VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY) — It’s the most important meal of the day — and it’s coming in hot.

Earlier this year, Virginia Beach City Public Schools received a grant allowing it to buy new carts for their Breakfast After the Bell Program. Now, those carts are in and school leaders tell us more students are eating breakfast there than ever before.

Many often miss breakfast, but now, more students at Linkhorn Park in Virginia Beach are picking up a healthy breakfast than ever before.

“Usually, we offered things like honey buns or French toast sticks or pop tarts,” said Assistant Director of Food Services Rachel Amato. “And now, we’ve started to see a trend in the hot breakfast options growing.”

Thanks to a grant from No Kid Hungry Virginia, VBCPS was able to buy climate-controlled carts so they could offer hot breakfast items to students heading to class.

“We’ve added burritos, breakfast burritos, quesadillas, a beach breakfast bowl,” Amato said.

Annette Duncan said their most popular item is the sunrise pocket.

“It is pork sausage, cheese and eggs,” Duncan said. “It is rolled into a little ball.”

She said on a normal day, they prepare about 80 or more.

Only about 30% of students at Linkhorn Park were taking advantage of breakfast when we visited in January. That’s despite it being a community eligibility provision (CEP) school, which allows high-poverty schools to serve free breakfast and lunch for all students.

But since the carts have been implemented, their numbers have grown by about 150 more students eating breakfast daily.

“The way that we were able to provide breakfast for all students in the building supports their academics because they’re able to have their meal and then have their bellies full, which allows them to focus on learning,” said Linkhorn Park Elementary Principal Kathleen Scarborough.

Scarborough said it’s working too. They’re in the middle of SOL testing and she said preliminary scores look great.

“Students are working so hard,” Scarborough said. “And again, we all know how testing is stressful as it is. And I just go back to that importance of having a healthy breakfast prior to testing helps relax the body and mind so that they can focus on what they need to do.”