Cafeteria

Deer Valley Unified School District is pleased to announce that through the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) of the National School Breakfast Program and National School Lunch Program, eight qualifying schools in our district will be providing breakfast and lunch to all students at no charge.

All students enrolled at any of these school campuses may receive one breakfast meal and one lunch meal at no charge every school day. Additional meals and a la carte items will continue to be available at regular pricing.

Free and reduced meal applications are no longer required at these sites.

ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS

Constitution Elementary

Esperanza Elementary

Mirage Elementary

Park Meadows Elementary

Sunrise Elementary

Village Meadows Elementary

K8 SCHOOLS

Paseo Hills School

MIDDLE SCHOOLS

Deer Valley Middle School

Free & Reduced Meal applications are no longer required or accepted at CEP schools and programs. For specific questions, call 623-445-5166

Your student may use available funds towards second meals and a la carte items.

You may also transfer the funds to a sibling at a non-CEP DVUSD school.

Refund requests should be submitted via email. Please provide the student's name & ID# as well as a parent/guardian name, phone number, and mailing address.

Free language assistance, auxiliary aids, and/or accommodations are available upon request. For more information, please contact the DVUSD Food & Nutrition department at 623-445-5169.

Special diets can be provided to DVUSD students with diagnosed medical conditions such as Celiac Disease, PKU and Eosinophilic Esophagitis (EE) and for students that need to avoid certain food groups and/or foods such as dairy, eggs and soy due to allergies.

A special diet accommodation request form must be completed by a licensed physician in order for a special diet to be provided. The form can be found below.

Completed forms can be returned several different ways:

1. Dropped off in your school cafeteria

2. Mailed directly to the Food & Nutrition Department at 21421 N. 21st Avenue, Bldg 2, Phoenix, AZ 85027

3. Faxed to our office at 623-445-5167.

4. Emailed to our nutrition office.

Please allow 2 weeks from the time the Food & Nutrition department has received your request before special meal accommodations will begin for your student. You will be notified by the district and the kitchen manager. New or changes to existing diets after May 1st will take effect for the next school year.

For more information, contact the Food & Nutrition Department at 623-445-5165.

 This institution is an equal opportunity provider.

1. Who is eligible to receive a special diet accommodation?

The Deer Valley Food & Nutrition Department is dedicated to meeting the nutritional needs of its students, including students with documented medical disabilities. Under section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 a “person with a disability” means any person who has a physical or mental impairment which substantially limits one or more major life activities, has a records of such an impairment, or is regarded as having such an impairment”. The term “physical or mental impairment” includes many conditions including but not limited to: Cerebral Palsy, Cancer, Diabetes, PKU, Food anaphylaxis, and Emotional illness. It is up to the licensed physician who completes the Special Diet Accommodations Request Form to indicate if a child’s medical condition is considered a disability.

2. How long does it take for a special diet to get started?

Once the Food & Nutrition Department has a complete special diet accommodation request form on file, it can take up to 10 days for a diet to become ready at the school site. This gives our office time to write a new menu that meets the child’s needs and to ensure the child’s school has the appropriate food available.
NOTE: New or modified special accommodations requests received after May 1 of each school year will not be put into place until the following school year. This is due to time it takes to process the request and order product.

3. How do I advise the cafeteria when my child plans to bring his/her lunch or is not going to be at school?

It is important for parents to communicate with the café. Parents can call and/or email the café manager directly to let them know when a student is NOT planning to eat at school. Calling in an absence to the front office is not sufficient, as the office does not advise the cafeteria of absences. It is a requirement of the accommodation that you notify the kitchen if your student will not be eating a meal prepared by the cafeteria for any reason.

4. How will I know what is on my child’s menu?

Menus are created in the district office and are shared with the café manager at your school. The café manager then works with each parent to determine how often the menu items will be reviewed (some parents review the menu weekly with the café manager while others might review it one month at a time). It is important that you provide a working email address and phone number to facilitate communication with the café manager and district office.

5. Can I bring special diet food items to school and store them in the school cafeteria?

Unfortunately, we cannot store outside food in the cafeteria. There are several factors that play a role in this including food safety, food storage space and cross contact issues.

