School breakfast is more than just cereal, fruit and milk. It is a simple, yet innovative initiative that promotes healthy eating and development and readies students for a full day of learning and connection. For National School Breakfast Week, this important school meal steps into the spotlight, inviting school nutrition program staff, educators and students to celebrate its delicious achievements and positive impact on the school day.
“National School Breakfast Week is a wonderful opportunity for classrooms and cafeterias to incorporate fun activities that promote healthy school meals with students and young learners,” said Meg Collins, nutrition and health services section chief at the Iowa Department of Education. “By engaging students and their families and getting them excited about what schools have to offer through the School Breakfast Program, we can help ensure kids are focusing more on their classes and friends and less on feeling hungry.”
This year, National School Breakfast Week takes on the theme of “The Quest for School Breakfast” and features a medieval times-like setting that engages students to explore the importance of school breakfast through fun adventures. School nutrition staff and educators can download free, branded activity materials and other resources provided by the School Nutrition Association to use for their own National School Breakfast Week quests.
Held annually during the first week in March, National School Breakfast Week celebrates the achievements of the School Breakfast Program, which serves over 12 million breakfast meals nationwide each day. In Iowa, more than 19.3 million school breakfast meals were served during the 2024-25 school year.
“School breakfast provides many benefits for our students, and we’d love to see even more Iowa school districts provide this school meal opportunity,” Collins said. “With school breakfast, kids can stay alert, build lifelong healthy habits and have better memory, concentration and stamina for learning. School breakfast is more than just food. It’s setting kids up for success.”
For more information on National School Breakfast Week, visit these partner resources:
▪ School Nutrition Association
▪ Team Nutrition Breakfast Materials
▪ USDA Make Breakfast First Class
Additional information on Iowa’s School Breakfast Program can be found on the Department’s nutrition website.
The 2026 National School Breakfast Week is March 2-6.