SHQIP | العربية | 汉语 | Español | Français | Kreyòl Ayisyen | ខ្មែរ | Português | Pусский | O’zbek tili | українська мова | Việt
Dear School District of Philadelphia community,
The School District of Philadelphia is committed to caring for the mental and physical well-being of our students and their families. We know that in order for students to achieve and families to thrive, they must have access to food, nutrition education, and wellness initiatives. Our partnership with Eat Right Philly, which has spanned more than 20 years, has supported this effort.
Unfortunately, the federal funding that supported Eat Right Philly programming was cut at the national level in 2025. At the end of the 2025-26 school year, Eat Right Philly will discontinue its services.
What does this mean for the School District?
Right now, Eat Right Philly services are still available. Visit the Eat Right Philly website to learn more about the services that students and families can access.
After the 2025-2026 school year ends, schools will no longer have access to the Nutrition Educators and School Wellness Coaches that have been working with students and families to support healthy schools. Some of our deeply valued partner organizations, including Drexel, Jefferson Health, The Food Trust, Health Promotion Council, Agatston Urban Nutrition Initiative, and Vetri Community Partnership will also be affected and will no longer be able to serve schools in the same capacity.
What does this mean for students and families?
This news does not mean that our commitment to student and family mental and physical well-being has changed. In fact, this has reaffirmed our determination to care for our students and support their families. While we seek new partnerships and resources, we want to remind families that we have various resources available to support mental and physical health including:
- Benephilly: A Public Benefits Navigator who works with families in signing up for SNAP, health insurance, and other public benefits. Schedule an appointment here.
- Virtual Wellness Zone: An online hub where you can explore and learn techniques for managing your mental well-being.
- Rallee: a move-to-learn app designed for K-8 students that reimagines brain breaks to energize the body and mind. This will roll-out District-wide in the 2027-2028 school year.
- Community Partners: The School District has many non-District community partners that provide mental, physical, and nutritional supports at schools. To determine what is available at your school, please reach out to partnerships@philasd.org.
- Various mental health resources available through the District’s Office of Prevention & Intervention.
I also want to encourage students and families to visit the City of Philadelphia website to find free food resources available based on your zip code.
Funding cuts have affected many different organizations that provide critical resources to families. Communities like ours tend to be most adversely affected. But it is important that we take time to both honor the good that has been done through our partnership with Eat Right Philly, and learn how to advocate for this and other programs that provide similar services. Please see this 1-pager for more information about all that Eat Right Philly has accomplished in partnership with the District. Feel free to share this information with others, in hopes that the entire community will understand the impact, and other organizations will be inspired to step in to meet the need.
Though the loss of Eat Right Philly is a setback, it will not stop us from continuing our journey to become the fastest improving, large urban public school district in the nation.
In partnership,
Tony B. Watlington Sr., Ed.D.
Superintendent
The School District of Philadelphia