Welcome to Café #110!

GENERAL INFORMATION FOR ALL GRADES

I want to extend a warm welcome from Cafe #110. Our teams are all eager for the start of a new school year. We were busy this summer working on a variety of projects preparing for the new year. We will continue to increase our efforts to source ingredients locally and to create recipes that our kids love. A peek at our FaceBook page to see what we have been up to, and to see what our kitchens create.

Our teams are committed to preparing and serving nutritious meals and enhancing children’s overall health and well-being through sound nutrition. We operate 9 student cafeterias. Our services include breakfast that begins 30 minutes before the first bell, lunch at each school, snack break at Southview Elementary, and catering throughout the district. 

These teams work with me to develop amazing meals for our students. Many of our creations are made from scratch using quality, healthy ingredients. Choice and variety are important to students, so our menu is planned to provide a variety of options. Each day there are two entree options at the elementary level, and 4-5 entree options available at the middle school and high school levels.

A “school lunch” is comprised of 5 basic food components: meat/meat alternate; grain; vegetable; fruit; & milk. Students must select at least 3 of these components for a complete meal (1 of which must be a vegetable or fruit). We realize that children can be particular about fruit and vegetable selections and that is why we offer upwards of 10-15 choices for students on most days. As a companion to our vegetables, we make 5 different dressings/ dips which have been developed with input from students.

As you can see, we work very hard to respond to the various nutritional needs of all students. If your child has an allergy to any food, please contact your school nurse. 

Purchasing a meal is very easy. Every student is assigned a student ID that is tied to his or her meal account. Students type in their ID at the register. The account is similar to a debit account where purchases are deducted from funds applied to the account. Funds can be added using a credit card, cash, or a check paid to the kitchen cashier or the school office. Online credit and debit payments are available by following the payment links on the District website or by using this link: www.wordwareinc.com.

Your student’s account balance and purchase statement can be viewed by logging into your Family Access page. All meal accounts are “family accounts,” meaning that all children in a household belong to the same account. When a family account reaches -$.01, an automated email will be sent to the parent/guardian. These notices take place daily as a service to our families to ensure that negative charges do not accrue before a parent/guardian is made aware. FAMILIES CAN, AND ARE ENCOURAGED TO RESET THIS LOW BALANCE NOTIFICATION TO YOUR PREFERENCE WHEN LOGGED INTO THE WWW.WORDWARE.INC SITE.

The Nutrition Services Program participates in the National School Lunch Program, which is a federally funded program that assists in providing nutritionally balanced, low-cost, or free meals to students each day. This packet includes an application to the program, it is also available at your student’s school and electronically on the food services page on the District website. The application must be fully completed (be sure to include everyone in your household and all income) and return to the Food Services office by mail, e-mail, or drop it off at your student’s school. First-time applicants will need to have their applications approved before the benefits will apply, until that time, full charges will accrue. For families with benefits from the previous year, a new application must be submitted each school year by the 30th school day or the benefit carry-over will expire. 

For menus and other information, please visit  www.cafe110.org or through the District at www.isd110.org.

Here are a few more tips to prepare you and your child for activity in our cafeterias this fall:

1. Elementary Morning Break – Bayview and Laketown – promote water as the preferred mid-morning snack beverage; Southview – offers a snack of assorted breakfast grains, yogurt, cheese, fruit, 100% fruit juice, & milk for $1.00, or milk for $0.55; paid on the day of service.
2. Fruits and Vegetables – all students are encouraged to take a variety of fruits and vegetables – more than one portion of the same fruit will result in an a la carte charge.
3. Water – is available in every cafeteria – water bottles are encouraged, or cups are provided.
4. Point of Sale – Middle and High School students are able to view their profile photo, transactions, and account balance during the checkout process.
5. Family Accounts – all students in a family draw from the same account; adequate funds may be available for students at the beginning of the day but may fall below the tolerated negative balance by the end of the day. Please review account activity and have adequate funds in your account to cover expected purchases.
6. Account Balance Notification – families are sent an email when the account balance reaches -$.01 – this can be changed when logged in. Parents are able to view transactions, deposits, purchasable items, and account balance at www.wordwareinc.com
7. Meal Benefits – An Application for Educational Benefits can be completed at any time during the school year. A new application must be completed each year.
8. A la Carte – choices are compliant with all USDA approved Smart Snack protocols.
9. Account Limits – Cafe #110  staff are not able to accept the responsibility to enforce spending limits for students. Parents are expected to set limits with students regarding their spending expectations.
10. Negative Balance – Students may be offered an amended meal when their family account balances go negative.
11. Deposits – generally a credit card deposit is applied to the family account within 10 minutes, payments by check or cash may take up to 2 days.
12. SW Metro, ALC, Transitions, Kid’s Co – Please communicate with your site lead teacher regarding breakfast and lunch programs.

 THIS IS THE PERFECT TIME TO CHECK YOUR FAMILY BALANCE, TO ADD FUNDS AND SET PREFERENCES.

 Go To: www.WordWareInc.com. 

VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES:

Cafe #110 wants to place a volunteer host, or hostess in each school dining room, every day. We are looking for committed community members who can be available, on a regular basis, to support our students.

Volunteer duties will include:

– greet students

– help to dispense milk & water

– assist with condiments, and topping counter

– monitor tray return – making sure everything gets put in the proper spot 

  (silverware, cups, recycling, garbage, plates, etc.).

To ask questions and arrange for an interview, please contact me.

MIDDLE AND HIGH SCHOOLS

Cafe #110, Nutrition Department of Waconia Public Schools, is excited to announce that we are providing more student access to fresh and healthy food options.  

Vending machines have been installed at the Waconia High School in the hallway near the wrestling room, and at the Middle School in the cafeteria commons area. These vending machines contain a variety of healthy items such as fresh-made sandwiches, meat/cheese trays, Smuckers P&J sandwiches, fresh fruit cups; Cafe #110 signature items including homemade yogurt parfaits, pudding parfaits, pastries, homemade snacks; beverages such as chocolate milk, Vitamin Water, protein shakes, & sport drinks; assorted chips & snacks. The menu selection will rotate based on popularity and upcoming activities.  Our goal is to help support the nutritional needs of students participating in after school activities.

VENDING MACHINE HOURS FOR CASH PURCHASES:

Waconia High School – 24 hours a day.

Waconia Middle School – 3:15 p.m. through the evening, on school days; and 24 hours a day on weekends.

Please note that: at the present time, parents are not able to put limits on student spending in the lunch lines during school breakfast or lunch periods.  

Check out our Cafe #110 Webpage (www.Cafe110.org) for answers to frequently asked questions, contact phone numbers, as well as other new information concerning our lunch program.

If you have any questions about the Food and Nutrition Services Department, do not hesitate to contact us, please email me at cafe110@isd110.org.

Sincerely,

Barb Schank, L.D.

Director of Nutritional Services

Eat Smart. Be Smart.