Some schools testing breakfast program to improve test scores

It's been said time and time again – breakfast is the most important meal of the day.

The Cedar Rapids school district's food and nutrition department hopes to help more students understand the positive impact a healthy breakfast can have on their day by serving a free breakfast during Iowa Tests of Basic Skills and Iowa Tests of Educational Development testing.

Five schools – Grant Wood and Johnson elementary schools, and Franklin, McKinley and Roosevelt middle schools – are piloting the program.

“We had talked about doing it district-wide,” Suzy Ketelsen, manager of the district's food and nutrition department, said.

The talks started about a month ago, but because the district's testing schedule was already in place – schools test on different dates at different times during the district's testing window – Ketelsen said the logistics couldn't be arranged in time to make the program a go.

“When we decided not to do it, a few schools came back and really asked for the program,” she said. “They volunteered to pilot it, work through the bugs and make it happen.”

The program launched this week and will continue through next week, depending on the schools' testing schedule.

Roosevelt Middle School Principal Steve Hilby said the number of students eating breakfast has doubled.

“We do have a good number of students who participate in the free and reduced-priced program, who already get a free breakfast in the morning, but we're looking for every edge we can get during testing,” he said. “When they have food in their stomachs, they're able to concentrate more.”

On a typical school day, students who eat a school breakfast have three meal options. The free breakfast program limits the breakfast to one menu plan and all breakfasts are packed in a paper bag to streamline the process.

The breakfast menus have been shared with students and their parents, along with nutritional information. Students aren't allowed to make substitutions, unless for medical reasons.

All breakfast menus include fruit and milk, plus another item such as yogurt or a bagel.

Students can decline the meal if they don't want it.

The district did not receive additional funding for the program.

Ketelsen said the schools will complete a survey providing feedback on the program. That information could determine if the program continues next year.

“We're hoping that we can take the feedback from this program and learn from it,” Ketelsen said. “If we're in any position financially to do this next year, we'd love to expand the program and include all of the district's schools.”