About half of the 4,000 students in Norwich eat breakfast at school, a number that should increase when free breakfast will be available to all of the school system’s students beginning in September 2013. More than 75% of the district’s students qualify for free or reduced-price school lunch, an increase of 16% since 2005-2006. “Research clearly demonstrates a strong connection between breakfast consumption and student achievement,” said Kelly Donnelly of the state Department of Education. “Increased participation in school breakfast programs is associated with better academic test scores, daily attendance and class participation, and it also has been linked to reductions in absences and tardiness.” According to the Food Research and Action Center, only 61.5% of the state’s school districts offered school breakfast and lunch in the 2011-2012 school year, ranking the state last in the nation.
Source: Food Research and Action Center, 4/30/13, Breakfast in Norwich
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