We Can Help You Feed More Kids

Offer Breakfast After the Bell (BAB): School breakfast is a proven strategy for expanding access to nutrition while generating additional revenue. Breakfast After the Bell (BAB), served after the school day begins, makes the morning meal more accessible by removing barriers such as scheduling constraints and stigma. Schools can use this BAB factsheet to choose which BAB model is right for their program and this pre-implementation checklist for a list of action steps to get BAB started. For more guidance on implementing BAB, visit this online hub.

Strengthen your direct certification practices: Direct certification can ease the administrative burden on both schools and families by reducing the number of free and reduced-price (F/RP) applications to collect and process. Upgrade your direct certification strategies with this tipsheet.

Improve the return rate of school meal applications: Use our toolkit to effectively communicate with families about the importance of submitting F/RP applications.

Adopt the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP): Provide breakfast and lunch stigma-free and at no charge to all students while also easing your staff’s administrative burden. Learn more about the benefits of CEP

Offer breakfast at no charge: Maximize the benefits of switching to BAB by offering free breakfast for all students. This factsheet can help your team determine which pathway is right for your program: CEP, Provision II, or Non-Pricing.

Provide three meals a day to fuel afterschool learning: While many schools already serve afterschool snacks through NSLP, the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) provides an opportunity to serve complete afterschool meals, providing greater nutrition for students and a higher reimbursement for schools. You can apply for afterschool meals at any time of year, even if programs are already underway. Visit Afterschool Meals NY to learn more.

Serve summer meals to mitigate learning loss: Summer meals ensure kids are well-fed during the break from school and ready to learn when they return in the fall. Eligible schools can serve as summer meal sponsors or meal sites, and all schools can help with outreach at the end of the school year and all summer long, so families know where to find meals near them. Visit Summer Meals NY to learn more and access free, easy-to-use outreach resources.

Inform families about SNAP and WIC: As trusted messengers, schools can share information about SNAP and WIC to help ensure students and their families have consistent access to healthy food. Schools also benefit: increased SNAP participation can improve a school’s ability to adopt CEP, and WIC can support kindergarten readiness for your youngest learners. Use this SNAP Outreach for Schools Toolkit and the WIC Help NY Resource Center to share information with families in your district.

Share how your programs set students up for success: We have resources and info to help you communicate with school administrators about how your programs support student learning and well-being while also advancing equity. Examples of resources include:

• One Pager: Help Your Summer Meals Program Succeed
• Self-Assessment Tool: Equity in Access – Designing a Meal Program that Reaches Every Child 
• Infographic: Benefits of Breakfast 
• Flyer: Child Nutrition Programs are Vital to New York’s Kids
• Research Brief: The Connections between Food Insecurity, the Federal Nutrition Programs and Student Behavior
• Research Brief: Breakfast for Learning 
• Customizable Template: Letter to School Administrators About Adopting CEP
• Flyer: School Meals – Valuable to Kids, Schools and Communities
• Template Presentation: Advocate for Your Program to School Leadership

If you have a specific request for information, please reach out to us for support with your specific need.