Throughout the year, we shared many helpful tips and hints to help you get the most from your program. Here's just some of our favorites from 2019:

1. 10 Awesome Apps Schools are Using to Communicate With Parents

   Schools and parent communication have reached a crossroad in recent years thanks to the ubiquity of smartphones and mobile apps. Currently, 77% of all U.S. adults own a smartphone and nearly 55% of them receive news alerts on their phones. As this trend toward mobile communication continues, technology companies are fast developing mobile apps that cater to the needs of school communities. Now teachers, parents, and students can communicate and collaborate more easily without having to rely on more traditional forms of communication like phone calls and letters.  Read More >
   
   

2. [New Designs] Free School Menu Templates For The 2019-20 School Year!

   With all new designs, the school menu templates are back! These new 2019-20 school menu templates will be sure to liven up lunchtime and help you prepare for the new year.  Read More >
   
   

3. Unpaid Meal Charges Got You Down? We Can Help!

   School cafeterias serve millions of meals to students each day. And as the end of the school year approaches, so does the uneasy task of collecting unpaid student meal balances.  Read More >
   
   

4. 10 Classroom Management Apps That Help Support Student Learning
   
   Schools across the country are using classroom management apps to enhance the education of students and help teachers improve their lesson plans. These apps help teachers better manage grades, student attendance, seating charts, parent communication, and more.  Read More >
   
   

5. Quick Tips To Optimize Your K-12 POS Menu Boards
   

   Your point of sale is the center of your nutrition operation during serving periods. With an average lunch period lasting only 25 minutes, students want to get through the line quickly so they have time to eat and chat with friends.

   While there are many adjustments you can make to speed up your serving lines, optimizing your menu boards can also help shave a few precious seconds off the time it takes to enter a transaction. Read More >
   
   

6. A "Sound" Approach to Speeding Up Serving Lines
   

   Lunchtime is often considered crunch time for school food service staff - for more reasons than one! Serving meals quickly and efficiently, while also making sure students have time to eat, can be a challenge for many schools. That's why any feature or method that can help speed up your serving lines, even by a few seconds, can be monumental.

   One school district in Northern California found that simply using audio messages at their Point of Sale stations helped to increase their line speed and satisfaction among the students.  Read More >
    

7. How to Host a Successful Taste Test in Your School Cafeteria

   It's no secret that students can get tired of eating the same thing over and over again. Offering different and new menu items can freshen up your meals and get students excited about eating in the cafeteria. Hosting a taste test event is a great way to get students involved in choosing new menu items and learning more about their preferences. A successful taste test gives students the opportunity to try new recipes and share valuable feedback before you start serving them on a regular basis.  Read More >

    

8. The Public Charge Rule and Its Impact on School Meal Programs
   
   Last month the Trump Administration published a new rule on something called Public Charge. It creates new barriers for immigrants to achieve permanent status in the U.S. with either a green card or citizenship. In effect, the rule states that any non-citizen who might receive benefits through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), housing assistance, or Medicaid may not be admitted to the country or be granted legal status. The determination of an immigrant’s likelihood of requiring assistance in the future is a subjective one, but individuals and families that are not wealthy or secure in their employment on arrival will certainly be at risk.  Read More >
   
   

9. 5 Platforms Every School Should Consider Integrating with Their Student Information System
   
   School technology continues to evolve to support the operational needs of K12. Student Information Systems (SIS) have revolutionized how school administrators, teachers and parents maintain and access student records. Data such as demographics, student enrollment, class schedules, and grades are electronically and securely managed within a student information database. Now that most - if not all K12 districts use a SIS, other school systems have built integrations to streamline these processes even further.  Read More >
   
   

10. How Much Waste Does Your Cafeteria Throw Away in a Day?
    
    That's a great question and likely one that many nutrition programs may not be able to answer. It’s estimated that K-12 schools throw away roughly $1.2 billion dollars worth of food each year! One study found that K-12 schools in Minnesota generated 483,520 lbs. of waste in a given school day and the most prominent category of items filling up the trash cans was food waste.  Read More >