Category Archives: Nutrition Services

New HISD Chief Operating Officer pledges outreach, assistance to small business owners

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Houston Independent School District Chief Operating Officer Brian Busby pledged more outreach and assistance to small business owners seeking to do business with the district in his first public appearance since being named to lead the district’s business operations division and its 7,000 employees.

“This is not a job for me, but a lifeblood,” Busby told the Greater Houston Black Chamber on Thursday. “I didn’t take this job to get to the next job. I took this job to make a difference in the lives of our students.”

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Class helps HISD youngsters learn about healthier trick-or-treating 

With Halloween as the official start of the holiday candy season, HISD Nutrition Services Dietitians Julia Jarrell, Alberto Garcia, and Nan Cramer are teaching healthy Halloween classes to elementary school students to help them become responsible trick-or-treaters.

The dietitians teach strategies and techniques to students to prevent overeating candy. Children can consume more than 700 grams of sugar on Halloween night if they go unsupervised, and high amounts of sugar can cause stomachaches, headaches, and cavities.

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HISD students vote for favorite meal during National School Lunch Week 

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The Houston Independent School District Nutrition Services department observed National School Lunch Week with several taste-testing events in which students could vote for their favorite new lunch item.

The weeklong events began Oct. 4 at several HISD schools and concluded with a final vote at Blackshear Elementary School on Oct. 7.

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HISD cafeterias welcome back students, new HISD Superintendent Richard Carranza

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On the first day of school, thousands of HISD students were greeted with hot breakfasts and lunches.

Carnegie Vanguard High School Food Service Attendant Wanda Watson said she could not wait to see students back on campus. Watson and her team got the kitchen ready a week prior to their return. They set high goals for the CVHS cafeteria this year.

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HISD chef has a passion to serve children

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HISD Research and Development Chef Tom Valdivieso has a new appreciation for what he and his fellow chefs do at the district. As a first-time father of a newborn son who will one day attend an HISD school, Valdivieso understands the importance of his role.

“We always cook with students in mind so that we can make sure they get the necessary nutrients to succeed in school,” he said. “We are trusted with their well-being.”

Valdivieso evaluates the HISD school menu as part of his job to design school meals that are delicious and healthy.

“The goal is always to satisfy students,” he said. He accomplishes this by creating recipes, testing them, and tweaking them to perfection.

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Families Encouraged to Complete Application for HISD’s Free and Reduced Price Meals Program

Application available online and at all HISD campuses for 2016-17 academic year

The Houston Independent School District announced its policy today for providing free and reduced-price meals for children served under the attached current income eligibility guidelines. Each school/site or the central office has a copy of the policy, which may be reviewed by anyone on request.

Starting on Aug. 22, 2016, the Houston Independent School District will begin distributing letters to the households of the children in the district about eligibility benefits and any actions households need to take to apply for these benefits. Applications also are available at the HISD Nutrition Services Support Facility and all HISD schools.

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Free school meals now available at 186 HISD campuses 

Nutrition Services’ Student Eligibility and Accountability department has added more schools to the Community Eligibility Provision prfree_mealsogram, increasing the number that provide free school lunches to 186 eligible campuses. HISD serves free breakfast at every school and to all students.

Nutrition Services continues to increase the number of HISD schools participating in CEP.

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Nutrition Services upgrades make online lunch account enrollment easier

School Cafe

Nutrition Services School Eligibility and Accountability department (SEA) improved two of its programs to increase satisfaction and participation. SEA digitized the Community Eligibility Provision program survey that provides more free lunches to HISD students. In addition, ParentOnline.net is now SchoolCafé.com, a software that allow parents to load funds into and manage their child’s meal account. SEA Manager Mark Allen believes these improvements will speed up the process for the back-to-school rush.

The SEA department is responsible for collecting data, and reporting it to the Texas Department of Agriculture. In February, TDA applauded Nutrition Services’ SEA team for having an excellent program that services students and their families.

HISD receiving $1.2 million for more fresh fruits and vegetables in schools 

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Nutrition Services was awarded $1.2 million from the Texas Department of Agriculture to offer fresh fruits and vegetables to more HISD students. This year, TDA selected two more HISD elementary schools to participate in the Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program, for a total of 39 schools in the district now included in the program.

FFVP helps Nutrition Services meet its goals of providing HISD students with more fresh fruits and vegetables and healthier food options in district schools. Nutrition Services Senior Operations Manager Becky Campbell said the grant gives school children the opportunity to taste products not regularly found on school menus.

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HISD chefs cook up new school menu items

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While school is out for the summer, HISD nutrition services chefs are busy in the test kitchen creating and sampling new menu items for the coming school year. And what our chefs have learned from the previous year is that our students want bold flavors, fresh ingredients, and culturally diverse food.

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