Our mission is to nourish students with high-quality, appealing meals that support health and learning. We elevate standards, foster creativity, and empower one another through teamwork, innovation, and a shared commitment to excellence.
School Nutrition Program Funding: The Department of School Nutrition is part of the school system, but is a completely independent and self-supported program. By operating in this manner, the Department of School Nutrition must generate internal revenue to pay for all School Nutrition operating expenses; much like a restaurant within the community relying solely on the fees paid by customers (our students and staff). The Department of School Nutrition receives federal funds from U.S.D.A., which provides partial reimbursement for free, reduced-price, and full-price student meals. The sale of ala carte items is essential to supplement the affordable meal price available to all students. School Nutrition is dedicated to ensuring the overall success of the program by providing high quality, nutritious meals to our customers.
- We are a self-supporting entity of Cherokee County Schools. We participate in these federal programs:
- National School Lunch Program (NSLP)
- National School Breakfast Program (NSBP)
- After School Snack Program (at qualifying sites)
- No financial support is received from local tax dollars to support the CCSD School Nutrition program. The bulk of our funding is in the form of federal reimbursement, which is dependent upon student meal participation and adherence to U.S.D.A meal pattern regulations. The smaller, remaining portion of our funding comes from a-la-carte sales to our customers.
- We consider ourselves the "largest restaurant in Cherokee County," serving a daily average of over 8,000 school breakfasts and 21,000+ school lunches.
- There are 40 food service operations, including Ralph Bunche Center, L. R. Tippens Learning Center, and Active Academy.
- 23 Elementary Schools
- 7 Middle Schools
- 6 High Schools
- We employ over 300 school nutrition professionals.
- We boast and average of 99 or higher on our health inspection scores district-wide.
- All CCSD Cafe Managers and Assistant managers are ServSafe Certified, as well as many of kitchen staff. We are also HACCP and OSHA compliant.
