|
School Meals Applications Bring Resources to Schools and Communities
School Meals Applications are considered the most accurate way to gather demographic information about school and neighborhood populations that may be eligible for a variety of programs. These programs bring much needed resources to schools and families.
- State, Federal and Title I funding for school resources like books, computers, classroom equipment and school furniture is based on information gathered from the school meals applications.
- The Summer Food Service Program and utility companies use the information to help provide much-needed resources for families in the community.
Superintendents, principals, food service directors, teachers, and nurses all play an important role in communicating the importance of School Meals Applications to students and parents. Below are several strategies that the school community can utilize in order to maximize the number of applications that are completed and returned to the school. Feel free to download our sample flyers and letters to use at your school.
Direct Certification
Annually, the MA Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) conducts a data transfer with the Department of Transitional Assistance to ensure that students from households receiving food stamps are categorically eligible to receive free school meals. Food Service Directors can coordinate with their district technology director to access this information from the Security Portal on DESE's website. These students do not need to complete a School Meals Application.
Send Applications Home
Describe the benefits of school meals to parents.
Send home a letter with the application from the FSD/Principal/Superintendent that describes the program and explains the relationship between school meals and academic success.
Talk about the benefits to the school.
Send home a flyer or letter describing resources that are linked to these applications.
Let parents know you speak their language!
The School Meals Application is available in 26 different languages. These include Arabic, Cambodian, Chinese (Mandarin), English, Farsi, French, Greek, Haitian Creole, Hindi, Hmong, Japanese, Korean, Kurdish, Laotian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Samoan, Serbo-Croatian, Somali, Spanish, Sudanese, Tagalog, Thai, Urdu, and Vietnamese.
Make it easy.
- Provide a return envelope (use grant money for stamps) marked ‘confidential.’
- Offer assistance to help parents fill out the application.
- Encourage parents to complete family applications when they have more than one child enrolled in the school district. This is especially useful for increasing returns from middle and high school students.
Follow Up
Remind parents.
- Send a flyer reminding parents to return the application.
- Send a letter to parents from the food service director highlighting the availability and value of nutritious foods at school.
- Send home a memo from the principal that explains how School Meals Applications help build better schools.
Make it fun for kids!
Offer a prize, such as a pancake breakfast or pizza party, to the first classroom/school to return completed applications for all students.
Talk about the benefits for families.
Send a flyer reminding parents that they may be eligible for discounts on their utilities if they qualify for free or reduced-price meals.
Identify students who haven’t returned their applications yet.
Send home an application completed except for income and signature. Assign a staff member to each “case.”
Focus on families.
Make sure you follow up with parents who have two (or three kids) in a school – you’ll be twice (or three times) as close to a 100% return rate!
Use technology.
Program the school’s automatic phone system to call parents to remind them to return the school meals application.
Ongoing Assistance
Make applications available.
Be sure that applications are available at all parent events (open houses, parent conference nights, etc). Send blank applications to places where parents go such as local food pantries, parent information centers, health centers, after school programs, WIC programs, churches and Head Start centers. Ask the staff at these centers to help parents complete the applications.
Use helpers!
Train parent liaisons to help parents fill out school meals applications. Ask them to staff school open houses. Make sure school staff can answer questions about how to fill out the applications.
|
