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Meals Plus Monthly E-Newsletter - October 2014

National School Lunch Week

National School Lunch Week is October 13-17, 2014 and the School Nutrition Association has everything you need to promote your child nutrition program! Increase participation in your lunchroom with the help of their NSLW Tool Kit, which is filled with tips for a successful NSLW, social media assistance, celebration ideas, PR tips and much more.

Visit their website for even more resources, including official NSLW merchandise and downloadable NSLW graphics that you can use on your menus, tray liners, newsletters, etc. And don't forget October 15th, 2014 is National Take Your Parents to Lunch Day, which is another great opportunity to increase participation!

DID YOU KNOW? According to a 2013 survey of SNA members, 80% of NSLW participants saw an increase of student participation after recognizing NSLW in their lunchrooms.

We hope you all have a successful
National School Lunch Week!

Time & Attendance Software for Your
Child Nutrition Department

"Our only issue would be that we didn't start using it sooner."

Time Clock is one of the many cafeteria software systems that make Meals Plus unique. Time Clock is a user-friendly program designed to keep track of employees' work time.

Before using Time Clock, Ginger Smith, Benefits Coordinator at Wayne County Schools in Georgia, assumed employees were working the correct amount of hours; then realizing they were wrong once they started using Time Clock. Since using Time Clock, they can precisely keep track of the amount of hours worked, and immediately see if employees worked over or less. Ginger states, "Our only issue would be that we didn't start using it sooner."

Click here to see more about Meals Plus Time Clock, including videos and sample reports!

Community Eligibility Provision Brings
Free Meals to Brunswick County Schools

Brunswick County Schools has qualified for the Community Eligibility Provision reimbursement program, which provides free breakfast and lunch to all of the district's elementary and middle school students. The district will now be required to serve meals that meet the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act requirements and keep accurate records of the number of meals served.

And although the program hasn't been around for long, it's already a huge success! So far, breakfast participation has increased 14% from the same period the previous year. And teachers are already noticing an improvement on their students' ability to focus and their overall behavior and attitude. One teacher even noted that she is having fewer students visit the nurse's office, compared to the previous year where many students would experience head or stomach aches just before lunchtime.

For more information on the impact Community Eligibility Provision has had on Brunswick County Schools, read the complete article here!

Tracking the Financial Health of
Your Child Nutrition Department

Meals Plus makes managing financial and statistical facets of your school cafeterias easy with Financial and Statistical management software. With up-to-date expense information, you can analyze the financial health for the district or an individual school. You can even set performance goals for individual schools!

Email us or call 1-800-541-8999 for more information today!

Tips from Cynthia Sevier, SNS,
Child Nutrition Operations Consultant

In Cynthia Sevier's white paper, "Fiscal Survival 101 for Child Nutrition: Financial Success in the Era of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act", she examines the four indicators of evaluating your child nutrition program's financial health. The first is "cost to revenue."

Possibly one of the most important financial statements used by a child nutrition director is the "profit and loss statement" or "statement of revenue and expenditures." The statement gives the total revenue by source, total expenditures by category and the net gain or loss of the program for the time frame covered by the statement.

It is extremely helpful to compare month-to-month figures and month-to-same-month in prior year figures. Trends of expenditures or revenue streams can be revealed through comparison of data. The statement can alert directors of budget concerns if the revenues and/or expenses are not matching budget projections. It can also signal that food and/or labor costs are excessive and need immediate attention.

To read more about the four indicators of financial health,
download your free copy of
"Fiscal Survival 101 for Child Nutrition: Financial Success in
the Era of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act"

Customer Spotlight

Susan Murray, Nauset Public Schools (MA)

Susan Murray is the Director of Food and Nutrition Services at Nauset Public Schools in Orleans, MA. Her child nutrition department uses our Point of Sale, Menu Planning/Nutrient Analysis, Accountability and Free or Reduced software that is built especially for K-12 school districts. Get to know Susan in our latest Customer Spotlight and click here to see other Meals Plus Customer Spotlights!

The Dish: How long have you been using Meals Plus?
Susan Murray: We began using Meals Plus during the 2012/2013 school year.

TD: What duties and responsibilities does your position entail?
SM: I am the Director of Food & Nutrition Services for Nauset Public Schools that consists of seven schools in five different districts. My duties include but not limited to: planning and developing all menus, supervising all staff, standardizing menus to meet all of the new guidelines, promote nutrition education, keep students, parents and public informed of all food service related communications, train all staff and am responsible for all financial and operational issues. I am also a member of the District Wellness Committee.

TD: What aspects of your position do you enjoy the most?
SM: What I enjoy most about my job is watching the student enjoy their lunches, having fun at lunch and breakfast time, and having my staff feel like they have made a difference in someone else's life – even for just that one moment.

TD: What do you enjoy doing in your free time?
SM: I exercise every morning before coming to work, so I am keeping healthy as I get older. I am also a local real estate agent that specializes in investors. I always love learning something new!

TD: What is your favorite "like" about Meals Plus and/or how has it helped your operations?
SM: What I like most about Meals Plus is the ability to be flexible. Because Meals Plus is internet-based, I am able to work from any location and get the same reports or information needed at a moment's notice.

Welcome to the Meals Plus Family, Susan Murray,
and the rest of your team at Nauset Public Schools!

School Nutrition Conferences

We are spreading the word on how Meals Plus makes managing your school's students, staff, menus, finances and inventory easier. Come see us at the following conferences: