Tag Archives: lunchroom management software

Here’s One Way to Improve School Lunches

Alice Park @aliceparkny

March 23, 2015
Yellow Dog Productions—Getty Images For many children, half their daily calories come from school lunch With so many children getting about half of their daily calories from school meals, it’s critical that school cafeterias provider healthier options. The latest research suggests one way to get kids to eat more fruits and vegetables

 

If everyone had a personal chef, we’d all eat better. And if every school had a chef overseeing its recipes and menus, then kids would eat better too, right?

That’s the idea behind the latest study published in JAMA Pediatrics. With 32 million children in the U.S. eating school lunches—some of those at schools where pizza is considered a vegetable—there’s a movement to bring healthy food to the school cafeteria. But could a chef really make a difference?

MORE: Here’s What School Lunches Around the World Look Like

The answer, as Juliana Cohen from the Harvard School of Public Health and her colleagues found out, is a resounding yes. The First Lady’s Chefs Move to Schools program and the Smarter Lunchrooms movement have pushed two new ways of bringing healthier fare to students: by hiring chefs to work in school cafeterias, and by something they called a “smart café” system: strategically placing healthy foods like fruits and vegetables more prominently in lunch lines.

To test each strategy, as well as the two methods together, Cohen went to 14 schools in low-income Massachusetts urban areas and watched what 2,638 students in 3rd grade through 8th grade put on their trays and ate during lunch for seven months. Some schools were randomly assigned for the first three months to work with a chef to develop and modify recipes, some simply focused on the placement of healthy food, and some did both. The scientists studied what was left on the students’ plates as a way to determine what and how much of their food the students were eating.

MORE: Michelle Obama Bites Back at Critics of Her Healthy School Lunch Standards

At the chef schools, the chances that the students selected fruit from the lunch line increased threefold compared to schools without a chef’s influence, and the odds that they actually tried some of the fruit increased by 17%. Researchers saw similar boosts with vegetables; students in the chef schools were nearly three times as likely to choose veggies, and 16% more likely to actually eat them.

When the researchers looked at the schools that used both the chefs and the smart café strategies, the results were more mixed. Interestingly, the combination did not significantly affect the chances that students would grab fruits, but it dramatically increased the odds that children would pick up vegetables, compared to schools without either intervention.

“We were quite surprised to see that when we looked at the combined smart café and chefs, there was no additional benefit beyond the impact of the chef,” says Cohen, a research associate in the department of nutrition. “Really it’s the impact of the chef that is driving the increase in consumption. We also saw that chef schools also increased selection as well, so there is a double benefit in these schools.”

What the results highlight is that smart architecture and strategic placing of healthier foods in more prominent positions isn’t enough to get kids to eat them. But having a chef prepare school lunch does the trick.

MORE: Lunch Brought From Home is Unhealthier Than Cafeteria Food

At the schools assigned to use a chef, the chefs tested new recipes and gave out samples for students to try, as well as encouraged them to try new things, presumably those containing more vegetables and fruits. “Knowing that the chef inspired the recipes can change the mentality around cafeteria food,” says Cohen. “And having the chefs there showed the kids that the school cared about them, and cared about what they were feeding them.”

MORE: Most Schools Still Don’t Meet Federal Nutrition Standards

Cohen doesn’t see hiring full time chefs as a realistic or practical option for most school districts, but does suggest having several districts pool their resources to share a chef for training and nutrition education. At the schools in the study, some saw cost savings because the chefs not only revamped menus but helped staff with inventory control and more efficient use of their supplies. “They will gain long-lasting skills,” she says, noting that once they are trained, cafeteria staff could come up with their own additions and modifications to menus over time.

There won’t be a single easy fix to improving school lunches, and each school may need to find its own solution, but if Cohen’s study proves one thing, it’s that when it comes to getting kids to eat something — anything — taste is key. Even if it’s nutritious, if it tastes good too, students will eat it.

Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic School installed the Lunch Cashier System to automate the tracking of student lunches.

