The Powerful Effects of Eating Breakfast After the Bell: Second Chance Breakfast
This National School Breakfast Week, we are highlighting the importance of the first meal of the day, particularly our partners who operate innovative Breakfast After the Bell (BAB) programs that have made a difference in the lives of children.
There are many ways to make breakfast part of the school day with BAB. Three BAB models have demonstrated the most success in boosting participation are Breakfast in the Classroom, Grab and Go to the Classroom, and Second Chance Breakfast. The key to each of these models is that breakfast is served during the school day, after the instructional bell, in a place where students are together.
Traditional school breakfast programs often operate too early for students to participate, bus or carpool schedules do not allow them to get to school on time. Other students end up skipping breakfast because they do want to be ostracized for having low-income or lose out on time socializing with their friends.
BAB programs can look different in each school, often incorporating elements of multiple models to effectively reach their scholars. Learn more about our partners who currently operate BAB models in their school, what led them to adopt the program, and the impact it has had on their community.
Valleydale Elementary School, Azusa, California
Azusa Unified School District, Los Angeles County
Grades: K-5 | Setting: Suburb | Student Enrollment: 531 | Model: Second Chance Breakfast
At Azusa Unified School District (AUSD), students at all elementary and high schools participate in the Second Chance Breakfast program, which offers a breakfast break in the morning, often after the first period.
At the helm of AUSD Nutrition Services, situated east of LA and at the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains, Stella Ndahura shares how their scratch cooked Second Chance Breakfast has changed lives.
“Food is a basic need and if a child is born to parents who immigrated here because of different circumstances, hard circumstances in their country, that kid deserves an equal chance. They deserve to eat meals, they deserve to get all the resources that are available to them.” -Stella Ndahura
How it Works at Valleydale Elementary:
- The nutrition service department prepares scratch cooked breakfast the day before and in the morning.
- During a break in the morning, often between first and second period, scholars will walk with their class to the cafeteria.
- Normally no more than 15 minutes is needed, scholars pick up their meal and eat in the cafeteria.
- After they are done, scholars head back to classes with a full stomach and ready to learn.
On average, the Second Chance Breakfast model can reach 58 percent breakfast participation on average. Since operating the Second Chance Breakfast model, their breakfast participation has gone up by almost 45 percent. This means, on average, 2,400 more students across the district are starting their day with a nutritious breakfast.
“La oportunidad que ese distrito ha dado con el Second Chance Breakfast es maravillosa porque vemos que los problemas de aprendizaje, los problemas de comportamiento han bajado porque los estudiantes pueden concentrarse en lo que importa.” (TRANSLATION: “The opportunity that the district has provided with the Second Chance Breakfast is wonderful because we see that learning issues and behavioral problems have decreased, as students can focus on what matters.”) -Horacio Trejo, Valleydale Elementary Principal
“Lo que más me gusta es de que ellos disfrutan la comida, de que tienen algo que comer, que disfrutan cuando agarran su comida y les gusta lo que estamos sirviendo.” (Translation: “What I love most is that they enjoy the food, that they have something to eat, that they enjoy getting their food and like what we are serving.”) -Bertha Carmona, Valleydale Elementary Cafeteria Worker
There are many reasons why students don’t eat breakfast before the school day. Offering Second Chance Breakfast allows students who are normally not hungry first thing in the morning to eat just a bit later. Also, students who cannot arrive early to school to eat breakfast before the bell don’t miss out since breakfast is built into the day. It also helps to reduce the stigma associated with school breakfast as it becomes part of the school day just like eating lunch at school.
Removing barriers and serving up delicious breakfast, this NSBW and beyond, we applaud the tireless dedication of Director Ndahura and her team of hunger heroes to their scholars.
Last Reviewed: February 13, 2024