Gwinnett County Public Schools’ (GCPS) award-winning School Nutrition Program (SNP) will continue to provide tasty, nutritious meals to students at no cost this school year, under a federal waiver. Both in-person and virtual students will have access to breakfast and lunch at no charge in all 135 school cafeterias each school day. (Details on meal availability for virtual students will be provided by the local school.)
Looking for a family-friendly job with time off when your kids are home from school? Our School Nutrition Program is hiring now! Click here to learn more about the position and how to apply online.
GCPS cafeterias serve many familiar brands that families use at home, including Tyson, General Mills, Kellogg’s, and Land O’ Lakes, to name just a few. In addition, students are served a variety of fruits and vegetables through Gwinnett’s Farm to School program. In fact, last school year, our cafeterias served 5.9 million servings of regionally grown produce and 670,000 million servings of Georgia Grown produce.
GCPS will start the year with a number of student favorites on the menu, including crispy chicken sandwiches, 100% all-beef burgers and hot dogs, and a variety of delicious pizza items. In addition, the district’s Vegetarian Line has been revamped and a vegetarian item will be offered every day at elementary, middle, and high schools.
So, what’s new on the menu for the 2021-22 school year?
Asian Bowls with Yakisoba noodles
Thai Dumplings filled with chicken and veggies
MorningStar Farms Vegetarian Buffalo Wings
Yogurt Bowls with spiced vanilla yogurt, fruit puree and fun toppings
Spicy Bean Dip served with tortilla chips
Families have two options for finding the week’s meal offerings—check out school-specific menus on the Nutrislice web page, or download the Nutrislice menu app from Google Play or the iTunes App Store.
Check out this video from GCPS TV to learn more about “Back to School with Café Gwinnett.”
Follow Gwinnett’s School Nutrition Program @CafeGwinnett on Facebookand Instagramfor the latest on menus, special treats, and giveaways!
It’s more than meals
While meals will be provided at no charge for all students this school year, it still pays to complete the Free and Reduced-price Meal Application. Families whose students would be eligible for meal support in a typical year should complete the application as soon as possible.
One meal application affects a lot for your family…Confirmed eligibility establishes a number of benefits for individual students such as discounted or no fees for college-admissions exams and AP tests, discounted or free college applications, scholarship opportunities, and no- and low-cost access to technology and internet plans.
And for your child’s school…The percentages of qualifying students at a school are used as a measure to secure additional federal funding (Title I) to support students and their education, promote family engagement, and provide technology and internet access. Title I funds pay for additional teachers, Parent Centers, additional learning opportunities for students, extra resources, and more.
GCPS offers an online application and a printed application (available at schools). A new application must be completed each year. Due to the number of applications received, families can expect a faster turnaround time for the online application, which is available in English and Spanish.