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.