Nearly 8 million students in the U.S. miss three weeks or more of school, making them “chronically absent.” No matter the reason – transportation barriers, housing struggles, lack of food at home, etc. – what matters to us is this: millions of kids are missing out on the knowledge and fuel they need to succeed, and the cycle of poverty and hunger continues.
“There’s a stigma attached to being hungry,” said Camila Barbour, community schools manager of Oakland Unified School District. “Rather than ask for help or ask for food, students just don’t come to school … But by serving breakfast in the classroom we’ve seen chronic absenteeism drop.”
According to No Kid Hungry’s recent report, educators across the nation have identified breakfast after the bell programs as an effective tool to combat chronic absenteeism. Whether it’s served on a convenient grab-and-go cart or brought directly to students’ desks in their classrooms, making breakfast part of the school day can reduce absenteeism by an average of six percentage points. And exploratory analysis also found that reading levels are improving, and students are feeling less anxious and isolated.
“Breakfast in the classroom is allowing kids to actually learn and focus,” said Nancy Bloom, principal of Montclair Elementary School. “Because everyone can avail themselves of the free breakfast, there is no stigma about ‘you get breakfast and I don’t.’ We don’t have any of that. School breakfast has had a dramatically positive effect on my kids, their learning and the overall atmosphere of the school.”
By providing schools the necessary guidance and resources, No Kid Hungry helped feed hungry kids an additional 11.5 million healthy breakfasts in schools across the U.S. last school year alone – from big cities to rural communities and everywhere in between.
For years, one of No Kid Hungry’s most effective tactics in the fight against childhood hunger has been working with educators and lawmakers nationwide to ensure more students are powered by breakfast; to see proof that it’s working means the world to us.
If you’re an educator, parent or student looking to make No Kid Hungry a reality in your school, we can help.
