Welcome to Café #110!

Welcome to the start of a new school year! It was a busy summer for us, we worked on lots 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. Our teams work with me to develop amazing meals for our students. Many of our creations are made from scratch using quality, healthy ingredients. Peek at our FaceBook page to see what we have been up to.

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.

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 fresh salad dressings 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. The account is similar to a debit account where purchases are immediately 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 family preference when logged into the  www.waconia.k12.mn.us site.

Cafe #110 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. A
Benefit for Educational Benefits” packet is available at your student’s school and electronically on our webpage. The application must be fully completed (be sure to include everyone in your household and all income) and returned to the Cafe #110 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. Families with benefits from the previous year must complete a new application every year; the benefit will carry over for the first 30 days, but will then expire on the 31st school day.

For menus and other information, please visit  www.cafe110.org or through the District at www.waconia.k12.mn.us. 

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 $0.55; paid on the day of service.
2. Fruits and Vegetables – all students are encouraged to take a variety of fruits and vegetables – one must be present in a student meal in order to not incur a la carte charges.
3. Bulk Milk – is available in every cafeteria – we are providing it in refrigerated dispensers this year – enabling students to take the amount that they want – also allowing free refills.
4. Water – is available in every cafeteria – water bottles are encouraged, or cups are provided.
5. Point of Sale – Middle and High School students are able to view their profile photo, transactions, and account balance during the checkout process.
6. Family Accounts – all students in a family draw from the same account; adequate funds may be available for students at the beginning of the day but could fall below the tolerated negative balance by the end of the day. Please review account activity and have adequate funds in your account to cover expected purchases.
7. Account Balance Notification – families are sent an email when the account balance reaches -$.01 – this can be changed when logged in. Parents are able to view transactions, deposits, purchasable items, and account balance at www.wordwareinc.com
8. 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.
9. a la Carte – choices are compliant with all USDA approved Smart Snack protocols.
10. 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 meal account spending expectations.
11. Family Account Negative Balance – Students may be offered an amended meal when their family account balances go negative.
12. 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.
13. 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 OPPORTUNITY:

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.

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 us at cafe110@isd110.org.

Sincerely,

Barbara Schank, L.D.

Director of Nutritional Services

Food & Nutrition Services, Office Location: 512 Industrial Boulevard, Waconia, MN 55387

Webpage www.cafe110.org, & www.isd110.org | E-mail cafe110@isd110.org

“This institution is an equal opportunity provider and employer”