School Lunch: Good for Kids and Good for your Wallet
As the cost of everything increases- there is one meal that is still a great value: both nutritionally and economically!  School lunch is still an incredible bargain at less than $1.80 for elementary, $2.05 for middle and $2.25 for high school students.

Every School Lunch Includes Nutritious Food Choices:
Milk- Fat free or 1%- flavored or regular
Fruits & Vegetables- Favorite varieties including hot cooked veggies, fresh green salads and veggie sticks, fresh fruit, and chilled fruit in juice or light syrup
Grains- Assorted enriched and whole grain foods such as breads, rice, pasta, noodles, tortillas, taco shells and cereals
Meats and Meat substitutes- Sources of high quality protein, for example lean chicken, beef, beans, eggs, reduced fat cheeses and yogurt

Healthy Meals Feed Eager Minds
School meals must meet nutrition guidelines based on the Dietary Guidelines for Americans.
No more than 30% calories can come from fat and less than 10% from saturated fat.
School lunches provide 1/3 of the Recommended Dietary Allowances of protein, vitamins A and C, calcium, iron, and calories over the course of one week of menus.
Students who eat school lunches consume fewer calories than students who bring lunch from home
Compared to lunches from home, school lunches contain 3 times as many dairy products, twice as much fruit and seven times the vegetable amounts.
Students who eat school lunch have substantially lower intakes of added sugars than students who do not eat school lunch

Save money: Eat School Lunch
On average it costs less to buy  a school lunch than to bring a lunch from home
The estimated national average of a school lunch brought from home was $3.43 last school year

There is Such a Thing as a Free Lunch (and a Reduced Priced One Too)
Families meeting certain income guidelines are eligible for free school meals or for meals at a reduced price of $.40
Applications for free/reduced priced meals are approved based on current income. and families may apply for benefits at any time during the school year.
Typically families complete meal applications at the beginning of the school year.  Families are also encouraged to complete a new application if their particular financial circumstances change during the school year.
For more information or to request a meal application, please contact your students school secretary.

Meal Prices:
Meal Prices for 2008-2009 School Year

Middle and High Schools also offer ala carte items at competitive prices.  Please access the school menus link for additional information by location.


Free & Reduced Meal Applications

Children from households that meet Federal income guidelines are eligible for free or reduced price meals. Families may apply to participate in the program at any time during the school year. For the 2008 - 2009 school year, a "Family Application" is used. This means that only one application per family is required. To apply for free or reduced meals, complete and sign Free & Reduced application and return it to the school administrator.  Chartwells is not authorized to approve or deny an application for free or reduced meals.   Once your student has been approved for free or reduced meals, the information is entered into our point of sale system by a District administrator.