Breakfast to be served daily at Roosevelt school

Roosevelt Elementary School students will have the option of starting off the school day with breakfast this fall. The Wauwatosa School District is expanding its morning food service.

Roosevelt will be the first elementary school in the district to offer breakfast, said representatives of food service provider Sodexo School Services. But more schools likely will be added to the program as Sodexo completes a needs analysis at each facility.

The breakfast program got its start last fall at Wauwatosa West High School, where between 50 to 55 mostly low-income students participated. They typically qualified to buy breakfast at a reduced price or received free meals based on family income levels.

A few other changes are in the works for the district's food service program. All elementary schools soon will do away with Styrofoam food trays. They will be replaced with reusable baskets thanks to an environmentally friendly program piloted at a few schools.

In addition, business class students will work with food service managers to create marketing plans to allow them to apply their skills in a real-life setting.

Finally, Sodexo is working with Americorps to implement a farm-to-school program that would provide nutrition education and healthy food from local vendors, a program that has been requested by some parents. Farm-to-school likely will take until the 2010-11 to get going.