The California Department of Education had been pushing for students to eat a healthy breakfast.
Central School is one of seven elementary and middle schools in the Tracy Unified School District taking part in the reduced-fee or free meal program. The funding for the school meals is through USDA and the state, and no costs come from the Tracy school district.
Advocates believe students learn better and are better behaved in the classroom if they have had a healthy breakfast.
Central School Principal Nancy Link says the breakfast has made a noticeable change already, as students are more attentive in class, attendance has improved and the number of disciplinary problems has decreased.
“The big goal is to increase learning,” Link said.
Started on Oct.1, students get a breakfast of milk, a piece of fruit and a packaged item like a cereal bar. Students with allergies to some products are given a different item.
Teaching staff had to make some changes to their morning routine, Link said, but all have contributed to the program. Breakfast takes place from 8:15 to 8:30 a.m., and classes work while they eat to cut down on the loss of instruction time.
The program at Central for 480 kindergarten-through-eighth-grade students will continue through November as food services looks at the participation numbers. A 90 percent participation rate will let the school break even, and district officials then plan to add the program to the other six schools that qualify.
Does my user name really matter? You can make what you want out of it. I just want to know where in this article does it mention that parents are unable to feed their children? and who are the ones overbreeding? I guess I missed the paragraph that says "most of these parents already receive food stamps" and the part about "hungry little hispanic kids" I never knew you could tell how hungry someone is from a picture! MY2PENNIES, you certainly have a gift!
I wonder if this pilot program was started at George Kelly School or Art Freiler School would the comments be the same? or would you be calling them "hungry little white kids"
Street-Justice ? freedom of speech. Didnt you learn that in school ? guess not.
GET A LIFE PEOPLE!
I hope those teachers serving food are getting tips. They deserve it for all they do and now they are doing the work of the food service people and the janitors.
If that is the case for some children, I am glad they are getting the meal.
I didn't have breakfast in schools, Mom made sure I ate breakfast and take brown bag lunch before I went to school. So glad she is a Nutritionist!. Healthy food makes for healthy growing brain.
Obese children could do more with exercises and eat less carbohydrate foods. (Crackers, cookies, pizza, potato chips, junk food... ugh, just thought of Halloween coming up and they will shovel their mouths with sugar coated garbage!)
Poor teachers, they will have to deal with inattentive, hyperactive kids for a week! Think their brain will be able to absorb anything during class?
Keep HEALTHY lunch program alive, though.
CN
1) Most of these parents already receive food stamps. If that money is not being used for breakfast and lunch where is it going? NO child whose family is getting food stamps should get a free lunch of free breakfast in addition to the food stamps we have already given it to them.
2) Food in the classrooms, and the teachers are serving? Since when did teachers become waitresses? When the milk spills does the carpet get clean- I bet not, too many janitorial layoffs. Classroom should be places for leaning not eating. This is not their home and it is not their couch.
I agree with Mark M. They don't have the education why they are obese while they see others thin.
It is unfortunate that the people who are over-breeding are the ones who are unable to feed their children. This trend will continue unabated because our government has decided to serve the people of the world before their own. Remember, America's new ideal for the masses is amusement and abusement. In a few years, you will be asked to press 2 for English. Still, my observation is philosophically superficial, but the literary content of a newspaper, whether provided by a staff writer or a citizen, rarely transcends the hackneyed or absurd.
With all the budgetary problems, they are now studying feeding kids?! How about teaching kids to be responsible and make sure they eat in the morning before school, instead of taking classroom time and taxpayer money to feed kids whose parents are evidently not in the running for parent of the year?!