If no one knows about your online payments program, will anyone know to use it? Whether your district is already accepting online school payments or is planning to start next year, making sure parents know about this convenient option plays an important role in its success.

With the end of the school year upon us, now is the perfect time to make sure your front of house (Point of Sale) and back of house (Menu Planning, Inventory) systems are ready for their long summer slumber.

You may have been asking yourself, I'm done serving... now what?  Don't worry, you're not alone! Here are 7 things you can do to keep your cafeteria systems happy this summer:

Smart phones, computers, tablets, oh my! With an ever growing number of devices at our children’s finger tips, kids are spending more time than ever in front of screens. This month’s FitFuture Parent Newsletter  focuses on 7 ways to reduce screen time and inactivity.

Check them out and let us know what you think!

Has this scenario ever happened to one of your cashiers?

The bell rings and before they can even sign into their POS stations, a line of kids is stretched around the whole cafeteria waiting for a hot, nutritious lunch.

In many schools across the country, students get 30 minutes or less to go through the lunch line and eat their lunch. Often times, the lunch period might even be split with recess or other school activities.

This makes the job of a cashier especially critical for making sure students get through the serving line as quickly as possible.

In America, we have become accustomed to what the typical school lunch looks like.  But in other countries, kids are served fare that's similar in some ways and strikingly different in other ways.  This curiosity led me on a search to find some of the most interesting school lunches served around the world:

March 18, 2015 - FoodServiceDirector.com announced the Top 100 School District Cafeterias as reported by Niche.  We would like to congratulate all of the Top 100 school district cafeterias that made the grade as the best in the country. Niche’s Best Food ranking is a comprehensive assessment of food quality at school districts. Their evaluation is based on survey responses from students, parents, and alumni. 

Congratulations to our three grand prize winners!

Are your school lunch heroes fighting crime and serving up justice? Well, probably not. But they sure are working hard to serve up delicious, healthy meals to students. To honor all their hard work, we're celebrating School Lunch Hero Day on May 1, 2015 with an exclusive giveaway!*

This year, three (3) Grand Prize winners will receive a complete set of the Lunch Lady Graphic Novels signed by the author, Jarrett J. Krosoczka.

Starting each day with a healthy, nutritious breakfast helps children concentrate better, be more creative, and be more physically active. But with a hectic morning schedule, how do you guarantee your child is getting a healthy breakfast?

This month's FitFuture Parent Newsletter highlights some of our favorite quick breakfast ideas that will help your morning run a little bit smoother. Check 'em out!

Put those used milk and juice cartons to good use with the Carton 2 Garden Contest sponsored by Evergreen Packaging. They're looking for schools who can come up with the most creative way to construct a garden made from recycled milk/juice cartons and share their experience.

I was very excited when asked to join some fellow Heartlanders and attend the School Nutrition Association’s Legislative Action Conference (SNA-LAC). LAC is an annual event held in Washington, DC and took place this year March 1-4, 2015. As this would be my inaugural LAC, I welcomed the opportunity to experience this event first-hand.