NOTE TO FAMILIES:

Government regulations require that every student participating in the school lunch program take ½ cup fruit or vegetable or combination of both daily on their tray.  We offer a variety of fruits and vegetables daily. 

Students choosing NOT to take the required amounts of fruits and/or vegetables will be charged $3.15 for lunch. 

So please encourage your children to follow the USDA guidelines for the National School Lunch Program by selecting from the variety of fruits and vegetables offered daily.

Thank you!

Mary Jo Gerhardt

Food Service Director

Exciting Changes Ahead for School Meal Programs

By: Mary Jo Gerhardt

       Food Service Director

We’ve been working over the summer to make changes in our menus.  Our school meal program – as you may have seen in the news, must meet tough new federal nutrition standards when school begins this year.  These standards ensure that meals are healthy and well-balanced and provide students all the nutrition they need to succeed at school.

As in the past, school meals will continue to offer students milk, fruits and vegetables, proteins and grains, and they must meet strict limits on saturated fat and portion size.  Starting in School Year 2012-2013, school lunches will meet additional standards requiring:

·         Age-appropriate calorie limits

·         Larger servings of vegetables and fruits (students must take at least one serving of produce before they sit down with their tray)

·         A wider variety of vegetables, including dark green and red/orange vegetables and legumes

·         Fat-free or 1% milk (flavored milk must be fat-free)

·         More whole grains

·         And less sodium

All grade levels are affected by these changes.  We will publish our menus in the Orange & Black monthly and on our school website.  Menus will also be available at each school office.   We encourage you to look at the menus and show them to your student(s).  We know that some of these foods may be new to them, but we view the school cafeteria as a great place to learn – but here they usually don’t learn math or science or reading – they learn to eat healthy foods!

We will have a variety of ways to let our students know what is new and different in the cafeteria.

Our lunch and breakfast programs continue to be a great value and a huge convenience for busy families too! Lunch costs $2.15 daily for students 4K-6 and $2.45 daily for students 7-12.  Breakfast will be offered at the elementary school at a cost of $1.25 daily. Your children may qualify for free meals or for reduced price meals.  Reduced price for lunch is $.40 per day for students 4K-12. Breakfast will be offered free to those students who qualify for reduced price meals (4K-6 only).  Elementary students who qualify for free hot lunch are also eligible to receive free breakfast.

Now is a great time to encourage your kids to choose school lunch!  We look forward to welcoming your children to the cafeteria this fall.

Thank you!