The School Breakfast Program
Download these guides:
First Class Breakfast in Maryland:
A Guide to Expanding School Breakfast
Best Practices in School Meal Application
Qualifying Students for School Meals
...provides nutritionally balanced, low-cost or free breakfasts to children each school day. Children are eligible for free, reduced, or paid breakfasts based on their families’ incomes. Any public school, charter or nonprofit private school of high school grade or under, can participate in the National School Breakfast Program. Public or nonprofit private residential child care institutions may also participate in the School Breakfast Program.
Breakfast helps children learn, improves attendance, and reduces behavior problems and tardiness. Children who eat breakfast at school – closer to test-taking time – perform better on standardized tests than those who skip breakfast or eat breakfast at home.
Breakfast also promotes good health. Eating breakfast at school results in fewer visits to the school nurse, improves children’s diets, and helps build healthy habits. And, children who start the day with breakfast are less likely to be obese.
What's Happening with Breakfast in Maryland?
- First Class Breakfast Initiative - Maryland Hunger Solutions is travelling the state to spotlight this initiative at breakfast events in Maryland Schools.
Maryland Hunger Solutions can help by:
- working with your school to tailor a program to make breakfast a part of every child’s school day;
- providing you with breakfast outreach materials to promote the program to students and families;
- presenting to students, faculty, or staff about the importance of school breakfast.
MDHS Breakfast Publications
Expanding the Reach of School Breakfast - Why breakfast counts fact sheet (pdf)
Students Can Have Their Breakfast and Eat It Too: A Guide to Expanding School Breakfast in Maryland (pdf)
Grab ’n Go Breakfast Programs fact sheet (pdf)
