One year on after beginning to serve Breakfast in the Classroom, Francis C. Hammond has seen dramatic results. The school has seen a decrease in tardiness and absenteeism along with calmer and more focused classrooms.
The Breakfast in the Classroom program reworks how school breakfast is delivered by offering it to all students at no charge and moving it from the cafeteria to the classroom in an effort to improve participation and boost learning and health.
That shift has resulted in significant gains throughout the school:
- An increase in the number of students receiving free breakfast, which more than tripled from 300 students receiving breakfast in the cafeteria to 1,000 students receiving it in their classrooms.
- A positive school climate with students and teachers eating and socializing together in an intimate community-driven environment.
- Calmer and more focused classrooms with students who are more ready to learn and with teachers seeing fewer disciplinary issues.
- A decrease in tardiness and absenteeism.
- The elimination of the stigma associated with receiving free lunch, which previously left many students skipping breakfast to avoid that stigma.
We are absolutely thrilled with the impact that the program is having on our students and our school. With everyone enjoying a free breakfast, students are well-fed and are more focused and ready to learn — and our teachers are seeing the results in our classrooms,” said Hammond Principal Pierette Hall.
Hammond, which launched the Breakfast in the Classroom program last spring, was the first secondary school in ACPS to offer the program. It is funded by Partners for Breakfast in the Classroom and the Walmart Foundation. As more students participate in the program, more federal funds are reimbursed to the school, making it a self-sustaining program.
Partners for Breakfast in the Classroom is a joint initiative from the Food Research and Action Center, National Association of Elementary School Principals Foundation and NEA Healthy Futures and School Nutrition Foundation. Mid Atlantic dairy Association provided the cooler bags.
The Breakfast in the Classroom program exemplifies ACPS 2020 Goal 5 – Health and Wellness, which promotes efforts to enable students to be healthy and ready to learn.