6. What steps do I need to take if a change is needed to my child’s current special diet accommodation request?

A new special diet request form is required to make any changes to a student’s current diet order. Diets can be canceled by parents in writing (email is fine) but modifications to the diet order must come from a licensed physician. Once a special diet order is canceled by a parent a new special diet accommodations request form will be required before the diet can be reinstated.

7. What types of milk substitutions are provided for students?

While we can accommodate medical disabilities that require the avoidance of dairy, we do not automatically provide specific milk substitutes. Acceptable beverage alternatives (lactose free milk and/or fortified soy “milk”) must be specified by the physician on the special diet request form USDA regulations do not allow us to substitute juice, almond “milk” or oat “milk” for milk. Students are not required to take milk as part of their meal. Therefore, those students who need to avoid dairy can simply decline the milk portion of their meal while still choosing three items
from the fruit, vegetable, grain, and meat/meat alternate groups. Additionally, students have access to free water every day in the cafeteria to drink with their meals.

8. What if my child wants to purchase items a la carte?

We have pre-approved lists of a la carte items that are gluten and/or dairy free. Students with medical notes on file that state that gluten and dairy must be avoided will only be able to purchase items off of the preapproved list. Approved lists will be created on a case by case basis for students with other medical conditions that require avoidance of other foods. If you have any further questions about the special diet accommodations request form for special diets in general, please contact us via email or call 623.445.5165.

Nutrition and Allergen Guides

Nutrition and allergen information is available on our online digital menus.  

Meal Pattern Requirements

Schools participating in the National School Lunch and School Breakfast Programs are required to follow the meal pattern guidelines set forth by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). For more information on the requirements please visit the USDA Food & Nutrition Service website.

Nutrition Links

http://www.foodallergy.org

https://www.eatright.org/for-kids

http://www.fns.usda.gov/nslp/national-school-lunch-program

http://www.choosemyplate.gov/

Smart Snacks in Schools are science-based nutrition standards published by the USDA that apply to all foods and beverages sold to students during the school day (outside the school meal programs which have their own set of standards).  

The Smart Snacks in Schools Standards put all food and beverages sold and served to students across campus on a level playing field. The standards make healthier foods and beverages available to students while limiting junk food.

• Smart Snack Standards apply to all foods and beverages sold and served to students K-8 and sold to students 9-12* outside of the school meals programs – including vending machines, a la carte, school stores, snack carts and in-school fundraising.
• Smart Snack Standards are in effect the entire school day (midnight before to 30 minutes after the end of the school day) across the entire school campus.
• Smart Snack Standards do not apply to classroom celebrations and during evening, weekend or community events. Classroom celebrations are defined as “a celebration that occurs within a given classroom (or respective area) and is limited to only those students enrolled in that one classroom. Examples of classroom parties are holiday parties and birthday parties that occur in the classroom limited to only those enrolled students”.
• Non-food fundraisers or fundraisers that include only foods and beverages that meet the standards are not limited in any way.

‎*The Arizona Nutrition Standards (ANS) amended the National Smart Snacks Standards to include a differentiation between "sold" for grades 9-12 and "sold and served" for grade K-8. Foods that are both sold and served in K-8 must meet the Smart Snacks Standards. This includes field day, principal parties, etc.

This institution is an equal opportunity provider.

Any food items sold or served as a fundraiser would need to meet the same nutrition standards as other competitive foods on the school campus. View the infographic below for more information on Smart Snack standards and other foods on campus including fundraisers.

Safe and Healthy Eating Tips:

• Please encourage your student, child, or children to be seated upright when eating and not to be distracted. 
• Encourage them to eat slowly, take small bites, and fully chew and swallow their food before talking or laughing. 
• If you pack a lunch and send it with your child, please avoid food items that could be difficult to chew or which could possibly cause choking. 
• Encourage them not to eat while walking, running, or engaging in other activities. 
• Encourage them to avoid children’s games that involve catching a food item in the mouth or putting large amounts of food into the mouth.
• Eating in the cafeteria should be fun and social, but eating in the cafeteria is a privilege. 
• For those who misbehave or fail to follow these directions, cafeteria privileges may be revoked.

Learn more about wellness habits with DVUSD's Food & Nutrition resources.