Eligibility for Free School Meals is determined based on the size of your family and your household income. Families already enrolled in SNAP, Medicaid, or TCA are automatically enrolled in Free School Meals and children at 60 MCPS schools don't need to apply to get breakfast and lunch in school for free. You can check your eligibility status and whether you need to apply using our eligibility calculator here.
Yes. You do not have to be U.S. citizens to qualify for Free School Meals. The Free School Meal application does not ask for immigration status and you do not have to have a social security number to qualify. No immigration restrictions exist for the Free School Meal program.
No. Applying for Free School Meals has never been considered an assistance program on the grounds of public charge and has never affected green card or visa status. No immigration restrictions exist for the Free School Meal program.
Yes. Montgomery County Public Schools keeps student Free School Meal eligibility confidential. The school system does not discuss student eligibility with anyone except students, parents, guardians and cafeteria managers.
Students participating in the Free School Meal program receive their school meals in the cafeteria through the same process as every other student. Students have no way of knowing whether another student's meal was pre-paid, free, or reduced price.
You can apply online here. You can watch a tutorial on how to complete the form here.
For other questions, we recommend that you reach out directly to Montgomery County Public Schools. You can call them at 240-740-7400.
The Ready For School Initiative is a Montgomery County nonprofit organization working to increase the number of families signed up for the Free School Meal program. We're a collection of education advocates hoping to boost school funding, improve the district's data on where resources can go the furthest, and ensure every student arrives to class hunger-free and ready to learn.
We want to help Montgomery County students learn. Ensuring students have a reliable source of healthy meals everyday means that they don’t have to worry about being hungry and can focus on their education. On a larger scale, the more families signed up for Free School Meals, the more resources for the schools in Montgomery County with the greatest need. The federal government, state government, and Montgomery County Public Schools give additional funding and attention to schools with higher percentages of students signed up for Free School Meals.
There’s no catch! We are funded entirely by donations from foundations, philanthropists, and community members. We turn no revenue or profit through our incentive program or awareness campaigns.
If you have signed up for Free School Meals (or were automatically enrolled) and have received an eligibility letter from Montgomery County Public Schools, you can claim your school supply reimbursement by completing this short form.
No. The Ready For School Initiative provides only one school supply reimbursement per household.
You can choose between receiving the cash through Venmo or delivered by mail directly to your address.
If you requested your reimbursement through Venmo, you can expect to receive your payment within 10 business days after you submit the form. If you requested your reimbursement through the mail, you can expect to receive an envelope from us within 14 business days. If it’s been a while and you still haven’t received your reimbursement, send us an email at help@readyforschoolinitiative.org.
Our work is entirely funded by people like you! If you’d like to fund our public awareness campaigns and school supply reimbursements for working families in Montgomery County, you can send us a donation here