Families can apply for Free and Reduced Price Meals ONLINE!
The process is SAFE, SECURE, PRIVATE, and available through www.PayPAMS.com/onlineapp
Seattle Public Schools Nutrition Services department recognizes the important connection between a healthy diet and student's ability to learn effectively and achieve high standards in school.
Nutrition Services fuels over 17,250 student lunches and 6,400 breakfasts each day and adheres to the highest level of national nutrition standards and provides many locally sourced fruits, vegetables and beans daily.
School Meals for the 2018-19 School Year
Interactive School Menu
Visit the SPS Nutrislice interactive menus to see upcoming breakfast and lunch offerings at Seattle Public Schools.
This website provides menu descriptions, nutritional facts and other useful information. Additionally, students and families may download a free smartphone app from this website to conveniently view menus and post comments on menu items.
Visit the SPS Nutrislice Interactive Menu
Menu Highlights for the 2018-19 School Year
- A greater focus on fruits and vegetables at breakfast.
- Students will now be required to take a 1/2-cup serving of a fruit and/or vegetable at both breakfast and lunch.
- More whole-grain rich items.
- Meals contain less sodium.
- New "Smart Snack" guidelines for all food and drinks sold during the school day.
Over the past several years, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has put in place many guidelines to help students make healthier choices in the school cafeteria, based on the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans. This year, in addition to further changes to the meal standards for breakfast and lunch, students will see changes outside of the school cafeteria as well. Food and beverages sold from vending machines, student stores and fundraisers will be affected by the new "Smart Snack" regulations.
Proper nutrition is crucial to your child's success in school. Breakfast and lunch at school provides the right mix of fruits, vegetables, dairy, protein and whole grains to allow them to perform their best.
School meals will continue to offer:
- Calories and portion sizes that meet student needs based on grade level.
- A variety of fruits and vegetables daily; highlighting dark green, vibrant red/orange vegetables and legumes/beans.
- Lower saturated fat and zero grams of trans fat per meal.
- Limited added sugars in all meals.
Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program
The Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program (FFVP) is a United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) funded program that provides free fresh fruits and vegetables to students in elementary schools where at least 50% of students are eligible for free or reduced-price meals. The purpose of the program is to increase the variety and frequency of fruits and vegetables that children eat and to positively influence their life-long eating habits. Seattle Public Schools Nutrition Services Department was awarded funds to serve a mid-morning or mid-afternoon fresh fruit or vegetable snack through the FFVP at 11 schools for the 2018-19 school year.
FFVP is offered at the following Elementary Sites:
Bailey Gatzert
Emerson
Martin Luther King Jr.
Van Asselt
West Seattle Elementary
Community Eligibility Provision (CEP)
Seattle Public Schools now implements the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) program at five schools. These CEP schools will provide school breakfasts and lunches to ALL students at NO COST while they are enrolled in a CEP school during the 2018-19 school year.
Families DO NOT need to submit a free or reduced-price meal application for students who are enrolled in a CEP school during the 2018-19 school year. If families have students enrolled in other Seattle schools, they will want to complete an application to determine eligibility for those students.
The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 authorized CEP to provide an alternative to household applications in the National School Lunch and Breakfast Programs. The intent of CEP is to improve students' access to free school meals in eligible schools and to eliminate the burden for families who are required to complete income applications on an annual basis. CEP was piloted for a three-year period in a limited number of States and is available nationwide beginning July 1, 2014.
CEP Eligible Schools:
Bailey Gatzert Elementary
Dunlap Elementary
Emerson Elementary
Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary
West Seattle Elementary
Free Breakfast for all students is offered at 3 sites for 2018-19
In accordance with School Board Procedure H61.01, breakfast is available at no cost to all students, regardless of eligibility for free, reduced or full pay meals, at the following schools who on average had a student population that was 80% or greater in the free/reduced meal category during the 2017-18 SY. Please note that students are still required to take a "complete" breakfast per the federal meal reimbursement guidelines.
Elementary Schools: Van Asselt
Middle and High Schools: Seattle World School and South Lake