Talking Points for Introducing Breakfast After the Bell to School Stakeholders
These talking points will help you get started as you plan to introduce school stakeholders—including teachers, principals and superintendents— to Breakfast After the Bell. To use these talking points most effectively, personalize them by highlighting examples of successful Breakfast After the Bell programs happening at schools in your district or across your state.
What to Say to All School Stakeholders
- Breakfast After the Bell reaches more students than traditional cafeteria breakfast. Fewer than half the kids who get a free or reduced-price school lunch, on average, get a free or reduced-price breakfast. Multiple barriers prevent students from accessing traditional cafeteria breakfast; Breakfast After the Bell addresses those barriers and enables more kids to start the day with a nutritious meal.
- Kids who eat school breakfast are more likely to have a better overall diet. Students who participate daily in school breakfast are more likely to consume milk, whole grains, and fruit as part of their breakfast, compared to students who never or less frequently eat school breakfast.
- Access to school breakfast is a racial equity issue. People of color deal with poverty and food insecurity at a much higher rate than white people. For example, Black people are two times more likely to experience poverty than the overall population of the United States. Breakfast After the Bell ensures all students have the opportunity to start their day fueled up and ready to learn.
What to Say to Teachers
- Eating breakfast in the classroom does not take away from instructional time. Breakfast takes on average 10-15 minutes, including cleanup. When breakfast is eaten in the classroom, many teachers use the time to take attendance, collect homework, or make announcements.
- Breakfast cleanup can be quick and easy. Administrators, custodial staff, and teachers work together to create a cleanup plan that is best for your classroom and the school. The plan may include placing extra trash bins in hallways and in classrooms so that students can quickly and responsibly dispose of their trash. This teacher guide highlights best practices to create a plan for classroom setup and cleanup.
- School breakfast is healthier than you may think. Any food items served at breakfast must meet dietary guidelines created by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Menu items rotate to provide variety, but a school breakfast always includes milk, fruit, and whole grains Even though breakfast items provided to students at school sometimes look like the same breakfast items found in stores, school breakfast items often have more whole grains and less sugar, sodium, fat, and calories.