Facilities Condition Assessment and Facilities Master Plan
← Visioning

Dining Experience and Nutrition

Food is fundamental to thriving minds, making them ready for success in learning.

Our Process

Applied Goals

Goal 1
College & Career Readiness
Goal 2
Foundational Educational Experience
Goal 3
Targeted Support for Students
Goal 4
Culture & Climate
Goal 5
Engagement & Empowerment
Goal 8
Basic Conditions & Services

In addition to directly supporting LCAP Goal 6, the dining experience has a direct impact on LCAP Goal 3: to level the playing field and provide opportunities for everyone to learn, grow, and reach their greatness. Future design teams must create welcoming and inviting environments for both indoor and outdoor dining that support a strong nutrition curriculum parents by building good eating habits early.

Goal 1: College & Career Readiness

100% of SCUSD students will graduate college and career ready with a wide array of postsecondary options and a clear postsecondary plan. Growth in Graduation Rate and College/Career Readiness will be accelerated for Students with Disabilities, English Learners, African American students, American Indian or Alaska Native students, Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander students, Foster Youth, Homeless Youth, and other student groups with gaps in outcomes until gaps are eliminated.

Goal 2: Foundational Educational Experience

Provide every SCUSD student an educational program with standards-aligned instruction, fidelity to district programs and practices, and robust, rigorous learning experiences inside and outside the classroom so that all students can meet or exceed state standards.

Goal 3: Target Support for Students

Provide every student the specific  academic, behavioral, social-emotional, and mental and physical health supports to meet their individual needs - especially English Learners, Students with Disabilities, Foster Youth, Homeless Youth, African American students, American Indian or Alaska Native students, Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander students, and other student  groups whose outcomes indicate the greatest need – so that all students can remain fully engaged in school and access core instruction.

Goal 4: Culture & Climate

School and classroom learning environments will become safer, more inclusive, and more culturally competent through the active dismantling of inequitable and discriminatory systems affecting BIPOC students, Students with Disabilities, English Learners, Foster Youth, and Homeless Youth.

Goal 5

Parents, families, community stakeholders, and students will be engaged and empowered as partners in teaching and learning through effective communication, capacity building, and collaborative decision-making.

Goal 8: Basic Conditions & Services

SCUSD will maintain sufficient instructional materials, safe and clean facilities, core classroom staffing, and other basic conditions necessary to support the effective implementation of actions across all LCAP Goals.

Over the course of the master planning process, stakeholder input is gathered at multiple stages by various groups of experts and users.

Educational Design GroupProgram Focus Group2019 Working GroupCore Planning Group
Educators from across the District covering all grade levels with expertise in supporting LCAP-identified student groups and ethnicities.District experts included Diana Flores, Tom Lucero, and Kelsey NederveldBoard member(s), superintendent designee, district office, teaching and learning leadership, and principals, teachers Covering all grade levelsParents; vested stakeholders from committees including African American Advisory Board, Bond Oversight Committee (BOC), Community Advisory Committee (CAC), District English Learner Advisory Committee (DELAC); and community champions for neighborhood well-being.
Educational Design GroupCore Planning Group
Educators from across the District covering all grade levels with expertise in supporting LCAP-identified student groups and ethnicities.Parents; vested stakeholders from committees including African American Advisory Board, Bond Oversight Committee (BOC), Community Advisory Committee (CAC), District English Learner Advisory Committee (DELAC); and community champions for neighborhood well-being.

Key Insights

  • Food is critical to a child’s success at all scales.
  • Food augments the home environment and nourishes the body.
  • Food is social and a necessary component for building community.
  • The food experience shapes a child’s relationship to nutrition and lifelong habits.

Summary

SituationCauseStrategies, Tier 1Strategies, Tier 2
The Central Kitchen is moving towards more scratch cooking and is financially sustainable. The team produces high quality meals for 43,000 students daily. The Farm to School program sources ingredients from local farms. The offerings promote eating more fresh fruits and vegetables as well as a good variety of menu options.

Breadth of service:
81 schools offer breakfast
58 schools offer free lunch
60 schools offer free supper
11 charter schools are served outside of SCUSD (helps increase revenue)
Sacramento is nationally recognized as the “Farm to Fork Capital of America” so it is easy to source fresh local ingredients.

The Central Kitchen team includes two executive chefs who leverage their prior experience in restaurants for SCUSD’s Nutrition Services Department.

Combi ovens at every school site combined with technology to download recipes centrally will help support the scratch cooking program and provide consistency district-wide. Nutrition Lab to expand on the Farm to Fork connection to educate students on how to prepare healthy meals.
The Cafeteria Experience
Is crowded, excessively noisy, uninviting and has long lines. The long lines give students very little time to eat and socialize. The institutional feel also affects the behavior and demeanor of staff serving students.
Cafeteria facilities are too small to serve the current student population at most campuses. The outdoors is not used enough for dining. The cafeterias are outdated, lack enhanced acoustics and feel institutional and uninviting. Add outdoor dining to expand the footprint.

Add Point of Sale (POS) kiosks at high school level to alleviate long lines

Indoor Dining Experience
1. Re-brand as Cafés for a restaurant feel and emphasize Farm to Fork
2. Increase the size of the Café’s to alleviate the overcrowding
3. Welcoming environment
4. Daylight, views of nature
5. Enhanced Acoustics
6. Seating variety
Student and Community Gardens for nutrition education and nature-based learning.