Welcome to the Hanover School District – Ray School Cafe. There are a few things about our food service program we would like to share with you.

Last year was a great learning year for the Café staff with 3 out of 4 employees being brand new to the team. Pat Pollard, our veteran food service technician at the café, provided us with historical knowledge and guidance as we all settled into our new roles. Some of our changes worked well and some needed to be revisited. After polling parents and staff, we have been working throughout the summer with a registered dietician to bring more varied and balanced menu offerings to the students. While we do not formally participate in the National School Lunch Program monitored by USDA, we are using their nutritional guidelines and standards as a base for our component items. Those standards include at least one serving of protein, two servings of fruits and/or vegetables, one serving of a grain, and 8 fl. oz. of milk. While it is our hope the new menu offerings will be varied enough to satisfy the range of palates in the K-5 age group, you can notify the food service manager with suggestions by clicking on the Suggestion Box Form below.

We have been researching better quality products and working to establishing relationships with local farms such as Edgewater, Killdeer and Maple Leaf. The team is redesigning menus and researching better methods for preparing and holding foods in large quantities from scratch in order to provide the students with healthy, nutritious and good tasting lunches. We are instituting some of the NH Harvest of the Month recipes and will be working with the educational staff to bring the informational harvest activities into the classrooms as time permits. Exciting new products for “sample” days will occasionally be offered to obtain feedback from the students on whether they would like to have it added as a main menu item.

Lunch is served by the Café staff in 5 overlapping shifts starting with K/1 at 11 am culminating with Grade 5 who begin lunch at 12:15 pm. Students return to their classrooms for lunch consumption. In addition to the Main Event entry with sides, we also offer 3 daily alternatives which include: Salad Bar (daily selections of vegetables, fruits, proteins & grains where students are monitored by staff to be sure they are taking all components for a balanced meal), Sun Butter & Jelly Sandwich on whole grain bread or Whole Grain Bagel with choice of Cream Cheese or Sun Butter. The last 2 alternative choices are served with yogurt, low fat string cheese, fresh fruit & veggie sticks, and milk.

The Ray School Café operates a computerized point of sale system called Meal Time which tracks students purchases and account balances. You can monitor your child’s account activity and account balances; also, you can set up a low-balance notification and, if you wish, make payments to your child’s food service account. The service is free but there is a transaction fee for each payment made using the online system. The website is www.mymealtime.com If you choose to make payments to your students food service account by check, please insure that the check is payable to the Hanover School District and note Ray Cafe. If your child had money on their account at the end of last year, the money will rollover to the new school year. The personal ID number assigned to your student will follow them all the way through Hanover High School.

If your students have medically necessary dietary needs, we are willing to make reasonable accommodations when we are able. Please be sure to notify the school nurse and file any necessary paperwork when registering.

To set up a MealTime Online account go to: www.mymealtime.com and follow the directions for “Create a New Profile.” If you already have a profile for one student, you do not need to create another profile, just add the new student.

Although we do not currently participate in the National School Lunch Program, Free and Reduced applications can be submitted all year long as the Hanover School District does fund families in need of help. The forms can be secured by contacting Della Domingue at 603-643-6655, ext. 2272 or via email at . If your family status changes during the school year, or you didn't complete the free and reduced application at the beginning of the year that doesn't mean you missed your opportunity. New applications are accepted and approved all year long.

We look forward to your participation in the Ray School Café.

Christine, Pat & Nancy