In the cafeteria, we installed the Lunch Cashier System to automate the tracking of student lunches. Then as the student eats hot lunches at school or purchases milk, they present their ID card (the same ID card that is used in the library, see above) and the funds are automatically deducted from that student’s account.

We also offer many academic, sport, and social gathering opportunities for students, staff, parents, and the community at large to come together and unite as one in support of the school and its mission.

Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic School has been accredited by the Wisconsin Religious and Independent School Association (WRISA). For more information on this topic please refer to the Accreditation page located on this site.

Our Lady of Lourdes faculty includes a combination of both full and part time staff, including administrative support people and food service personnel. All are 100% dedicated to teaching the highest academic standards and living the Catholic faith with all students. Our teachers are top notch with most of them having a current Wisconsin teaching certificate in the area they teach and others having a college education majoring in the subject they teach. The teaching staff is expected to have religious certification from the Diocese of Green Bay. Everyone in our school community is very dedicated to Catholic education and Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic School.

We would be happy to answer any questions that you may have or to assist you in learning more about our school and what we have to offer. Please call us at 920-336-3091.

Have a great day and may God bless you and yours.

Independence Community School District – School Lunch Software

Independence Community School District – School Lunch Software

Access your School Lunch Account Online and Make Payments

It is quick and easy to check your lunch account balance and to setup an account to make payments online! To check your account, first go to the Independence Community School District’s website. www.independence.k12.ia.us On the ICSD’s home page, about halfway down in the grid, Click on “School Lunch Program.” Then the next page, on the left side, will have a section where it says, “Lunch Account Balance”. On the page it takes you to, click where it says, “CLICK HERE to check on Your Family’s Lunch Account.” You will see the Wordware, Inc. Log In page. Please bookmark or save this first page. Then you can
access your account without having to go the ICSD’s website each time. You will need your Family ID (Username) and your PIN (Password)
to get started. Then it will ask for our state and our school district.
Please call the Food Service Office, 319-334-7423, and we’ll be happy to give you your Family ID (Username) and PIN (Password). You can also e-mail me at: kcrosssley@independence.k12.ia.us Once you get to your account information on the Wordware, Inc’s website, you’ll see information for thecurrent month only. At the bottom of this page, you’ll see a place to see a detailed report of transactions.This is also for the current month only. If it is the first or second day of the month, you will only see purchases and deposits for those days. At the bottom of the detailed report, you will see an opportunity to request a statement for more transactions. If you request a statement and there is a problem, please e-mail me directly and I will mail you a statement going back as far as you need it to go. To make a payment online After you have looked up your account on Wordware, Inc’s web page as instructed above, at the bottom of the page, you’ll see “To make a payment, Click Here”. If you “Click Here”, it will take you to our online payment page, called eFunds. Once on the eFunds page, you can either log in using the account you’ve already set up, or you can set up a new account where it says, “New Users”, click on “Register Here.” It will take you through several steps of taking your information and either credit card or checking account information, and will also have you link yourself to your student(s). You won’t be able to make a payment until you are linked to a student in our school district. If you have any problems getting to any of these webpages or need further assistance, please call the Food Services Office, 319-334-7423. The eFunds support team is also very good and will help you get set-up or fix any issues you have with making a payment.
Thank you for choosing to access your account online!!

Independence is a fantastic community located in Northeast Iowa. It has a population of around 6,000 residents and approximately 1345 students. The community of Independence is situated between the cities of Waterloo/Cedar Falls to the West and Cedar Rapids to the South. The beautiful Wapsipinicon River flows through Independence, providing for summer recreation. The school district includes the communities of Rowley, Brandon, and Independence. The community is proud of its strong school district and the dedicated staff who work here. Thank you for taking the time to investigate what we are doing in the district. Together we can make a difference in the lives of students.

