Student Health Resources

The Hawaii DOE works with partners to extend the reach of its health services to ensure that students are prepared for learning. These include USDA-backed nutrition programs, medical services, preventative resources, and more.

Hawaii Child Nutrition Programs

The Hawaii Child Nutrition Programs (HCNP) office works with schools and childcare centers statewide to ensure that Hawaii’s children receive nutritious and satisfying meals through federally funded nutrition programs. HCNP provides education and resources, training and technical assistance, and oversight and guidance to our program partners to help them meet federal standards in nutrition and wellness. ​​This institution is an equal opportunity provider.

School Breakfast Program
To meet the challenges of the day, schools are able to provide children with an energy-packed meal through the School Breakfast Program. Functioning in the same manner as the school lunch program, meals at breakfast provide a healthy jumpstart for the day. Breakfast meals cost $1.10 for students in kindergarten through grade 8, and $1.10 for high schoolers. Free or reduced-price (30 cents) breakfast is available to eligible children so that no child is left hungry and he/she can concentrate in the classroom.

National School Lunch Program
To ensure that children are able to grow strong and healthy, the National School Lunch Program was established to provide nutritionally balanced school lunch meals at a low cost for children each school day. School lunch costs $2.50 for students in kindergarten through grade 8, and $2.75 for high schoolers. Eligible children may also receive meals at a reduced or free price. The federal government partially reimburses schools for meals that comply with nutritional standards set by the USDA. NSLP operates in Hawaii ​​public schools, public charter schools, nonprofit private schools, and residential child care facilities.

Afterschool Snack Program
The National School Lunch Program also offers cash reimbursements to help schools serve nutritious snacks to children during afterschool activities. To be eligible, afterschool programs must provide children with regularly scheduled education or enrichment activities within a supervised environment.

Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program
Offered to eligible elementary schools to provide kids with fresh fruit and vegetable snacks throughout the school day to increase student consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables to impact their present and future health.

Child and Adult Care Food Program
A federally-aided program designed to improve the quality of meals outside the school environment. This program provides adult and child day care centers and emergency shelters a means to serve nutritious meals and snacks in the same manner as the National School Lunch Program.

Summer Food Service Program
During the school year, nutritious meals are available through the NSLP and SBP — however, those programs end when the school year ends for the summer. The Summer Food Service Program is a federal resource program available to those schools and other facilities that combine a feeding program with a summer activity program such as Summer Fun or Summer School.

Special Milk Program
Milk is essential for growth and a great source of nutrients. The Special Milk Program (SMP) ensures even children in schools and childcare institutions that don’t participate in other federal meal service programs get a serving of milk. SMP provides this through reimbursements to eligible schools and institutions.

Hawaii Keiki

Hawaii Keiki: Healthy and Ready to Learn is a partnership between UH Manoa Nursing and the Hawaii Department of Education and sits at the intersection of education and health to support the DOE to achieve student, school, and system success.

The program is enhancing and building school based health services that screen for treatable health conditions; provide referral to primary health care and patient centered medical home services; prevent and control communicable disease and other health problems; and provide emergency care for illness or injury.

Health hotline and telehealth services for public school students is also provided by Hawaii Keiki. 

The Hawaii Keiki – Hawaii Dental Service (HDS) Dental Sealant Program was developed in 2019 to help improve the oral health of students by increasing access to dental services within designated Title I schools. Children with dental decay are known to miss more school days and have difficulty concentrating at school due to pain. In 2015, the Hawaii Smiles report documented that children in Hawaii have the highest prevalence of dental decay in the nation. For more information about the Dental Sealant Program, please see this video.

Tobacco Free Hawaii

We are partners with the Department of Health in reducing the use of tobacco and electronic smoking devices (ESDs) among Hawai‘i's children. The use of cigarettes and ESDs is unsafe for children, teens and young adults. Cigarettes and most ESDs contain nicotine, which is highly addictive and can harm brain development. ESDs also can be used to deliver marijuana and other drugs. Learn more:

Farm to School initiative

Aims to systematically increase state purchasing of local food for our school menus as well as connect our keiki with the ‘āina through their food, using products from the local agricultural community.

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