Visitors from the USDA FNS Mountain Plains Regional Office in Denver stopped by Brubaker Elementary to acknowledge its success in implementing the Community Eligibility Provision and to recognize Des Moines Public Schools for helping schools implement the program.

“I applaud our partners and school foodservice staff for all the hard work they do to safeguard the health and wellbeing of the nation’s children,” said Darlene Sanchez, USDA FNS Division Director.

In the first year of nationwide Community Eligibility Provision implementation, over 14,000 schools in high-poverty areas offered nutritious meals at no cost to more than 6.8 million students. An evaluation of schools that implemented CEP experienced average increases in participation of 9 percent in school breakfast and 5 percent in school lunch. Research has shown that students who consume breakfast make greater strides on standardized tests, pay attention and behave better in class, and are less frequently tardy, absent or visiting the nurse’s office.

Learn more at https://www.dmschools.org/blog.