Kaylee Pearson's Blog shared this information and teacher feedback about Breakfast in the the Classroom initiative at Jones Elementary.

Breakfast in the Classroom

Springdale Elementary Schools are adopting a new program called Breakfast in the Classroom in hopes to improve students’ performance.

SPRINGDALE—This week, a handful of Springdale elementary schools are starting to participate in Breakfast in the Classroom, a program sponsored by the Wal-Mart Foundation, which provides free breakfast for all students in the school.

Typical school breakfast programs require children to eat in the cafeteria before school. The problem with this is that it singles out some students, making them self-conscious of being labeled as low income, and that it also is hard for a lot of students to get to school before it starts.

The Breakfast in the Classroom initiative takes the regular school breakfast program, but improves it by serving breakfast to everyone, no matter the income level, in the classroom after the first bell.

Amanda Hobbs has been a first grade teacher at Jones Elementary for two years, and tomorrow she will start serving breakfast in the classroom to her students. In the morning, students can come into the school at 7:30 a.m. and will be designated to sit in a location based on their class until 7:45. a.m.. When the bell rings, students will get a sack containing breakfast and a milk carton from a designated kiosk and bring it to the classroom. They will have until 8:10 a.m. to finish their breakfast at their desk, and then teachers will start school.

Hobbs said that having a strict stopping time will deter from breakfast interfering with class time.

“I have students that come to school tardy or haven’t eaten and that interferes with class more,” Hobbs said. “It is the hypothesis of our school that Breakfast in the Classroom will cut down on tardiness.”

Not only will the program cut down on tardiness, it will also affect children’s behavior positively in the classroom. Hobbs finds that her kids are unable to concentrate when they are hungry.

According to the Breakfast in the Classroom program, there are more than 25 million children in our nation’s elementary and middle schools, many who come to school hungry. Studies show that children who eat breakfast at the start of their school day have higher math and reading scores. They have sharper memory and show faster speed on cognitive tests. They have broader vocabularies, do better on standardized tests, and focus and behave better.

“The majority of my kids come to school hungry,” Hobbs said. “A lot complain about stomachaches before lunch and are fine after they eat.”

Right now, Hobbs keeps crackers in her classroom and lets kids who haven’t had breakfast eat those. She believes that everyone starting the day with a healthy breakfast will increase the productivity of the day in the classroom.

According to Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families, nearly one in four children lives in poverty in Arkansas. Hobbs believes that schools with high poverty rates would benefit from Breakfast in the Classroom. Springdale is now the second school district in Arkansas, after Little Rock, to join the program.

A School Based Health Center Success Story: Jones Jaguars Girls on the Run

Below is a wonderful reflection on the Girl's on the Run Program at Jones Elementary through the School Based Health Center. We appreciate this partnership and the impact it has on our students. 

A School Based Health Center Success Story:Jones Jaguars Girls on the Run

Embarking on year two of implementing a School Based Health Center, known as The Wellness Center at Jones Elementary School in Springdale Arkansas, the Physician’s Assistant and Licensed Clinical Social Worker looked for an educational outreach venue that would support both physical and mental health. The students at Jones are overwhelmingly the children of poverty and speak English as a second language; they lack financial, social and transportation resources to participate in organized sports or extracurricular activities.  Living a few miles down the road from Bentonville Arkansas, the home of Wal-Mart, the students live in the shadow of wealth.  As a complement to the Wellness Center at Jones and in efforts to improve access to physical activity and to address the childhood obesity epidemic, the personnel at Jones applied for and received a Joint Use Agreement (JUA) grant from the Arkansas Department of Education in 2010. With the $10,000 awarded in JUA funds the school district purchased supplies and materials to build a quarter mile trail on school grounds. The City of Springdale agreed to provide the manpower and equipment needed to install the trail. The JUA trail at Jones Elementary is now available for use by students, faculty and staff when school is in session and by the community at other times. The staff from the Wellness Center in recognition of the resources provided through the Wellness Center combined with the facility provided by the Joint Use Agreement trail decided to use the Girls on the Run program. The program is ideal because it addresses the physical, emotional and social needs of the child. Girls were invited to join the Girls on the Run Team and were provided with generic running shoes through the district’s social service fund. They participated in physical training for six weeks as well as bonding exercises, self esteem building activities, anti bullying curricula and art projects. The entire process was a great success. Girls expanded their physical activity parameters, explored character traits and positive pro social interaction and experienced enhanced self esteem through feelings of accomplishment and through recognition provided by classmates, parents and community members.

