Students at eight HISD high schools will now receive their first meal of the day right in their classrooms, thanks to a $64,000 grant from the Food Research & Action Center (FRAC), funded by Kellogg’s corporate citizenship fund.

The money will be used to purchase equipment, food, labor, and marketing materials to implement the First Class Breakfast program at Kashmere, Lee, Madison, Milby, Sam Houston, Sterling, Washington, and Wheatley high schools.

Breakfast is free to all HISD students; however, not all children will visit the cafeteria to get it. Delivering the meal to the classroom before school starts allows more students to take advantage of it. First Class Breakfast has proven to improve attendance, test scores, and grades, and HISD’s goal is to increase participation to 70 percent.

“We are very excited to have been awarded the FRAC grant,” says Nutrition Services Director of Operations Becky Campbell. “High school students are more likely to skip breakfast than any other age group, so this will help ensure that these students have access to and actually consume a nutritious breakfast to start their day.”

The FRAC is a non-profit organization based out of Washington, D.C.

For more information about the HISD Grant Department, click here.