SCHOOL LUNCH PROGRAM (SCHOOL FOOD AND NUTRITION PROGRAM)

An accounting system and the necessary forms for its maintenance are prescribed by the StateBoard of Accounts. If these forms are properly maintained for your program, you will have little difficulty obtaining the information needed to prepare monthly federal reimbursement claims, quarterly financial reports, etc. Effective internal controls of cash receipts and meals served are built into the system by using one of several methods. The methods are the use of properly maintained and approved class rosters, prenumbered meal tickets, and cash registers.
Computerized cash systems could be used after submission and review by the State Board of Accounts. All cash register systems must be equipped with identification keys to indicate (1) paid student meals, (2) reduced price student meals, (3) free student meals, (4) adult meals, (5) a la carte sales and other additional categories the school corporation may wish to identify that may be required by the accounting system. The register must have locked-in audit tapes and non-resettable totals for each category. If any type of cash register system is used, the cashier is accountable for the cash registered on that machine when it is totaled and checked out.
If meal tickets are used, the tickets are issued to each ticket seller in pre numbered blocks. Each ticket seller is charged with the value of the tickets issued and must either turn in money or unused tickets to discharge his liability. A receipt must be issued to each ticket seller for the money deposited with the charter school. If a daily ticket is used, it is collected at the serving line; however, if the ticket is for multiple days, it is punched at the serving line as that day’s meal is served.
All methods to account for the cafeteria operation require that the person responsible for collecting and reporting the money received for meals be different from the person responsible for counting and reporting the number of meals served. Under no circumstances shall all duties be vested in a single individual. School Food Form SF-2, Daily Record of Cash Received, categorizes cash receipts on a daily basis and must be totaled monthly. School Food Form SF-2A, Daily Record of Meals/Milk Served, records daily the number of meals/milk served and must be totaled monthly and will be a source of information for preparation of the monthly claim for federal reimbursement. School Food Form SF-3, Cash Disbursements and Fund Balance, is used to record on a daily basis the disbursements of the School Food Service Program and together with the SF-2 acts as the source information for the calculation of the fund balance as shown on the SF-3. The disbursement categories Service Area Direction and Food Preparation and Dispensing are defined as: Service Area Direction. Activities pertaining to directing and managing the food service program for the school corporation. Food Preparation and Dispensing. Activities concerned with preparing and serving the food and beverages associated with the food service program. This includes operating kitchen equipment, preparing food, cooking, serving food, cleaning and storing dishes and kitchen and lunch room equipment.
17-2Forms SF-1, SF-2, SF-2A, and SF-3 shall be maintained on a daily basis and totaled monthly.
These monthly totals are a source of information for preparation of the claim for federal reimbursement, the quarterly financial report, etc. SCHOOL FOOD VERIFICATIONS OF ELIGIBILITY
We understand situations exist which could be a concern regarding charter schools test-checking the validity of information provided on the applications for free and reduced-priced meals. The results of test checks, are to be reported to the Indiana Department of Education in accordance with 7CFR 245.6(a). Some tests note a very high incidence of errors or inaccurate applications.
An error for purposes of the test-check is an approved application, attempted to be verified that cannot be verified by the program participants with requested income verification information (i.e.,paycheck stub, W-2, etc.). Program participants who have an application that cannot be verified are not always dropped from the free and reduced-price meal program and corrections in reporting and additional testing does not always occur. The State Board of Accounts is of the audit position charter schools shall request a written position from the Indiana Department of Education stating whether the corrective action taken was sufficient or if additional verifications need to be performed when high incidences of errors in test sample verifications are noted. The written communication to the Department of Education must also request a determination if any increases or decreases in funding will result to the charter school because of the concerns noted with the verification process.
SCHOOL FOOD SYSTEMS – PREPAID FOOD

Subsidiary records by student must be routinely reconciled to the cash balance and at month end.

