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Media Contact: Jennifer Flores
P: 210-739-3997
E: Jennifer.Flores@kipptexas.org
KIPP Texas Public Schools Ranks as Top School District in Texas in Children at Risk’s 2022 Kroger School Food Rankings
Houston, TX (April 14, 2022) – KIPP Texas Public Schools is proud to have been ranked in the top ten among Texas school districts in the 2022 Kroger School Food Rankings, in partnership with Children at Risk.
The 2022 Kroger School Food Rankings evaluates how districts across Texas provide meals to children in economically disadvantaged areas by focusing on meal participation rates and after-school meal programs offered in each district.
Although many charter school systems continue to rank at the bottom of the School Food Rankings and report limited school meal participation, KIPP Texas Public Schools was the only charter district to make this year’s list and had over 70 percent of eligible students participating in breakfast programs.
“As a district, we are doing what we can to bridge the gap of food insecurity,” says Lori Nelson, Director of Child Nutrition Program at KIPP Texas Public Schools. “I worked for KIPP since 2013, and I am so proud of our Child Nutrition Team for ensuring all of our KIPPsters have substantial meals that help them continue their learning throughout the school day.”
“We know that access to quality, nutritious meals is critical for a child’s development. It’s hard to achieve in the classroom if your basic needs like having food or a safe place to sleep aren’t within reach,” says Dr. Bob Sanborn, President and CEO of Children at Risk. “School Nutrition Departments are shown to play a key role in combating hunger and food insecurity, but too often they don’t get the ‘thanks’ that they deserve. With the 2022 Kroger School Food Rankings, we are excited to celebrate the best school nutrition departments that really go above and beyond. They’re the leaders we should look to as we combat child food insecurity in Texas.”
Children at Risk’s Food Ranking methodology consists of measuring the participation rate of School Nutrition Programs (SNP) across districts. This year, meals allocated to schools through summer programs that were utilized during the school year because of the Pandemic were included in the analysis. The aggregate scores are ranked from highest to lowest to create the Food Rankings.
School Breakfast is weighted the highest in our analysis for various reasons: research suggests that providing The School Breakfast Program (SBP) can improve student attendance, increases their academic performance, and reduces discipline problems in the classroom.
Children at Risk utilizes Texas Department of Agriculture data and Texas Education Agency data to generate the district scores and district rankings.
For more information on KIPP Texas Public Schools, please visit www.kipptexas.org.
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ABOUT KIPP TEXAS
KIPP Texas Public Schools is an open-enrollment, public, tuition-free charter school network of 59 schools with nearly 32,000 pre-K-12 students across the state. Together with our families and communities, we create joyful, academically excellent schools that prepare our students to pursue any path they choose — college, career, and beyond — so they can lead fulfilling lives and build a more just world.
