A Breakfast Program That Delivers

When Debra Tate, the principal of Hornsby-Dunlop Elementary School in Del Valle Independent School District, came to Chris Maggard last spring and said she needed to feed almost 800 students in the classroom every morning, the child nutrition director came through with a system that is now feeding 900.

Rapid growth and a cafeteria that was too small to accommodate all the children at the Del Valle ISD school put Maggard on the fast track to bring breakfast to the students. The first challenge was overcoming teacher concerns that breakfast in the classroom might be disruptive or inconvenient.

Maggard addressed that concern in part by inviting administrators and teachers who were grade-level leaders to take a first-hand look at how Georgetown Independent School District was handling a similar program. He followed that up with a PowerPoint presentation to teachers and staff that showed the benefits of a breakfast program and how the service would be implemented in their school. Everyone had an opportunity to express their concerns and make suggestions.

"It's good to get a lot of buy-in," said Maggard, adding that presenting the process in a step-by-step manner also allowed teachers to feel more comfortable with the plan.

The next challenge was handling the logistics of delivering meals to hundreds of hungry kids each morning. Following the Georgetown model, food for each classroom is placed in a single bag, then loaded onto carts and distributed to the classrooms. Each classroom also receives a small ice chest containing milk and juice. The teacher checks off the names of students eating each day on an enclosed roster and the results are later recorded with barcode technology. The pack also contains instructions to help substitute teachers through the morning process.

At the end of the meal, trash is placed out in the hall and promptly picked up by the cafeteria staff.

Last April, Principal Tate, who has since taken an administrative position with the district, said she quickly recognized one of the benefits of the program.  She told Maggard that compared with the noise and disciplinary issues associated with packing a swarm of rambunctious kids into a cafeteria, the breakfast in the classroom program offered "a much easier, more natural start to the day" without the behavior issues.

But perhaps the highest validation came from Cafeteria Manager Felis Ramirez, who according to Maggard commented, "I love it and the kids love it. I can't see changing it back."