Category Archives: Food Services

As school year starts, curbside student meals program kicks off

Under a cloudy sky, Interim Superintendent Grenita Lathan greeted Westbury High School students and their parents on the first day of the school year.

But instead of navigating blue and grey painted halls that would normally be crowded with students, she and new Principal Jerri Nixon were busy handing out pre-packed meals to Westbury families in the parking lot.

As students across the district return to school virtually, HISD Nutrition Services is offering daily curbside pickup for breakfast and lunch meals at 86 strategically located schools, including Westbury.

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HISD Nutrition Services to serve curbside and classroom meals this fall

After a week-long break, the Houston Independent School District is relaunching curbside student meals distribution on Tuesday, Sept. 8 — the first day of the 2020-2021 school year.

HISD Nutrition Services will offer daily curbside pickup, Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at 86 schools strategically located throughout the district. Each day, families can go to any location to pick up one pre-packed breakfast and lunch meal per student. The meals are served at no cost to families.

Parents must show proof of enrollment in an HISD school — such as a student ID or report card — to pick up the meals.

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With cafeterias closed, Nutrition Services finds innovative ways to feed students

A group of Windswept Gardens Apartments residents made their way through the complex’s tree-lined central courtyard, which sits just a few hundred yards from the speeding cars and unending traffic of the Southwest Freeway.

Clad in face masks and carefully keeping their distance from each other, the families gathered around a blue tent where HISD’s Nutrition Services staff were handing out student summer meals in the afternoon sun.

The district has long offered a free summer meal program for students throughout the greater Houston community. In previous years, children would come to local schools to eat. But the COVID-19 pandemic changed the game, prompting Nutrition Services to look for innovative and safe ways to feed kids without a cafeteria.

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HISD, Houston Food Bank hosts community food distributions on Fridays in August at NRG

The Houston Independent School District, in partnership with the Houston Food Bank, is hosting mass community food distributions on in August at NRG Stadium.

Nutrition Services staff are expected to distribute 5,000 food packages as well as 5,000 packages of student meals. The family food packages will have up to 60 pounds of food, while each student meals package will contain a week’s worth of breakfast and lunch meals.

Distribution is open from 2 to 7 p.m. on Aug. 14, Aug. 21, and Aug. 28 in the NRG yellow lot. Attendees must enter via the yellow lot main entrance off South Main Street. During the final distribution — on Aug. 28 only — families also will receive school supplies donated by T-Mobile, Reliant, and Kroger.

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Nutrition Services recognized for community outreach, focus on healthy eating

Nutrition Services received top honors for its school-based initiatives and ongoing community outreach in Food Management magazine’s 2020 Best Concept awards competition.

The department was named Editor’s Choice Best Concept Awards Best of Show for their efforts to feed families during the COVID-19 pandemic, expand salad bars to all campuses, and launch a food literacy program to help students understand the importance of living a healthy lifestyle.

The magazine also highlighted the department’s Good Food campaign, which calls for all students to have access to nutritious food that is flavorful, colorful, wholesome, and locally sourced, and recognized the team for successfully converting from third-party management to self-operating status.

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Student meals to be delivered directly to three apartment complexes in Wheatley HS feeder pattern

Beginning Monday, the Houston Independent School District will deliver a weeks’ worth of student meals directly to three apartment complexes with large concentrations of students in the Wheatley High School feeder pattern.

Offered through Nutrition Services Houston Eats catering service, the delivery service will be provided through August as a complement to the district’s curbside summer meals program.

The program is open to students who are between the ages 1 to 18 and live in the apartment complexes where the food is being delivered. Participants do not have to be enrolled in HISD schools.

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HISD to open 12 Curbside Summer Meals distribution sites on Monday

Seven sites to provide food for students and families in partnership with Houston Food Bank

When the Houston Independent School District reopens its curbside summer meals program on Monday, July 20, it will do so with 12 sites strategically located throughout the city.

Seven of those locations will be operated in partnership with the Houston Food Bank, allowing families to pick up several days’ worth of student meals as well as packages of produce — and other food items when available — for families.

HISD Nutrition Services previously operated several dozen smaller sites but streamlined operations to maximize resources in areas with the most need and reduce staff needed on site as COVID-19 cases continue to rise across the city.

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Most Curbside Summer Meals sites temporarily close for two weeks beginning Friday, July 3

The Houston Independent School District is temporarily closing most Curbside Summer Meals sites beginning Friday, July 3, due to guidance from public health officials and rising numbers of COVID-19 cases throughout the city.

Five strategically located sites offering both Curbside Summer Meals and the Houston Food Bank’s Coronavirus Food Assistance Program — which provides families with 30-pound boxes of produce — will remain open.

Those sites are Sam Houston Math, Science, and Technology Center, Revere Middle School, and Kashmere, Chavez, and Milby high schools.

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Summer meals close at Paige and Port Houston, re-open at Oates

Two curbside summer meals sites will be closed from June 15 to June 29, following a confirmed case of the COVID-19 virus.

Paige and Port Houston elementary schools will be deep-cleaned and sanitized during the temporary closure.

Impacted employees have been notified and are now in self-quarantine in accordance with public health guidelines. Health authorities do not believe families participating in the curbside summer meals program were exposed.

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Three summer meals sites closed, beginning Monday

Three curbside summer meals sites are closed effective Monday, June 8, and will remain closed until further notice.

Summer meals sites at R. P. Harris and Nathaniel Q. Henderson elementary schools are closed due to facility issues, while the site at Oates Elementary School is closed due to a confirmed case of the COVID-19 virus. The case is not related to HISD Nutrition Services or its curbside summer meals program, but it does impact the availability of the site.

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