2023-2024 Back to School
Breakfast and Lunch is FREE for ALL Students in the 2023-2024 School Year!
Dear Parent/Guardian,
We are thrilled to be serving your child for the 2023-2024 school year! To kick off the new year, we wanted to share a few things you and your child can look forward to when it comes to mealtime and get an inside look at the new recipes, concepts, and programs we’ll be introducing this fall.
Breakfast and Lunch is FREE for ALL Students in the 2023-2024 School Year!
This year, students at Alice Independent School District have a lot to look forward to when it comes to mealtime. For the 2023-2024 school year, meals will be offered to students in all grade levels at no cost, thanks to flexibilities provided by the USDA’s National School Lunch Program. This allows every student to enjoy breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Through serving foods kids love to eat, offering innovative programs that encourage fun and discovery, and creating a place to eat where students can connect with others, recharge, Chartwells is making sure that students leave the cafeteria happier and healthier than when they came in.
Food Kids Love to Eat
Chartwells’ team of chefs and dietitians are working to bring even more variety to our menus featuring new recipes with kid-approved foods. This year we’re serving up:
- Broccoli and Cheese Baked Potato (All Alice ISD Schools)
- Orange Chicken (High School & Middle School)
- Frito Pie (All Alice ISD Schools)
At-Risk Afterschool Meals Program Begins September 5, 2023
The Afterschool Meals Program is back! Afterschool meals are FREE and available to all Alice ISD students.
Programs that Encourage Fun and Discovery
Chartwells continues to inspire healthy eating habits and spark a culinary curiosity to last a lifetime through fun and engaging programs, including:
- Discovery Kitchen: Designed to make nutrition education fun and entertaining, Chartwells chefs and dietitians have worked together to create curriculums that get kids cooking, trying new foods, and learning about what they’re eating. Each month has a different theme and activities will be adapted for the current meal programs.
- Student Choice: Giving William Adams Middle School and Alice High School students a voice in deciding what food concepts are featured and new menu items that will be available, Student Choice brings the latest food trends to school menus.
- Mood Boost: This innovative program helps elementary and middle school students connect what they eat with how they feel. It features recipes and characters that focus on six moods: Smart, Happy, Confident, Alert, Strong and Calm.
- Global Eats: Highlighting the unique ingredients and authentic flavors from cuisines around the world, Global Eats brings a world of flavors to the cafeteria. Our newest signature program takes students on a food exploration that celebrates cultural heritages, traveling through China, India, Italy, and Mexico.
- Fun Days: Fun days are themed meals that will be celebrated throughout the school year for all students to enjoy that includes but is not limited to National food holidays, school events, holidays, etc.
Inviting Environments & Happy Cafeterias
Students need a place to eat where they can connect with others, recharge, and enjoy a sense of happiness. All Alice ISD cafeteria serving lines will be themed for selected National food holidays and child nutrition programs with art decor displays by Chartwells.
Menus and Nutrition Facts at Your Fingertips
Through Nutrislice an innovative app, students, parents, and faculty have access to school menus, including nutrition information, allergens, and photos. Nutrislice can be downloaded for free from the App store (iOS) or Google Play (Android) and is available on desktop and mobile devices.
- Menus are also available at https://aliceisd.nutrislice.com/menu/
- Find us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/aliceisdchildnutrition
Food Allergies and Special Dietary Needs
We recognize the critical importance of our approach to supporting students and families who manage food allergy issues every day and work closely with the families of students who have food allergies and medical conditions that require a modification to their menu. Our approach involves coordination between parents and guardians, school nurses, school administrators, and food service professionals in the school’s/district’s food allergy and medical conditions protocol.
If you would like your child to receive meal accommodations for food allergies or a medical condition impacting the diet, please ensure that you submit the required documentation to your child's school nurse and that you receive confirmation from the school nurse that documentation has been received and a modification plan is in place.
In order to modify the school meal, we must have a written Medical Statement on file signed by a licensed medical provider (physician, physician assistant, or nurse practitioner). The statement must identify the following:
- Information about the child’s impairment that is sufficient for understanding how it restricts the child’s diet
- An explanation of what must be done to accommodate the child’s disability, and
- If appropriate, the food(s) to be omitted, texture modifications, and recommended substitutions.
For any children who are currently receiving meal accommodations, please contact Renvie Rulloda, 361-664-0981 Ext. 1058, renvie.rulloda@aliceisd.net to review the meal accommodation plan, which may require additions or amendments based on the ongoing supply chain issues.
As part of our
protocol, café managers review food labels for foods used to produce special
meals daily; however, we are facing unprecedented food supply issues and while we
are doing everything we can to minimize disruptions to our program, we do
expect to experience continued shortages and substitutions. Therefore,
we may encounter situations where product substitutions are made that contain
different allergens or have a different nutritional profile than our usual menu
items. As a result, we may need to provide a meal that is different than
previously identified for students with special dietary needs to ensure that
the meal served to them remains in adherence to their needs as outlined in
their medical forms.
While we have posted signs in the cafeteria encouraging students with food allergies or other dietary concerns to speak up, we encourage you to remind your child to be sure to check with the cafeteria manager regarding product substitutions that may not be reflected in the posted menu. We will make every attempt to update Nutrislice in real-time, but please do not solely rely on nutrition or allergen information on Nutrislice to accommodate allergies or medical conditions in the event of last-minute menu changes.
If you have any questions or concerns regarding your student’s allergies or dietary needs, please don’t hesitate to reach out to your school nurse. We are committed to providing safe meals for all students.
Celebrating Our School Lunch Heroes
As kids advance from grade to grade with new classes and different teachers, the dedicated lunch ladies and men in the school cafeteria are often one of the few constants throughout the academic journey. Throughout the school year, these heroes of the cafeteria are dedicated to making mealtime a bright spot in a student’s day, ensuring kids throughout the Alice community are served nourishing meals.
Through sharing our passion for great tasting food, instilling a desire for food discovery, and most importantly, providing nourishing meals, we're excited to continue serving up happy and healthy to your children in the year ahead.
We love hearing from parents, and your feedback is important to us. Please reach out to our team with any questions or comments. We’re looking forward to a great school year!
Thank you,
Renvie Rulloda
Director of Dining Services
Office: (361) 664-0981 Ext. 1058
