Cafeteria

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Lunch Program– Shhh! We’re Sneaky Chef’s!!

Hot lunch is offered on full-day sessions, five days per week in the lunchroom. In order for our lunches to follow the nutritional guidelines released in 2006 by the State of New Jersey, many homemade dishes, and a variety of sandwiches and salads are offered. Healthy choices such as vegetables and yogurt are available as side dishes. Hot lunch, beverages, side dishes and desserts may be purchased by the students. The cafeteria process is completely automated.

A Note from Our Kitchen Staff
Welcome to our kitchen!! Just like at home, the kitchen is a special place in our children’s day!  We hope to keep them comfortable, happy and healthy. Each day we offer full lunches with a hot lunch, and sides of fresh fruit, yogurt,hard-boiled eggs, side salads, chicken noodle or tomato soup, and Organic Stoney Field Farm smoothies.

Using the recipies of the “Sneaky Chef”, your children are getting lunches packed with nutrients. All sausage is turkey sausage.  Their double stuffed potatoes are stuffed with a mixture of potato and cauliflower! All of our tomato sauce is “spiked” with carrots and sweet potatoes, and brownies…shhh!…have blueberries and spinach! 

Monday through Thursday we offer a hot lunch along with a choice of sandwiches (egg salad, tuna, ham & cheese, turkey bacon cheddar wrap, Chicken Ceasar wrap, grilled panini), and our SJS special salad - a wonderful mix of greens, hardboiled egg, cheese, tomato, cucumber, chick peas, black beans and other assorted healthy items. We also offer Uncrustables - pre-made peanut butter and jelly sandwiches...with no crust! For those parents of children with peanut allergies, the sandwiches come pre-packaged and we will package them again so as to ensure a safe environment for your children. All sandwiches are made on whole wheat bread, wraps, or panini bread. A typical week's menu is as follows:

Monday - Thursday: Hot Lunch or a choice of one of our sandwiches (egg salad, tuna, ham & cheese, turkey bacon cheddar wrap, Chicken Ceasar wrap, grilled cheese panini, Italian panini, Uncrustables or they may also choose a SJS salad. Occasionally, a delicious homemade soup will be offered.

Friday: Pizza - Pepperoni or plain

Dessert is available for purchase each day. We offer a variety of choices including those to accommodate children with allergies.

A la carte prices are as follows:
Salad Bar Entree-$3.05
Hot Lunch, Sandwich, Bagel and Plain Pizza - $2.30
Uncrustables - $1.65
Pepperoni Pizza - $2.70
Calzone- $3.05
Sausage Roll - $3.05
Milk, 8oz water, juice - $0.65
1/2 liter water - $1.05
Stoneyfield Farm Organic Smoothie - $3.05
Sides - $0.65 or $1.05
Dessert - $0.65 or $1.05
Please feel free to contact us with any questions you may have. Suggestions are always welcome. Your children would love to have you volunteer to help us with lunch duty!  Never “too many cooks” in our kitchen!
 

Lynne Douglas
Nancy Prodzenko

Food Allergy Management

Students with food allergies must sit at one of the designated tables.

Any questions regarding school policy should be directed to the principal and/or school nurse.


Policy for Management of Food Allergies

Purpose: The objective of this policy is to develop and implement strategies for the management of food allergic children at St. Joseph School. Our goal is to enable each child to become a responsible young adult regarding his/her condition. We believe it is in the child’s best interest to be able to make informed choices regarding the foods to which he/she can be exposed.  We will make reasonable efforts to ensure that all food allergic children are not directly exposed to allergens.  Students with food allergies must sit at one of the designated tables.  Any questions regarding school policy should be directed to the principal and/or school nurse.

Responsibilities of St. Joseph School Principal
· Along with nurse and food service staff, develop, review, disseminate and implement food allergy management plan.
· Designate school personnel to be properly trained to administer medications in accordance with Diocesan Guidelines and Good Samaritan Laws governing the administration of emergency medications.
· Recommend that all buses have communication devices in case of an emergency.
· Set policy related to field trips with the family/guardians of the food-allergic child which will require that a parent or parent designee accompany the allergic child on all field trips, and take the responsibility for administering medication (i.e. EPIPEN) as needed.
· Set policy related to school/classroom activities where food will be provided (i.e. Catholic Schools Week, Thanksgiving Feast, End of Year picnic, Ash Wednesday Retreat, Field Day, etc.)  On these occasions, all food ingredients provided by the school cafeteria will be posted on the cafeteria website.  Parents of children with food allergies requiring an EPIPEN or other food related health issues must approve food choices online.
· Advise all students and parents that all snacks brought into the school for designated morning snack are peanut and nut free. Additional food allergies will be treated on a classroom basis.  A sample Allergy Friendly Snack List is available through the classroom teacher.
· Provide two allergy free tables in the cafeteria.

Responsibilities of St. Joseph School Nurse

· Review the health records submitted by parents/guardians and physicians.
· Identify and list all allergy children in each grade with their noted individual allergies for distribution to faculty and staff.
· Identify a core team including school nurse, teachers, principal, food service staff and counselor to work with parents and student to establish an Individual Student Care Plan.
· Ensure that all staff who interact with the student on a regular basis understand the food allergy, can recognize symptoms, and know what to do in an emergency.
· Ensure all medications are appropriately stored and that an emergency kit is available that contains a physician’s standing order for epinephrine, if appropriate.

