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Get Schools Cooking

Our Get Schools Cooking program helps school districts transition from a heat-and-serve to a scratch-cooking operational model so they can serve students fresher, healthier, and more appetizing meals. 

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Get Schools Cooking

Our Get Schools Cooking program helps school districts transition from a heat-and-serve to a scratch-cooking operational model so they can serve students fresher, healthier, and more appetizing meals. 

Applications are closed. Sign up for the interest list below to be notified when applications open again. 

Overview

Through our most hands-on initiative, Get Schools Cooking, we meet K-12 districts where they are so they can gradually transition from serving students primarily highly processed heat-and-serve meals to serving them fresh, healthy, delicious meals made from scratch.

After conducting a comprehensive assessment of a district’s menu, financial position, facilities infrastructure, staffing, and marketing efforts, we help districts create a strategic plan and over the course of three years take actionable steps toward increasing their scratch cooking capacity. We also provide system improvement grants to help districts implement our recommendations. 

Get Schools Cooking is open to school districts across the country thanks to generous funding support from Whole Kids, The Rachael Ray Foundation, Waverley Street Foundation, and other donors.

Overview

Through our most hands-on initiative, Get Schools Cooking, we meet K-12 districts where they are so they can gradually transition from serving students primarily highly processed heat-and-serve meals to serving them fresh, healthy, delicious meals made from scratch.

After conducting a comprehensive assessment of a district’s menu, financial position, facilities infrastructure, staffing, and marketing efforts, we help districts create a strategic plan and over the course of three years take actionable steps toward increasing their scratch cooking capacity. We also provide system improvement grants to help districts implement our recommendations. 

Get Schools Cooking is open to school districts across the country thanks to generous funding support from Whole Kids, The Rachael Ray Foundation, Waverley Street Foundation, and other donors.

Program Impact

Since 2016

180,000

children

27

districts

21

states

Program Impact

Since 2016

180,000

children

27

districts

21

states

Details

Districts participating in Get Schools Cooking complete the following program components over three years.

Workshop

Districts attend a two-day workshop at a Chef Ann Foundation partner district to learn about foundational strategies for successful school food reform and to see scratch cooking operations first-hand.


School Food Institute Courses

Districts complete intensive online courses through the Chef Ann Foundation’s School Food Institute, which offers up to 11 courses on topics that include scratch cooking recipes and menu development, school food finance, procurement, sustainable lunchrooms, and more. 


On-Site Assessment

Chef Ann Foundation’s school food experts observe all aspects of a district’s current school food practices and collect data to provide practical steps the district can take to start or expand its scratch cooking program. 


Assessment Report

We provide a comprehensive assessment report to districts that details the steps it needs to take to move toward scratch cooking. The key program areas we asses include food, finances, facilities, human resources, and marketing.

Our research partners also conduct a baseline procurement assessment and provide a baseline score for the healthfulness of the schools meals being served.


Strategic Planning

Our school food experts provide district leaders a strategic plan to review the recommendations from the assessment report and the actions the district would need to take to start or expand its scratch cooking operations.


Technical Assistance

We provide districts both on-site and virtual technical assistance support in areas identified in the assessment report. Areas include, but are not limited to: culinary skills, kitchen efficiency, budget development, staffing plan, recipe development, or marketing.


Connect and Reflect

We host peer-to-peer support sessions that offer space for districts to discuss current school food topics, share information, and learn what other districts are doing across Get Schools Cooking cohorts.


Systems Assistance Grant

Districts have the opportunity to apply for a systems assistance grant to help them reach their scratch cooking goals.


Evaluations

Districts participate in ongoing qualitative interviews and regularly submit program data to measure their progress starting or expanding their scratch cooking operations.

Accomplishments

School districts that have completed our Get Schools Cooking program have:

  • Introduced a variety of scratch-cooked recipes to their menus
  • Installed salad bars
  • Began procuring more local ingredients
  • Eliminated highly processed products such as frozen chicken nuggets, frozen pizza, and packaged sandwiches from menus
  • Gained community support for school food change
  • Learned how to cook raw proteins, like whole-muscle chicken
  • Began offering students a wider and fresher variety of fruits and vegetables
  • Implemented software to improve efficiency
  • And much more!

Accomplishments

School districts that have completed our Get Schools Cooking program have:

  • Introduced a variety of scratch-cooked recipes to their menus
  • Installed salad bars
  • Began procuring more local ingredients
  • Eliminated highly processed products such as frozen chicken nuggets, frozen pizza, and packaged sandwiches from menus
  • Gained community support for school food change
  • Learned how to cook raw proteins, like whole-muscle chicken
  • Began offering students a wider and fresher variety of fruits and vegetables
  • Implemented software to improve efficiency
  • And much more!

Cohorts

1st Cohort

  • Bellingham Public Schools (Bellingham, WA)
  • Buford City Schools (Buford, GA)
  • Passaic Public Schools (Passaic, NJ)
  • Watertown Public Schools (Watertown, MA)

2nd Cohort​

  • Brewster Central School District (Brewster, NY)
  • Fridley Public Schools (Fridley, MN)
  • Norwood City School District (Norwood, OH)
  • Ocean View School District (Oxnard, CA)
  • Oxford School District (Oxford, MS)
  • Staunton City Schools (Staunton, VA)
  • Tempe Elementary School District (Tempe, AZ)

3rd Cohort

  • Caroline County Public Schools (Denton, MD)
  • Goleta Union School District (Goleta, CA)
  • Marysville Joint Unified School District (Marysville, CA)
  • Napa Valley Unified School District (Napa, CA)

4th Cohort

  • Beaufort County Schools (Washington, NC)
  • Franklin Special School District (Franklin, TN)
  • Manhattan-Ogden USD 383 (Manhattan, KS)
  • South Madison Community School Corporation (Pendleton, IN)
  • Wisconsin Rapids Public Schools (Wisconsin Rapids, WI)

5th Cohort

  • Brownsville Independent School District (Brownsville, TX)
  • Dillingham School District (Dillingham, AK)
  • Ellensburg School District (Ellensburg, WA)
  • Hardin Public Schools (Hardin, MT)
  • Howard-Suamico School District (Green Bay, WI)
  • Lewiston Public Schools (Lewiston, ME)
  • Windham Central Supervisory Union (Townshend, VT

6th Cohort 

  • Districts to be announced in early 2025

Special Thanks to Our Program Funders 

Discover More

Salad Bars To Schools

Salad Bars to Schools (SB2S) supports schools in expanding their commitment to serving fresh fruits and vegetables by donating salad bars to school districts across the United States.

School Food Institute

The School Food Institute gives school food service professionals and childhood nutrition advocates the in-depth training, operational skills, and strategic vision necessary to make school food fresh, healthy, and sustainable.

Specialized Programming

The Chef Ann Foundation (CAF) is able to offer specialized programming for school districts to transition their Food and Nutrition Service Departments from a heat-and-serve or processed model to one that is rooted in scratch cooking using real and whole ingredients. Specialized programming presents a unique opportunity for a district or multiple districts to receive individualized and direct support for improving their meal programs.

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