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Greetings,

I would like to extend a warm welcome to the ÂãÁÄÖ±²¥ community from your school Food Services Department!  Food Services operates 44 full-service student cafeterias, one in each school. Services include daily breakfast, lunch and supper service at all schools (with the exception of Birch and Citrus Continuation High Schools, which do not serve supper).

The mission of the Food Services Department is to promote good nutrition by providing quality meals, prepared and served every day by caring professionals, in support of student education and overall wellness. 

Food Services does not receive General Fund Support; the program operates by balancing the budget through meal sales and State/Federal reimbursements.

Each school cafeteria has a team of highly trained staff with food safety and customer service as our highest priority.  These team members (often times parents of school district students themselves), receive and prepare food, cashier, serve meals and meet strict food safety standards.  Food Service operations at the District Office are headed by myself, the Senior Director of Food Services; the Assistant Director of Food Services (a Registered Dietitian); a Nutrition Specialist (a Registered Dietitian) and a team of experts who support operations and training throughout the district.

The Food Services team works together to develop healthy and appetizing meals for students, incorporating ideas gathered from students and parents. All menu options are student approved prior to placing on the menu.  Many of the foods are made from scratch, using the best ingredients including low fat proteins, whole grains, fresh fruits and vegetables, locally sourced bread, and low-fat milk.  The menus are analyzed, and recipes are adjusted to ensure they meet or exceed USDA nutrition guidelines for each age group for calories, sodium, and saturated fat.  Although you may see some popular items like pizza and chicken nuggets on the menu, be assured that your child’s school meal selections contain healthy whole grains and are lower in fat and salt than what you find in the grocery stores or restaurants.  We also offer some different foods that your child may not have tried before, so please encourage your child to taste these items, they might become a new favorite!

A variety of fresh fruits and vegetables are available at all schools.  Freshly made daily salads are available at all middle and high schools.  A vegetarian entrée is also on the menu each day at all schools.  Choice and variety are important to students, so our menu is planned to provide options.  Each day there are three lunch entrée options at the elementary level and 7-8 lunch entrée options at the middle and high schools.  A lunch is made up of basic food components: milk, meat or meat alternate, vegetable, fruit, and grains.  Students must select at least three of these components for a complete meal and one of which must be a fruit or vegetable (all lunch entrees include the grain and meat/meat alternate component). 

We are sensitive to the various nutritional needs of our students.  If your child has a dietary restriction to any food, please contact your child’s school nurse or health assistant.

Food Services participates in the National School Lunch Program, which is a federally funded program that assists in providing nutritionally balanced, low cost or free meals to students each day. Food Services is operating under a United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) program that allows all in-person students to receive meals free of charge without submitting a meal application. Charges may result in your student’s meal account for any additional menu items requested. During meal services, students will continue to obtain a meal by using their assigned student ID that is tied to his or her meal account. Some sites may use a barcode on the student ID card to scan the student ID, some sites have students enter their number into a PIN pad and a few of our elementary schools are able to count students without the need to enter a number. For younger students learning their student ID number, they can practice entering it by clicking the printable form in the Online Resources section below.

For menus and other information, please visit the Food Services webpage on the district website at . If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact my office at (909) 357-5160 x 29200.

2023-2024 Menus