Imagine one day waking up with only five minutes to spare before your bus speeds off to the next house. You hastily get dressed, and off to school you go. You soon realize you’re hungry, but the void until lunch is a long one. And in that time, you’re distracted by your grumbling stomach, recall no word the teacher says, and all you want to do is eat.

As you can probably tell, this person skipped their breakfast. Not eating breakfast isn’t rare, and if a students don’t eat, research shows they don’t learn as easily or focus as well–resulting in a nightmare for both the teacher and the student.

From November 1 onwards,  Mayfield Middle School will offer breakfast. It will be served in Cafeteria 2 from 7:30 to 7:50. For $1.85, students can purchase a small breakfast consisting of a carbohydrate (muffin, PopTart, cereal, or a PB&J Uncrustable), dairy (low-fat yogurt or string cheese), and either fresh fruit or fruit juice.

By serving breakfast for a small cost, with reduced cost programs for those who qualify based on need, Mayfield hopes to get those students unable to grab a bite before leaving for school something to fuel their day.

Principal Paul Destino says that he wanted to bring breakfast to the middle school, and the idea has been in the works since the summer. He predicts changes in student attendance, grades, attitudes towards school, and even behavior in classes.

On most mornings, the number of people carrying those little “breakfast trays” has increased steadily, going from a near 0% rate of participation in the first week to what’s now estimated to be around 30%.

For anybody who has not yet eaten the breakfast, breakfast is served in a fashion similar to how lunch is served, with the entrance to what is also the main lunch line.

MMS serving breakfast has been a big step forward, and from what’s been observed, it is steadily gaining popularity.