Fourth grader Arika Cerda is a true believer in the importance of school breakfasts: “Well, I think they help me achieve my dreams because they help me stay focused, not drowsy. And how do I explain it? They stop me from just sitting there hungry, tired, and everything, to me being energized and ready to go.”
That focus and energy lead to better learning, and as Arika adds, “So what's the point of going to school if you can't learn anything?”
March 3 through 7, we honor the many benefits of this “most important meal of the day” with National School Breakfast Week. Across the country, school districts and nutrition staff have set aside special moments to celebrate the role nutritious school breakfasts play in fueling students for success.
Let’s take a moment to look at some numbers. Students who eat school breakfast achieve 17.5% higher scores on standardized tests and attend 1.5 more days of school per year. Those higher attendance rates lead to a 20% greater likelihood of high school graduation. Improved academics, better attendance, increased graduation rates. That’s what success looks like. That’s why we celebrate school breakfast.
In celebration, the California State Assembly will officially declare March 3-7 School Breakfast Week with a resolution acknowledging the importance of school breakfast for the nearly 1 in 5 children in California living in food insecure homes. The resolution makes particular reference to the essential role that adequate nutrition plays in helping children through times of crisis, such as the recent wildfires in Los Angeles County. The proclamation was introduced to the Assembly by Senator Dr. Akilah Weber Pierson of District 39.
The Montana Food Bank Network, in partnership with No Kid Hungry, is hosting Montana’s second annual Breakfast Photo Contest during National School Breakfast Week. Twenty-four schools are participating from across the state. The 2025 Photo Contest submissions are available for viewing here. The contest will be judged in two phases and the students from Potomac School in Potomac, Montana will select the winners on March 3.
Nebraska partners are running the 2025 Nebraska School Breakfast Challenge during National School Breakfast Week. Cornhusker schools will compete to finish the most activities that can expand, enhance, and engage with school breakfast. Top point earners will receive cash prizes to spend on improving their schools’ nutrition programs.
On March 4, No Kid Hungry Texas will present Hunger Hero awards to two exemplary school principals in Carrollton-Farmers Branch Independent School District near Dallas. Awards will be presented to Principal Dr. Stephanie Jimenez of Newman Smith High School and Principal LaTonda Cherry of Riverchase Elementary School to celebrate their achievements in providing convenient and flexible breakfast options to students. The awards will also highlight the essential role of school breakfast programs in fueling students for success.
No Kid Hungry stands strong in our commitment to the power of a healthy school breakfast by providing financial support to school breakfast programs across the country. A sampling of our 2025 breakfast grants to schools that are doing their utmost to ensure each child receives that all-important morning meal include:
- Fort Smith Public Schools in Arkansas received $15,000 for grab and go breakfast for the alternative school students who didn’t previously have access to school breakfast; Pine Bluff School District in Arkansas, granted $16,000 to purchase coffee & smoothie equipment to re-engage high school students for second chance breakfast by expanding available menu options.
- Seven school districts in California received a total of $153,154 in grants to adopt, strengthen, and expand school breakfast programs.
- Glades County School District in Florida received $34,108 to further the development of their scratch-cooking menu. They have taken a hands-on approach to their breakfast menu to remove preservatives and processed foods, increase nutrition, and have a fully scratch-cooked breakfast menu. Orange County Public Schools in Florida was granted $39,000 to add grab and go breakfast stations around campus, making breakfast available and easily accessible when kids arrive at school.
- Cherokee County Schools in Georgia received $10,000 to update and expand grab and go breakfast, including purchasing coolers and specialty pans to enhance their ability to offer more nutritious meals.
- East Feliciana Parish in Louisiana was approved for a $10,000 grant to increase breakfast participation by implementing a coffee bar, including smoothies, and introducing exotic fruit into the breakfast grab and go service.
- Baltimore County in Maryland received $53,136 for 73 schools for grab-n-go breakfast carts to help manage the higher demand the schools are seeing, ensuring that all students have quick and easy access to nutritious meals, thereby supporting their overall health and academic performance.
- Pasadena Independent School District in Texas received $50,000 to support 5 elementary schools’ Breakfast After the Bell programs, meeting students with flexible meal options each morning.
- Ten School Districts in Virginia were granted a total of $201,600 to expand breakfast access, helping ensure more students start their day prepared for success.
School breakfast doesn’t just happen. In schools everywhere, nutrition staff members arrive in the early morning hours and go right to work so that kids can get the nutritious breakfasts they need to start their days energized and ready to learn. These committed teams work diligently and creatively to meet the various needs of the diverse school communities they serve, whether it’s serving scratch cooked traditional breakfasts before the first bell, handing out quick but nutritious meals at a Grab’n Go kiosk as students head to class, or providing Second Chance breakfast after first period when the school day is well underway.
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The students and staff at Gove Elementary in Belle Glade, Florida share their enthusiasm for Breakfast in the Classroom in this short video produced to help encourage other schools to start such programs. As Ms. Brown says, breakfast in the classroom is easy, but the results are extraordinary!
This National School Breakfast Week, we celebrate the importance of school breakfast and the critical role school nutrition professionals play in helping children succeed. Feeding kids today is one of the smartest investments we can make to ensure they’re ready to face the challenges of tomorrow. Arika, that’s a dream come true.
