About Us

About Us

2024-2025 Annual Information

Mission

The mission of the Food and Nutrition Services Department is to alleviate childhood hunger within the community and increase student success by providing and promoting a nutritionally balanced diet in a warm and friendly environment.

The Food and Nutrition Services Program does not receive General Fund support; the program operates by balancing our budget through meal sales, a la carte sales, State/Federal reimbursement, and catering.

Who We Are

Each of our 15 school kitchens is operated by highly trained staff, with food safety and customer service as the highest priorities. These team members (often parents of district students themselves) receive and prepare food, cashier, serve meals, and keep the kitchen clean.

The central kitchen, located in the heart of Hamlin Park, is occupied by friendly office personnel to answer all of your questions, accept payments, and process free/reduced meal applications. Food service operations at the central kitchen are run by our Director, Jessica Jandayan (a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist), the Central Kitchen Manager, and the Food Service Supervisor.

What We Do

At Shoreline School District Food and Nutrition Services, our team works together to develop healthy and appetizing meals for our students, often incorporating ideas gathered from students and parents.

Many of our foods are made from scratch using the best ingredients, including low-fat proteins, whole grain pastas, fresh fruits and vegetables, locally sourced breads, and hormone-free milk. The menus are analyzed and recipes adjusted to ensure they meet USDA nutrition guidelines for each age group for calories, sodium, and saturated fat.

Salad bars (which include a vegan protein source) are available daily at all school levels. A vegetarian entree, in addition to the salad bar, is also on the menu each day. Choice and variety are important to students, so our menu is planned to provide options. Each day there are two entree options at the elementary level, 5-6 entree options available at the middle school level, and 7-8 entree options available at the high school level.

Feeding our students for success at school, and working along side parents to develop healthy eating habits is a team effort. We welcome your feedback as we work to nurture healthy and successful Shoreline students!

Offer versus Serve

A lunch is made up of 5 basic food components: milk, meat or meat alternate, vegetable, fruit, and grain. Students must select at least 3 of these components for a complete meal (1 of which must be a vegetable or fruit). A breakfast is made up of 4 food items: milk, fruit/vegetable, 2 grains (or 1 grain and 1 meat/meat alternate). Students must select 3 of these items for a complete meal (1 of which must be a vegetable or fruit).

District Statistics

The Shoreline School District, serving the communities of Shoreline and Lake Forest Park, has long been known for its quality schools and community involvement. Literally reaching from shore to shore – with Puget Sound to the west and Lake Washington to the east – the district just north of Seattle serves about 9,200 students with a highly dedicated staff and a mission to help each student reach his or her full potential.

History

The production and service of nutritious, high quality, economical meals that are acceptable and enjoyable to student customers are as much the core function of school nutrition operations today as they were in 1946 when President Harry S. Truman signed the National School Lunch Act and said, “Nothing is more important in our nation’s life than the welfare of our children, and proper nourishment comes first in attaining this welfare.”

Satisfying student customer needs and wants and meeting USDA nutritional guidelines while maintaining a fiscally sound program is the goal and responsibility of the school nutrition program. For a more in-depth history of the National School Lunch and National School Breakfast Programs, please watch this video.