Teachers at Smith Elementary School noticed that some students, particularly in the kindergarten classes, seemed overly hungry at snack time.

It made them wonder if the young people were getting enough to eat before school, Principal Pam Wright said.

That observation led Robert Worthy, a Sodexo food service employee who oversees the Helena School District meal programs, to begin a pilot program providing breakfast even after the bell rings, allowing students to be better prepared for the school day.

The program, if successful, could be implemented in other schools, in hopes of addressing the low turnout of students eating breakfast at school - particularly those students who qualify for free or reduced-price meals.

"It's really important (students) eat," said Wright. "They are young, and it's a long day for them, so we need to make sure they are nourished. This works out that we do it at the beginning of the day so it's least disruptive to learning. It's a simple solution to make sure the kids are ready to learn."

Of the students in the Helena Public Schools last school year who qualify for free or reduced-priced meals, 41 percent are eating breakfast at school, compared to nearly 43 percent statewide and 46 percent nationally.

An annual study released by the Food Research and Action Center to measure trends in school breakfast found that if Montana were able to establish accessible school breakfast programs with participation from 60 low-income children for every 100 low-income children who eat lunch, 7,228 more low-income children would start the day with breakfast.

Also, the state would gain an additional $1.5 million in federal funding. New Mexico and South Carolina are two states that demonstrate the goal is achievable, according to the FRAC study.

In New Mexico 63 percent of eligible children participate, and South Carolina reached 60 percent.

"The bottom line is to get more schools, districts and states to serve more breakfast to students because it's good for students and schools," said Jim Weill, president of the FRAC, which is based in Washington D.C.

One way to achieve the participation goal is to establish a baseline of students with free, reduced, or paid lunches on a particular year and have that number carry over for a number of consecutive years.

Helena students now must fill out eligibility forms each year. Establishing a baseline saves money by eliminating paperwork, which frees up money for food, Weill said.

A new breakfast program, open from 7:30 a.m. until noon at Capital High School, has increased the number of participants by three times, Worthy said.

"We are serving 300 breakfasts a day now," he said.

At Smith, the numbers are smaller, and some days only a handful of students participate, but Worthy said he hopes those numbers will grow over time as awareness increases.

"At a time when more families are struggling and their hardships are increasing, it is imperative to expand the reach of the school breakfast program," Weill said.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, only 35 percent of parents of children 6 to 11 years old report eating breakfast each day with their children.

It also says that, on average, only 22 percent of parents of middle to high school age students reported eating breakfast daily with their children.

Over the past two decades, student participation nationally in the free and reduced-price school breakfast programs has increased from 3.3 to 8.5 million. This is good news for schools, since nearly 100 percent of the breakfast cost for low-income children is covered by federal dollars.

The FRAC hopes the number of children eating breakfast increases if school programs become more available because, it says, eating breakfast improves school performance, reduces behavioral problems and reduces obesity.

Weill describes breakfast as a school's "magic wand" because of all the good it does.

"It's a win-win," he said.

This year the School Breakfast Program, along with other child nutrition programs, are scheduled for reauthorization by Congress. FRAC maintains that more federal support is needed for start-up costs, materials and staff training.

However, some school districts have started local initiatives, according to FRAC, including a universal program free for all students, especially in schools with high percentages of students who qualify for free and reduced-price meals.

But money tends to be an issue.

Helena School District Superintendent Bruce Messinger said that in some settings, a universal meal program would no doubt help increase numbers and make the paperwork easier to manage.

"It would be conducive to increasing numbers if families' schedules matched school schedules," he said. "Another option would be getting good, nutritional, healthy snacks into the school program, which would give them a little boost. We should explore all the options because the bottom line is getting nutritional food sources to the kids."

Reporter Alana Listoe: 447-4081 or alana.listoe@helenair.com