A program you can sink your teeth into!
Although breakfast has always been available in Palm Beach County schools, it has not been easily accessible. For the past seven years, the School Food Service (SFS) Department in Palm Beach County has been methodically working to qualify schools to participate in a 100% Accessible Breakfast Program. This program allows students to receive a free breakfast regardless of their economic status.
Even though breakfast is free for those who need it, and the computerized system makes it impossible to tell which students are getting a free meal, eating breakfast at school still had an associated stigma. The solution...make breakfast free for everyone!
The District started with two pilot schools which helped us to identify challenges and barriers and to tweak the program accordingly. An intensive communication campaign was implemented to bring the District leadership team into the decision making circle. The SFS Department first started communicating their intentions with the District’s Superintendent, Chief Academic Officer, and Chief Operating Officer. Once the department had their support, they reached out to Principals. The 100% Accessible Breakfast Program was rolled out incrementally over the last seven years, beginning in the 2006-2007 school year. Each year additional schools were added according to their free and reduced meal percentages.
The 100% Accessible Breakfast Program Interview...
with Lori Dornbusch and Jupiter Farms Elementary Principal ~ Mr. William Thompson
In the 2012-2013 school year, the SFS Department happily announced its expansion of the “Power Up With Breakfast” campaign to all schools. Fifty-three schools, some whose free and reduced meal percentages were 20% or lower, were the last to be added to the program. The district-wide “Power Up With Breakfast” campaign was launched on October 1, 2012 with a large marketing initiative including marketing flyers sent home with all students, “Power Up With Breakfast” aprons donned by cashiers on the grand opening day, and “Power Up With Breakfast” pencils distributed during FCAT test taking time.
Students need to be eating breakfast so they can perform better at school. Breakfast is a valuable component in the path to improve academics. The SFS Department is proud to be able to offer this important service to the students and families in Palm Beach County. In FY 2012-2013, the department was able to serve over an additional 790,000 free breakfast meals to students.
Power Up With Breakfast from School Year 2007 through School Year 2013
For some of the schools that had a higher socioeconomic population, increases of 150% to as much as 450% in participation occurred as a result of this effort. These numbers show that all students can benefit from having a free breakfast available at school.