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| A cafeteria worker passes out breakfasts to students in easy to carry bags that they can take to their classroom. |
It’s hard to imagine an Elementary school being quiet and orderly, especially in the morning. However, at Carrollton Elementary in Prince George’s (P.G.) County, Maryland the students know the morning routine. Around 7:00am, students are dropped off by cars and buses and file into the cafeteria without the slightest hint of confusion or commotion. Students wait quietly in the cafeteria for their teachers, and in an orderly manner grab their bagged breakfasts from the friendly cafeteria staff, before heading directly to their classroom. Although this is daily life at Carrollton, I felt like I was witnessing pure magic.
Carrollton Elementary is one of 21 schools in P.G. County that received funding from the Partners for Breakfast in the Classroom (PBIC) to implement Breakfast in the Classroom (BIC). The school has an enrollment of around 600 students, with the majority of them qualifying for a free or reduce-priced meal. Since the BIC program was implemented in 2011, average daily participation in the school breakfast program has increased exponentially. In 2010, Carrollton was feeding around 100 students school breakfast, but after receiving a BIC grant, they are now feeding over 500 students breakfast daily. The success of the BIC program at Carrollton is extraordinary, but it is also not completely surprising. After spending a morning at the school observing the program, I realized that the key component to their successful BIC program was the teamwork and collaboration between the school staff. The principal, food service staff, teachers and custodians are all committed to working together to ensure that no student starts the day on an empty stomach. They are all united by a common goal, to make sure students are ready to learn and to work together to achieve that goal.
Prince George’s County Public Schools released a press release this week announcing that Carrollton Elementary will be highlighted in a video about breakfast in the classroom. Stay tuned for more information about that video and check out the rest of the photos from my visit to Carrollton Elementary on NEA HIN’s Facebook page.
If you would like to learn more about the benefits of school breakfast, new ways to increase school breakfast participation, useful tools for advocates and success stories from other districts check out our Start School with Breakfast Guide.
