is not only keeping the expanded breakfast option at the pilot schools but is expanding it to four additional schools this fall. He is confident that the Breakfast in the Classroom expanded breakfast option will continue to yield great results for all in the Harrisburg City School District.