Fullerton School District expands free breakfast program to another campus

Students at Pacific Drive Elementary School receive a little extra when they come to class this year: a free breakfast.

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Every one of the more than 600 students at the Fullerton school can choose entrees — such as baked goods or bacon, egg and cheese breakfast pockets — served with a side of fruit. Students can eat their breakfast while teachers take attendance or share morning announcements, the Fullerton School District says.

Pacific Drive is now the third campus in the district’s “Breakfast in Classroom” initiative. The first meals were served Monday, Aug. 17, one week after classes started this school year.

The initiative began in Commonwealth Elementary during the 2023-24 school year. Reichman Elementary began getting free breakfast the next year.

Breakfast in the Classroom is part of the district’s nutrition services department’s “broader effort to reimagine school meals through student and family taste tests, expanded scratch cooking and locally sourced ingredients,” the district said.

Fullerton School District has also offered a traveling barbecue to campuses; new menu items this year include chili dogs and quesabirria.

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Last school year, 1.9 million breakfasts, lunches, dinners and snacks were served across the district, along with more than 50,000 meals over this summer, all of which were free of charge.

“Programs like Breakfast in the Classroom are possible because of the care and commitment of our Nutrition Services staff,” said Superintendent Gretchen Janson. “Every day, they help make sure our students are nourished, supported and ready to learn, and I’m incredibly grateful for the pride and heart they bring to serving our students.”

The school district said it received more than $52,000 in grant funding from No Kid Hungry to serve breakfast across the three campuses.

Share Our Strength, a nonprofit organization aimed at ending childhood hunger across the country, launched the campaign in 2010. No Kid Hungry grants sent to school districts help operate meal programs, including free breakfasts. The campaign said it awarded grants to 322 school districts and organizations across the country, totaling over $14.3 million.

Samueli Academy in Santa Ana, Community Action Partnership of Orange County and the Aspire Titan Academy in Huntington Park have all received grants this year, among several others, according to No Kid Hungry. Through its various endeavors, Share Our Strength said it has provided 2.5 billion meals to kids and has doled out $150 million in grants across the country since March 2020.

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