On the morning of the race, the Jones Jaguars Girls on the Run Team was transported via school bus the twenty or so miles to Bentonville Arkansas. Running side by side with the Physician’s Assistant, Licensed Clinical Social Worker and Administrative Assistant from the Wellness Center at Jones Elementary, the girls competed in a 5 K run.   The festive atmosphere, balloons, food and thousands of cheering spectators provided for an over the top exciting experience for the team. Parents proudly watched and waved hand-made signs. The pride of accomplishment achieved through training for and completing a 5-K run is one that would not have previously been within reach for the girls from Jones.

To add icing to the cake, the Principal at Jones arranged a surprise victory run-through for the girls when they returned to school. Students from each classroom decorated signs and the entire student body stood cheering in the hallways as the girls ran a lap through the building. Their accomplishments uplifted the students, faculty and staff and provided an example and incentive for future participants.  The Girls on the Run Program optimized the use of the Wellness Center and Joint Use Agreement grant funds to educate and support wellness in a proactive manner. The Wellness Center at Jones Elementary serves the school and students in ways that are above and beyond just treating the sick students and providing wellness checks, although those are important aspects of service.  As a part of the school’s family of adult employees, the Wellness Center Staff have a unique view of the lives of their students. They are able to observe both social interactions and classroom dynamics and to come to informed decisions about the needs of the students and families that they serve.  The looks on the faces of the girls, PRICELESS!

Department of Education Documentary about Local Wellness Center - NWAhomepage.com

Department of Education Documentary about Local Wellness Center - NWAhomepage.com

Arkansas Department of Education was at Jones Elementary to interview teachers, parents, students and administrators about the school's health and wellness center highlighting how the wellness center benefits our school.  

Family Literacy at Jones

Here is a story published by the Arkansas Democrat Gazette with background on how the Toyota Family Literacy Program came to be at Jones Elementary.

AR: Language learning helps entire families

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

• By: EVIE BLAD
• Organization: Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
• Link: http://www.nwanews.com

SPRINGDALE - A woman who could barely speak English a year ago stood before a room of peers Tuesday to share how the success of conquering a second language seeped into other areas of her life.

During school days, Raquel Perez, a permanent resident from Mexico, sat alongside her son Brian in his kindergarten classroom at Jones Elementary School. At night, she attended classes as part of the first year of the Springdale School District's Toyota Family Literacy program.

The work helped her learn the language, a necessity to obtain citizenship, and gave her skills to help her support her children's education, Perez told a group of 70 other participants and educators at a celebration of the program's first year, held at the Jones Center for Families.

"I have learned to help my children with their school work," she said. "I have a better understanding of what they are required to do at school."

Three elementary schools - Jones, Lee and Elmdale - joined the national program in the fall, and quickly set an example for other schools across the country.

Inspired by the success of parents like Perez, the district will seek funding and staff to add five elementary schools to the program next year.

The program, built on the idea that parents' literacy and involvement contribute to their children's success, targets Hispanic parents whose children aren't fully fluent in English. It's financed through a $600,000, three-year grant from the Toyota USA Foundation and in-kind and financial contributions from community organizations.

Springdale was one of five districts selected nationally from 191 proposals to share in $3 million from the foundation.

Through the program, parents take part in their children's lessons in the classroom, attend night English classes coordinated by Northwest Technical Institute and Ozark Literacy Council, and participate in meetings designed to address education and family concerns.

Successful parents and program administrators have been featured in Education Week and Parade, said Emily Kirkpatrick, vice president of the National Center for Family Literacy.

"You're setting the example for other districts and other families," she said.

A 2007 study by the Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation found that 82 percent of Arkansas' immigrant children from Mexico and Central America have at least one parent with limited English proficiency, and 58 percent have both parents with that designation. The study notes that a lack of conversational English skills limits a parent's ability to be involved in their child's education.

Mary Bridgforth, the district's coordinator for English as a Second Language programs, said children with participating parents had noticeable gains in classroom performance throughout the year.

She plans to study standardized test data of affected students to determine how much their parents' involvement influenced their achievement.

"We truly believe that it is making a huge difference," she said.

Participating schools have recruitment and retention plans to fill open spots for parents throughout the year, a task that has become easier as news of the program's success has spread.

At kindergarten registration this spring, mothers who participated in the program, once nervous to enter the school building, helped interpret for other parents and encouraged them to join.

"There are so many wins in this model," Superintendent Jim Rollins said. "There are so many people who benefit from it."

To contact this reporter:

eblad@arkansasonline.com

More information can be found here about Toyota Family Literacy Program in Springdale.