School Breakfast Program
The Breakfast Program sponsored by NDS is available to all schools. Breakfast may be provided by itself or in addition to lunch. The menu includes items such as a fortified cereal, muffin, or bagel, 100% juice, and milk. Items are pre-packaged for food safety and for easy service. Children are required to take at least 2 of the 3 items offered each day. Once a week a schools can choose to serve a hot breakfast. Meals are delivered to the school every other school day.
Service Options
The school day is tightly scheduled. Thus a variety of breakfast service options are available to meet the needs of individual schools.
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Café Style |
Some schools offer breakfast in the cafeteria each morning. Children in before-care and any other child who arrives before the last bell can visit the cafeteria and eat breakfast. This service option is also good for schools that gather the whole student body together before the school day begins. |
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Room Service |
Some schools find that serving breakfast in the class room encourages the greatest participation. Often 8th graders or student council members deliver breakfast to the class rooms. Breakfast is offered either before the last bell, before morning announcements, or at a morning break while children copy homework assignments, etc. |
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Grab 'n Go |
This option is popular with schools that have most of their children arriving by school bus. Breakfast is bagged and handed out to each child as they depart from the school bus or as they enter school. |
Nutrition
Breakfast is intended to provide children with ¼ of the calories, vitamins, and minerals they need for the day. Fat is kept low by offering low or no-fat milk. Only 100% juice is served. Whole grains are used whenever possible.
Menus
A new breakfast menu is written each month. Breakfast managers at the school order meals weekly. Click here to view the current breakfast menu.
Price
Breakfast costs 75 cents per day. Some children may qualify to receive breakfast for a reduced price of 30 cents or for free.
Eligibility for Free or Reduced Price Meals
Some children may be eligible to purchase breakfast at a 'reduced price' or receive it for free. Families find out if they are eligible for these price breaks by submitted applications each fall. NDS reviews applications for the school. Income guidelines are updated each year for inflation.
Families can now apply online to get free or reduced-price school meals. Click "Apply For Benefits" to get started.
Universal Free Breakfast Pilot
Some schools that have a high percentage of children who qualify for free or reduced price meals my offer breakfast to all children for free. This is a limited program.
School Requirements for Participation
A school that is interested in offering breakfast to their students needs to identify a 'breakfast manager' who will be responsible for breakfast service, ordering, inventory, paperwork, etc. NDS will train the breakfast manager on all aspects of the program. NDS will also help the school by providing necessary refrigeration and other supplies for program and some reimbursement for the manager's time. If a school is not working with NDS for the lunch program, minimum daily participation may be required.
FAQs
Are children required to take everything offered to them at breakfast?
The National School Breakfast program operates under the 'offer v. serve' system. Children are offered 3 items at breakfast. They can take all of them. But they can take 2 items and it still be considered a complete breakfast.
The children at our school are not excited about bagels. Is there anyway we can get something else instead?
Any food item that
is not popular among the children can be 'ordered around.' When the order is placed, the manager would simply not order the unpopular food and order more of a comparable item.
Our children in before care come in at various times throughout the morning. It would be difficult to have a hot breakfast ready for all the children as they arrive.
Do we have to offer hot meals?
Hot meals are an option that schools can use. A cold meal option is always available
Other Information
NDS is a sponsor of this federal program that is run by NDS under contract with the Pennsylvania Department of Education. Sites have the option to be their own sponsor and can contract directly with the Pennsylvania Department of Education. For more information about direct sponsorship see the PDE website.
For more information about this federal program, visit the USDA website.
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