School Breakfast Program
More than 8.1 million children across the United States start their day with the School Breakfast Program, a Federal program that provides States with cash assistance for non-profit breakfast programs in schools and residential child care institutions.
-John Muir Middle School
School breakfast is healthy, convenient, and helps students do well in school. Research shows that eating breakfast leads to:
- Improved academic performance, focus and behavior
- Higher scores on standardized tests
- Reduced rates of nurse visits
Read more about the benefits of school breakfast and why school breakfast matters!
Breakfast Resources
For information about different service and financial models and promotional materials visit the School Breakfast Resources webpage.
Contracts and Claim Manuals
National School Breakfast Week (NSBW) - March 6-10, 2023
Mark your calendar for next year's National School Breakfast Week, March 6-10, 2023! More information will be posted on our National School Breakfast Week webpage early next year.
Wisconsin School Breakfast Challenge
During the month of February, the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction (DPI) School Nutrition Team partnered with Hunger Task Force (HTF), Share Our Strength’s No Kid Hungry (NKH) and the School Nutrition Association (SNA) of Wisconsin to promote breakfast in schools through the Wisconsin School Breakfast Challenge. Schools worked hard to complete activities in the categories of Nutritional Quality, Farm to School, Community Involvement, School Administrator Involvement, Marketing and Social Media, and Student Engagement to score points to win prizes. We saw the most participation in our Colby Cheese group which consisted of district sizes larger than 875 students. Winners were announced during National School Breakfast Week (NSBW), March 6-10th. Congratulations to our winners: Stevens Point Area Senior High and PJ Jacobs Junior High; Oconto Elementary, Middle, and High School; and Kenosha Lutheran Academy! They served up some eggcellent breakfasts.
Thank you to all those who participated! We hope that you saw more engagement and participation at breakfast. Even though the challenge is over and National School Breakfast week has passed, the fun doesn’t have to stop there! Anyone can use the activities from the challenge such as serving up a hot breakfast item, getting local community groups or administrators to come have breakfast, having students create posters, creating theme days, and gauging student interest in entrees through surveys or tasting tables to increase participation at breakfast. As we witnessed during the challenge, the more involvement from the school community, the more participation and fun can be had at breakfast. We look forward to next year’s challenge - it’s never too early to prepare! For questions and ideas about how to promote your program, contact DPISBP@dpi.wi.gov.
Severe Need Breakfast
A school is eligible for severe need reimbursement if 40% or more of the student lunches served at the school in the second preceding school year were served free or at a reduced price. Severe need payment is made on an individual school building basis. Regulations require documentation of eligibility to be maintained on file by the school agency for periodic review. Severe Need Breakfast request submission and approval is now part of the DPI SNT annual online contract renewal.
School Breakfast Statistics
Visit the Program Statistics page for various data reports relating to the School Breakfast Program.