Nutrition Home
Providing Quality School Meals
Valley School District recognizes the important connection between a healthy diet and a student's ability to learn effectively and achieve success in school. That’s why our nutritional services staff strive to provide quality meals made with farm fresh foods whenever possible, and minimize use of prepackaged, processed foods.
Valley Nutrition Department Receives National Recognition
Food & Nutrition Director Leah Harp and her team have received a national Healthy Meals Incentives Recognition Award from USDA for making improvements to the nutritional quality of our district’s school meals. Additionally, Valley’s Nutrition Program has been honored by the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction’s (OSPI) Child Nutrition Services as a recipient of the Rooted in Excellence Marketing and Promotion award. This award celebrates the district’s outstanding efforts to elevate school meal programs through creative outreach, student engagement, and community connection.
Nutrition & Meal Service
We make every effort to serve quality meals with fresh fruit and vegetables, farm to school products and recipes adapted for scratch cooking methods. Our district is committed to providing all students with all the tools they need to succeed – this includes nutritious meals that everyone can enjoy together.
Valley School District participates in a federal program, the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP), which is a part of the National School Lunch and School Breakfast programs. CEP allows all students to receive breakfast and lunch at no charge throughout the school year, regardless of family or household income levels. No-cost school meals are a great benefit to students, as a hungry child has difficulty learning.
All families are asked to submit a Child Nutrition Eligibility and Education Benefit (CNEEB) application to their school office.
The information collected in the CNEEB application supports your child’s potential eligibility for nutritional and educational program benefits such as SUN Bucks and reduced fees or fee waivers for school extracurricular activities, field trips and other programs.
- The information supports state and federal funding streams that rely on family income data.
- Every CNEEB application that is not submitted by a family – regardless of income level – means lost resources for our schools.
Access the current year application:
Eligibility/Education Benefit Application
If you need meal service information in another language, please call (509) 937-2791.
Si necesita esta información en otro idioma, llame al (509) 937-2791.
Plants Grant Supports School Meals
Using Healthy Whole Foods
VSD Food & Nutrition Director Leah Harp is continuing her training to develop healthy bulk scratch cooking recipes, utilizing and promoting locally grown food sources. This work is part of the three-year USDA PLANTS Sub-Grant (Partnerships for Local Agriculture and Nutrition Transformation in Schools) program serviced by the Chef Ann Foundation, funded by the USDA’s Healthy Meals Incentives Initiative. Valley School District is one of eight entities in the U.S. awarded this unique improvement opportunity.
The grant project pairs farmers and food producers with school nutrition teams to reduce dependence on expensive pre-packaged, processed foods in school meals. Guided by ESD 101 project coordinators, Leah’s training includes a series of Chef Ann Foundation culinary courses focused on developing local program mission and values, food finance, strategic menu planning and nutrition education.
READ MORE ABOUT THE PLANTS PROGRAM KEY OUTCOMES
PLANTS Grant Midpoint Report, with Grantee Spotlight on the VSD Nutrition Dept. on page 4.
USDA Nondiscrimination Statement
In accordance with federal civil rights law and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) civil rights regulations and policies, this institution is prohibited from discriminating on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex (including gender identity and sexual orientation), disability, age, or reprisal or retaliation for prior civil rights activity.
Program information may be made available in languages other than English. Persons with disabilities who require alternative means of communication to obtain program information (e.g., Braille, large print, audiotape, American Sign Language), should contact the responsible state or local agency that administers the program or USDA’s TARGET Center at (202) 720-2600 (voice and TTY) or contact USDA through the Federal Relay Service at (800) 877-8339.
To file a program discrimination complaint, a Complainant should complete a Form AD-3027, USDA Program Discrimination Complaint Form which can also be obtained online from any USDA office, by calling (866) 632-9992, or by writing a letter addressed to USDA. The letter must contain the complainant’s name, address, telephone number, and a written description of the alleged discriminatory action in sufficient detail to inform the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights (ASCR) about the nature and date of an alleged civil rights violation.
The completed AD-3027 form or letter must be submitted to USDA by:
MAIL: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights | 1400 Independence Avenue SW, Washington, D.C. 20250-9410
FAX: (833) 256-1665 or (202) 690-7442; EMAIL: program.intake@usda.gov
This institution is an equal opportunity provider.