The School Food Prescribed Forms and any approved computerized Forms will be required to be maintained in the following manner to accurately account for prepaid items. A column titled “Prepaid Food” is added to the Daily Record of Cash Received, Form SF-2, for recording prepaid amounts received which have not been identified as to revenue type, i.e., lunch, breakfast, etc. Amounts will be entered both in “Prepaid Food” and “Total Cash Received” for each day because cash has been received. Another column “Prepaid Food Applied” is also added to Form SF-2, which will show periodic (and monthly) activity whenever prepaid meals are identified (charged to breakfast, lunch, etc.). Amounts in “Prepaid Food Applied” must at all times equal for each day, the amounts charged to various categories, i.e., student lunch, adult breakfast, etc. that were not paid for in cash. Amounts will not be added to “Total Cash Received” because cash has been previously entered and recognized in “Prepaid Food”. You are merely transferring “Prepaid Food” to the applicable categories.
The final column added to SF-2 is “Prepaid Food Trust”, which is the running balance column which shows the difference between “Prepaid Food” and “Prepaid Food Applied”. The amounts in “Prepaid Food Trust” are deducted from the “Balance” column in SF-3 Form, School Food Service Cash Disbursements which then should equal the amount in the new SF-3 Column “Available Cash Balance.”
Amounts are not entered in “Total Cash Received” because “Prepaid Food Trust” is merely a balance column. Computerized systems must provide a list, by student, of cash balances which should sum to the “Prepaid Food Trust.”

Child Nutrition Programs: Income Eligibility Guidelines

This notice announces the Department’s annual adjustments to the Income Eligibility Guidelines to be used in determining eligibility for free and reduced price meals and free milk for the period from July 1, 2016 through June 30, 2017. These guidelines are used by schools, institutions, and facilities participating in the National School Lunch Program (and Commodity School Program), School Breakfast Program, Special Milk Program for Children, Child and Adult Care Food Program and Summer Food Service Program. The annual adjustments are required by section 9 of the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act. The guidelines are intended to direct benefits to those children most in need and are revised annually to account for changes in the Consumer Price Index.

Type:
Notice
Publication Date:
Wednesday, March 23, 2016

Peanut butter started out as a healthy food with all nutrition included in the School Lunch Software menu

A child in my rural neighborhood loved peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for breakfast, lunch and dinner during his entire elementary and junior high years.  It’s all he wanted to eat, even forgoing pizza for his beloved PBJ sandwich.    Pondering this love for tasty peanut butter and jelly, it seems like the perfect food to research in trying out the Food Timeline by Lynne Olver, a reference librarian with a passion for food history.  It’s available on the website, http://www.foodtimeline.org, starting by Ms. Olver in 1999.  The site notes that she passed in 2015.

It is amazing, fun, and interesting to find the detailed research that has gone into each of the hundreds of items listed on the site.  Peanut butter and jelly appeared on the scene in about 1901, along with the savory Eggs in a Basket.  That is about the first time peanuts were ground into ‘butter’, some 30 years after breakfast cereal and 30 years before refrigerator biscuits. The actual PBJ sandwich didn’t appear until sliced bread arrived during the 1920s.  It can now be said that the Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwich is the best thing since sliced bread. (smile)

Peanut butter started out as a health food and became more popular as the price dropped.  In 1923 The Beech-Nut Packing Co of Canajoharie, NY put out a book of menus and recipes by Ida Bailey Allen that listed six variations of the BPJ sandwich.  They are all worth a look on the website…link here.  By 1928 there were incredible menu options for expanding the Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich, including honey, walnuts, celery, ginger, currants, prunes, ham, maple, strawberry, lettuce and so forth.  Some are actually mouthwatering!  This site is a gem for anyone involved in cooking, teaching, or food.  Enjoy!, howsoever there is a best school lunch software for your school’s  lunch program.  Using software you can provide healthy nutrition to the student .  Wordware’s school lunch software is the most unique and affordable nutrition software  for elementary, junior  high schools.  Most of the schools and colleges are satisfied with the wordware nutrition software  LCS1000 mayflower . From the launch of the new nutrition’s software, School Food Service Directors, was happy  that Wordware Lunch Cashier system would be an excellent fit for the children in their school.

District Schools Highly Satisfied With Lunch Cashier System Cafeteria Software’s performance and customer support – School Food Service Directors

The Wordware mission with Lunch Cashier system for School District ‘s is to actively contribute to the health of children, district staff, lunch cafeteria staff, students and other eligible customers by preparing, marketing and food service cafeteria software application.. Nutritious meals will be offered at a free and reduced price for eligible students while maintaining a financially accountable program.

