Many South Coast schools help low-income students get started with the most important meal of the day: breakfast.

The Coos Bay and North Bend school districts provide free breakfast to almost all students across the board, with Coquille, Myrtle Point and Reedsport also offering breakfast to students every morning.

In the mornings, North Bend schools feed about 54 percent of all the students who qualify for free and reduced meals in the district, just shy of the state average, said Rhonda Hoffine, food services manager at North Bend Schools. Although many low-income families enroll in the free-and-reduced lunch program, getting the word out about breakfast is difficult, she added.

In the month of October:

€ Hillcrest, North Bay and Lighthouse elementary schools served a total of 12,173 breakfasts;

€ North Bend Middle School served 5,185; and

€ North Bend High School served 3,218.

Coquille

€ Lincoln Elementary served 2,975;

€  Coquille Valley Intermediate served 5,295; and

€ Coquille High School served 3,592.

Myrtle Point

€ Myrtle Crest served 3,780; and

€ Myrtle Point High School served 2,723.

Reedsport

€ Highland Elementary served 2,787; and

€ Reedsport High School served 1,731.