Four Haverhill Public Schools Receive 2026 Healthy Start Awards from the Eos Foundation
Four Haverhill Public Schools Receive 2026 Healthy Start Awards from the Eos Foundation
Awards recognize schools serving at least 80% of students universal free school breakfast.
Haverhill Public Schools today announced that 4 district schools have received 2026 Healthy Start Awards from the Eos Foundation for serving school
breakfast to at least 80% of students. Each school will receive a $500 unrestricted award, totaling $2,000 for Haverhill Public Schools. Across the state, 145
schools were honored, distributing $70,000 in funding across the Commonwealth.
The Haverhill Public Schools honored are Bartlett School & Assessment Center, Gateway Academy, Golden Hill Elementary, and Greenleaf Academy.
“Massachusetts is one of only nine states that have passed universal free school meals for all K-12 students, allowing us to ensure that every child begins the school day nourished and able to focus,” said Andrea Silbert, President of the Eos Foundation. “Schools which provide Breakfast in the classroom typically experience twice the level of student participation than before the bell school cafeteria programs. We want to celebrate the principals, teachers, school nutrition professionals, custodial staff, and entire school communities who make that possible, and highlight strategies that can help more schools achieve similar results.”
Massachusetts has provided universal free meals to all students since 2023, but Breakfast participation is less than half of the statewide lunch participation. According to the latest data from the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, an average of 588,654 students ate school lunch each day in fall 2025, compared to 291,792 students who ate school breakfast, leaving nearly 300,000 kids missing out on a meal each day. At a time when many families are facing increasing economic pressure and uncertainty around access to food assistance programs, school breakfast can serve as an important nutritional safety net for Children.
The awards come as the Healey-Driscoll Administration launches the Strengthening School Breakfast Challenge, a new statewide initiative aimed at increasing breakfast participation and helping more students begin the day with a healthy meal. The administration is collaborating with the Eos Foundation, Project Bread and New England Dairy to provide schools with resources, technical assistance and funding opportunities to build up their breakfast programs. Research shows that the way breakfast is served can significantly impact student participation. Recent Nutrition Policy Institute study found that students were three times more likely to eat school breakfast when it was served in the classroom rather than only in the cafeteria before school started. Breakfast in the Classroom helps remove common barriers to participation, including transportation schedules, family routines, and the challenges many students face in arriving early enough to eat before classes begin.
The Healthy Start Awards are part of the Eos Foundation’s broader effort to increase access to school breakfast across Massachusetts. Through Breakfast in the Classroom, Eos provides grants of up to $20,000, along with technical assistance and implementation support, to help eligible schools strengthen or expand their breakfast programs.
Since launching the Healthy Start Awards in 2014, Eos has partnered with districts across Massachusetts to boost participation and recognize approaches that help students start the day ready to learn.
A complete list of 2026 Healthy Start Award recipients is available at Eos Foundation - 2026 Healthy Start Awards
About the Eos Foundation
The Eos Foundation is a private foundation focused on systemic solutions to end hunger in Massachusetts. Since 2013, Eos has supported hundreds of schools with Breakfast in the Classroom start-up grants and annually recognizes schools with at least 80% breakfast participation through its Healthy Start Awards. Learn more at eosfoundation.org.