Wordware Lunch Cashier system assists with your staff and parents to the new lunchroom software and is always here to help with any questions that may come up encounter while the process or after implementation Schools quickly learned how helpful our team is from the beginning and they are pleased with the technical support being provided by wordware’s experienced and dedicated technical staff. Wordware Support Team set up the software for the schools and provide training to your school staff up to the level they needed to learn the ins and outs of our school cafeteria software. From the launch of the new software, School Food Service Directors, was happy that Wordware Lunch Cashier system would be an excellent fit for the children in their school.

“The implementation team and trainers did a great job getting us set up and ready for the first day of school,” say many of our valuable customers. Furthermore, their Staff have not encountered any problems, but they called for general questions. Customer care representative attends the phones calls promptly and guide them with confidence in using the lunchroom management software than before. They all are extremely satisfied that with the of wordware customer support team.

“There are many reasons why using Wordware for our lunch software has made my job easier. The remote support and ticket system have been a life saver on many occasions. The Direct Certification is simplified and the Free and Reduced timeline has kept me on track. The upgrade to the LCS1000 Mayflower has everything I need on the family dashboard for quick and easy reference. There are letter templates that can be customized by you and the numerous reporting options available are a tremendous help in documenting the daily and monthly transaction activities.” – Jean Erd, School District of Menomonee Falls

The Lunch Cashier System by Wordware, Inc. is a complete, affordable, user-friendly meal accounting system for schools, including back-office and point-of-sale management software. Lunch Cashier System is one of the Top Food Service Management Software. They provide comprehensive solutions to both school administration and food service staff. Computerized Lunch Program for school cafeterias, State and Federal reporting. Parents only need to send lunch money to one family account for all family members participating in the lunch program.

 

 

District Schools Highly Satisfied With Lunch Cashier System Cafeteria Software’s performance and customer support – School Food Service Directors

Wordware mission with Lunch Cashier system for School District ‘s  is to actively contribute to the health of children, district staff, lunch cafeteria staff, students and other eligible customers by preparing, marketing and food service cafeteria software application.. Nutritious meals will be offered at a free and reduced price for eligible students while maintaining a financially accountable program.

Wordware Lunch Cashier system assists with your staff and parents to the new lunchroom software and is always here to help with any questions that may come up encounter while the process or after implementation Schools quickly learned how helpful our team is from the beginning and they are pleased with the technical support being provided by wordware’s experienced and dedicated technical staff. Wordware Support Team set up the software for the schools and provide training to your school staff up to the level they needed to learn the ins and outs of our school cafeteria software. From the launch of the new software, School Food Service Directors, was happy  that Wordware Lunch Cashier system would be an excellent fit for the children in their school.

“The implementation team and trainers did a great job getting us set up and ready for the first day of school,” say many of our valuable customers. Furthermore, their Staff have not encountered any problems, but they called for general questions. Customer care representative attends the phones calls promptly and guide them with confidence in using the lunchroom management software than before. They all are extremely satisfied that with the of wordware customer support team.

“There are many reasons why using Wordware for our lunch software has made my job easier. The remote support and ticket system have been a life saver on many occasions. The Direct Certification is simplified and the Free and Reduced timeline has kept me on track. The upgrade to the LCS1000 Mayflower has everything I need on the family dashboard for quick and easy reference. There are letter templates that can be customized by you and the numerous reporting options available are a tremendous help in documenting the daily and monthly transaction activities.” – Jean Erd, School District of Menomonee Falls

The Lunch Cashier System by Wordware, Inc. is a complete, affordable, user-friendly meal accounting system for schools, including back-office and point-of-sale management software. Lunch Cashier System is one of the Top Food Service Management Software. They provide comprehensive solutions to both school administration and food service staff. Computerized Lunch Program for school cafeterias, State and Federal reporting. Parents only need to send lunch money to one family account for all family members participating in the lunch program.