Responsibilities of St. Joseph Food Service Staff

· Identify each student moving through the lunch line and be able to recognize those students with food allergies.
· Know where medications are kept.
· Know how to identify the signs and symptoms of an allergic reaction.
· Ensure that all surfaces in kitchen are wiped clean each day to reduce potential for cross-contamination.
· Eliminate preparation of peanut butter from the daily menu.
· Have all ingredients to foods served in the cafeteria available for parent/guardian review online by Friday at 2 pm for the following week.
· Maintain a food allergy approval for sign off on line by Monday at 9:00 am on a weekly basis for children grades Pre-K through 5. For grades 6-8, children should discuss appropriate food choices with their parent/guardian.
· Provide a pre-approved alternative “safe” lunch in the event a child forgets his/her lunch and there has not been parent approval of the daily menu.
· Ensure that there are safe lunches (i.e. pizza (on certain days), various sandwiches) and sides (i.e. fruit, yogurt) every day for students with peanut and nut allergies. Various food choices will also be available for children with other allergies.
· Provide two separate, “allergy free” table(s) for students and their friends.
· Educate all volunteer staff on proper cleaning of tables between lunches. Use paper towels to clean allergy tables and dispose of paper towel after each use.
· Encourage students to use wipes to clean hands before and after meals.

Responsibilities of Parent/Guardian

· Notify the school of the student’s allergies.
· Provide written medical documentation, instructions, and medications as directed by a physician.
· Provide properly labeled medications and replace medications after use or upon expiration.
· Review policies/procedures with the school staff, with the student’s physician, and the student.
· Provide emergency contact information.
· Review sign-off for food items for entire school year. These items may be found on the website at www.stjosephschoolmendham.org/Student Life/ Cafeteria.  These forms must be returned before the hot lunch program commences.
· Review weekly food service menu. Discuss with child “safe” items to be purchased by child and communicate approval online to food service staff no later than 9:00 am on Monday.  No exceptions will be made to this policy.
· For special occasions, such as birthdays, parents/guardians of students in grades Pre-K through 5 must supply a safe, non-perishable snack to be kept in the classroom.  For students in grades 6 through 8, the food allergy parent/guardian must give written permission to the teacher for a child to be given any food brought into the school.
· Parents/guardians may only sign off for lunch approval for their own children. Permission for a child other than your own will NOT be accepted the food service staff.
· Educate the student in the self-management of his/her food allergy including:
o Safe and unsafe foods
o Strategies for avoiding exposure to unsafe foods
o Symptoms of allergic reaction
o How and when to tell an adult they may be having an allergy-related problem
o How to read food labels
· Any questions regarding school policy should be directed to the principal and/or school nurse.

Responsibilities of Students

· Do not trade/share food with others.
· Sit at designated allergy free table in the cafeteria.
· Do not eat anything with unknown ingredients or known to contain any allergen.
· Be proactive in the care and management of his/her food allergies and reactions. Grades 6-8 should make informed choices relating to ingestion of food.
· Notify an adult immediately if they have eaten something they believe may contain the food to which they are allergic.

Grades 6-8 will make informed choices relating to the ingestion of food.


Policy Related To All School/Classroom Activities Where Food Is To Be Provided to Students


School Food Service Staff will work with all parent volunteers/event chairperson(s).  Parent volunteer/event chairperson(s) must meet with School Food Service Staff at least one month in advance of the event date to coordinate.

Food Service Staff will handle all ordering and preparation of food and will work directly with the School Nurse on all aspects of communication with parents/guardians of students with allergies.



 

Playground/Recess

Recess is held outside even during cold winter days. Students should dress appropriately with jackets, head coverings, and gloves or mittens on cold days. Students are expected to remain on the playground throughout recess time. Balls, jump ropes, and other playground equipment are provided to the children. First through eighth grade recess takes place on the back parking lot behind the school. Pre-K and Kindergarten recess is on the side lot playground.

Students are not allowed to run into the cemetery or adjacent property. Extraordinary roughness and inappropriate language are not allowed. Respect is to be shown to school personnel and the lunch volunteers who are supervising the playground.

Lunch Duties

• Hot Lunch Volunteers
  • Help with food preparation in accordance with kitchen guidelines.
  • Assist students with getting meals when necessary.
  • Clean all kitchen surfaces after lunch.

• Cafeteria
  • Wash tables and seats between lunches paying special attention to “allergy safe areas.”
  • Bring in dirty trays and run them through the dishwasher.

• Playground
  • Ensure cones are up in the driveways.
  • Please do not use cell phones except for an emergency!
  • All playground equipment is to be properly used (i.e. jump ropes for jumping only!).
  • Only two students allowed inside at any time and only to use bathrooms, see Mrs. Fields.
  • All playground equipment should be put away at the end of recess.
  • Monitor playground play. Ensure that play is safe and age appropriate.
  • No dodge ball or anything that resembles dodge ball is allowed.
  • No wall ball unless a soft ball is being used.
  • Children are not allowed to play in the cemetary.