Creative Performing and Media Arts Middle School (CPMA) recently conducted a trial run of the Breakfast In The Classroom (BIC) program for its 650+ students, garnering such positive results that the school will continue it for the rest of the year.
CPMA is the first middle school in the San Diego Unified School District to conduct a trial of BIC, and the encouraging outcome will hopefully provide the impetus to expand the program into other San Diego Unified schools.
It can be a challenge to get students to the cafeteria before school. BIC is a creative way to administer the School Breakfast Program. Students are offered breakfast in the classroom at the start of the first period. Breakfast eaters have better brain function, memory, and attention.
Before the trial, the school had two food carts in the cafe offering breakfast each morning. Despite the availability, a low percentage of students were actually getting fed. CPMA Principal Andrea Pino Antl explains: “We have 18 school buses with students bused in every morning from all over the district. A lot of times the buses are late, and when kids are late to school they don't usually have time to get breakfast.”
Even students who did manage to eat breakfast in the school’s cafe were often getting to class late simply because they arrived late to school due to traffic concerns.
Collaborating To Serve Students
Part of the district’s support process every year is to get the operations team together. This includes transportation staff, cafeteria staff, and school police – who gather with Principals to discuss their needs and to troubleshoot and brainstorm new ideas.
It was the district’s SandiCoast Cafe staff who suggested to Antl the opportunity to pilot BIC. She says her only concern was how teachers might react because BIC can eat into instructional time. Antl emphasized to her team that it was a trial run and that their feedback was essential.
“I said, ‘We’re going to try this for three weeks. We can do anything for three weeks! If we hate it, then we don't have to continue it.’ But I knew that once they saw the students getting food - once they got used to it and got the procedure down, that they were going to understand that it was needed.”
She was right, and Antl says the program was pretty much an immediate success: “We realized that most students actually did Breakfast In The Classroom in elementary school, so it wasn't new for them. They said, ‘I've done this before. I know how it goes.’ The students really have been the leaders in this. They go get the food, they set it up in the classroom, and teachers really haven't had many complaints.”
Adapting To Different Environments; Empowering Staff
Antl says the challenge of BIC in middle school versus elementary can often be that middle school students don’t always have standard desks; they may have PE or dance class first period. These challenges were overcome by brainstorming with teachers on how to set up and structure their BIC time so that teachers had their autonomy. This included lining up chairs to eat outside, which worked well.
As for concerns about messy classrooms, she says all food items are pre-packaged and easy to clean up. Students are each given milk, juice, fruit, and an entree item that complies with the USDA nutrition standards, such as a burrito or breakfast sandwich
“A lot of teachers have really good procedures of how it's all done and they have their helpers,” explains Antl. “Plus, the cafeteria provides large trash cans for every classroom. The mess isn’t bad, the classrooms get wiped, and the kids have been respectful. It's been pretty seamless.”
Some students are even able to eat while they work so it doesn't take away from instructional time.
Combating Food Insecurity
Breakfast In The Classroom has also helped improve another important issue. “Kids would often come to the administration offices asking for food throughout the day. They were hungry and sometimes distressed,” says Antl. “But this happens way less now because they are getting food and are used to consuming it on a daily basis.”
She tells of how one teacher conducted an informal poll recently, asking how many students would not have eaten breakfast if they didn’t have BIC at school. “13 kids raised their hand,” she reveals. “Others admitted they wouldn’t have eaten breakfast if it wasn’t in front of them.”
A survey conducted by CPMA post-trial also concluded that 79% of students said they would like to continue BIC for the rest of the school year, while 73% of staff agreed.
When asked what advice she would give fellow schools that may be considering implementing BIC, Antl says: “I would encourage anyone who feels like it is needed to do it, for their school community.
“We’re creating that time and space with students – saying ‘we’re human and we’ve got to take care of these needs first before we can learn’. I really believe that sets the tone for learning during the day. They know we care that they're getting food and that we can provide enough for everybody to eat.”
Antl says that she is building extra time into the schedule for the 2024-25 school year to mitigate any concerns about instructional time - another approach that is sure to keep the program running and serving the students of CPMA Middle School.