Nothing kick starts the mind better in the morning than a healthy breakfast. With student success in mind, Carnegie Elementary School has worked hard to develop a thriving breakfast program. Their efforts haven't gone unnoticed. Carnegie earned the Top Contributor Award and Designer Award from Child Nutrition this school year.

This award came after the staff worked hard to increase breakfast participation by 200% last spring. This is a major accomplishment -- just three years ago Carnegie Elementary had no breakfast program at all. With the help of the Child Nutrition Department, the “road to serving breakfast” began at Carnegie.

The first step of this initiative was to implement a breakfast program before school for students that wanted to arrive early and participate. That effort was very successful, and a significant number of students starting eating breakfast at school. With that initial success, Carnegie wanted to continue to build.

Before the start of year two, Carnegie reviewed some important data with Kit Hines and the child nutrition team. They learned more about how many students were still unserved by breakfast services programs across the district. They also discovered how much this service can potentially impact academic outcomes.

With this new information in mind, the Carnegie staff responded very favorably and shifted their breakfast service to breakfast in the classroom. This single move again increased participation and eased the concern that some students might still be missing an opportunity to start their day with a nutritious, free breakfast.

With the support of their area manager, Sally Sutton, Carnegie again looked to increase breakfast participation. They set out to minimize the responsibilities of the teachers in serving and managing the breakfasts. So they designed a “breakfast in the hallway” shift for their program. Now students, enter the building and pick up a sack breakfast and milk, take it to their classrooms, enjoy their breakfast together, and get started with their classroom rituals and instruction for the day. 

Carnegie has made great strides in providing breakfast for all students in creative ways that have proven effective in meeting a need for all children to have a free breakfast every day to increase their ability to engage in instruction. The school looks to continue providing students with the fuel they need to empower their minds. To learn more about the nutrition program click here.