SPRINGDALE — It’s frequently called the most important meal of the day, and Springdale school officials don’t want students to skip it.
That’s why, starting next week, five elementary schools — Bayyari, Elmdale, Jones, Lee and Parson Hills — will participate in a program called Breakfast in the Classroom on a pilot basis.
At A Glance
Breakfast In The Classroom
Springdale will become the second district in Arkansas, after Little
Rock, to participate in a district-wide breakfast program. The program
is funded directly by the Walmart Foundation. The Walmart Foundation
funds Breakfast in the Classroom programs in more than 14 states,
including Arkansas.
Source: Staff Report
Students whose families’ incomes fall below certain levels qualify for either free or reduced-price meals at school. Through Breakfast in the Classroom, however, every student, regardless of income level, will receive a free breakfast.
Schools will serve the meals in classrooms at the beginning of class time, as opposed to the current process where kids arrive before school and eat in the cafeteria.
“It’s based on the premise that we hope all kids would be able to eat a healthy breakfast,” said Gary Compton, an assistant superintendent.
More than 13,000 of Springdale’s roughly 20,000 students qualify for free or reduced-price breakfasts and lunches, but the district is serving only about 5,500 breakfasts per day, Compton said. There are various reasons for that.
“Sometimes the bus is late. Sometimes mom and dad are late. Sometimes they get to school but don’t have time to eat,” Compton said.
Nearly all of the 625 children at Jones Elementary School qualify for free or reduced-price meals, but the Jones cafeteria serves on average only 325 breakfasts per day, said Principal Melissa Fink. She said many kids prefer to spend their time before school socializing rather than eating.
Fink is excited about Breakfast in the Classroom.
“When kids have eaten something in the morning, that gives fuel to their brains and they can get more out of their day,” she said. “It’s also going to be a great time for teachers and students to sit down and eat together and build that community that’s needed in schools.”
Studies have shown numerous benefits to a healthy breakfast, said Carol Godfrey, Springdale’s food service director.
“It can really help students focus better, retain information and perform problem-solving tasks,” Godfrey said.
The Walmart Foundation has made Breakfast in the Classroom one of its top priorities. In August the foundation announced a $5 million grant to expand the program, which began two years ago and is now seen in 15 districts across the country.
The Little Rock School District was one of first five districts nationwide to participate in Breakfast in the Classroom.
Lilly Bouie, nutrition services director for the Little Rock School District, said 16 of that district’s 32 elementary schools participate in the program. She said participating schools have seen reductions in tardiness and disciplinary problems.
“Breakfast in the Classroom is a wonderful enhancement to the students’ educational day,” Bouie said.
Little Rock’s program is part of a national study being done by Baylor University. Results of that study will be released later this month, Bouie said.
To help Springdale launch Breakfast in the Classroom, the Walmart Foundation provided a consultant, Liz Campbell, who worked with the district on logistics of the program.
“She’s helped us think through how we set this up at each school, because each school is different,” Godfrey said.
Making the program financially sustainable is one of the district’s goals.
The program’s cost to the School District will be minimal because at all of the participating schools, at least 90 percent of students qualify for free or reduced-price meals, meaning the federal government pays for those kids. That government money can be spread around to cover breakfasts for the few students who don’t qualify for free breakfasts, Godfrey said.
If the district intends to extend the program to other schools, however, it would face the challenge of having to cover breakfast for more students who don’t qualify for free meals.
And, under new federal school nutritional guidelines, those meals must include more fresh fruit, which is costly.
Because the food will need to be easily transported to the classrooms, breakfasts will be limited to individually packaged items with a variety of hot and cold foods. Cereal will not be served, Godfrey said, because the district wants to avoid milk spills on the classrooms’ carpeted floors.
Examples of food to be served include a pizza bagel, a pancake sausage wrap and mini cinnamon waffles, Godfrey said. A cup of fruit will be served with each breakfast.