Lunch Menus/Food Services

Breakfast and Lunch will be available at no cost for the entire 2023-2024 school year at Church Street, Dunbar Hill, Helen Street, Ridge Hill, and Shepherd Glen.

Alice Peck, Bear Path, HCLC, Hamden High School, Hamden Middle School, Spring Glen, West Woods, and HTA will offer free breakfast to all students. Students with free and reduced-price meal status will receive lunch at no cost. Students with paid meal status will be charged for lunch. Parents and guardians are encouraged to complete a free and reduced-price meal application as soon as possible. Parents and guardians are also urged to set up a MySchoolBucks student meal account and keep sufficient funds in it.

Breakfast and lunch menus can be found at www.fdmealplanner.com.

Free and Reduced Priced Meals are Available! 

You might be surprised how easy it is to qualify your child for free or reduced-priced meals each day. Eligibility is based on family size and income. Click here to view the Press Release describing the program and eligibility requirements. 

PLEASE NOTE THAT THE APPLICATION MUST BE COMPLETED EACH YEAR - EVEN IF YOU WERE PART OF THE PROGRAM PREVIOUSLY.

Student Meal Prices for the 2023-2024 School Year

Elementary Schools: Breakfast is free for all students. Full-price lunch is $2.75 and reduced-price is $0.00.

Hamden Middle School: Breakfast is free for all students. Full-price lunch is $3.00 and reduced-price is $0.00.

Hamden High School: Breakfast is free for all students. Full-price lunch is $3.75 and reduced-price is $0.00.

Hamden has set up a system to make it easier for kids to purchase meals at school. This system allows parents to set up an account for their child and add money to the account as needed for student meals. Students simply enter their account code at the cafeteria register and are able to purchase meals without having to worry about having cash available.

The Simple Way to Pay For Students Meals

If parents/guardians do not want to use the online MySchoolBucks payment system for school meals, they can pay by check to put money on a student meal account.

Checks should be made payable to: Hamden School Lunch Fund

Checks can be sent to schools with students and given to cafeteria cashiers, or mailed to:

Whitsons Food Service
c/o Hamden High School
2040 Dixwell Avenue
Hamden, CT 06514

You can sign-up online or download the app at www.myschoolbucks.com You will need your child's Student ID # to finalize the set up. 

Access MY SCHOOL BUCKS by going to the website
or downloading the application by clicking on the links below.

Lunch Charge Procedures

1. The District strongly discourages meal charges, but understands that an occasional emergency makes it necessary. We ask that charging privileges be exercised as infrequently as possible and not used as a payment practice. It is the responsibility of parents and caregivers to keep track of their student account balances and avoid negative balances. Meal balances could easily be tracked on the MySchoolBucks website, or by contacting the food services office (203-230-1010). The policy and procedures described here will be strictly enforced to eliminate unnecessary debt within the School Food Service Program.
    
2. Parents/guardians are responsible for their child’s lunch payment in advance or in the lunch line. Any student whose account has insufficient funds may charge up to three (3) meals. The cost of these meals will be charged to the child’s meal account. A-la-carte items may not be charged, and second meals will not be allowed.
    

3. This practice will continue until the outstanding balance is paid in full.

4. When a charge has occurred and there is a negative balance on a student’s account, a written notification shall be sent to parents/guardians on a weekly basis, and will be followed up on with phone calls. Communication to parents/guardians about meal debt will include the free and reduced-price meal application, the Hamden Food Resource Guide, and information on services offered at the Keefe Community Center. Once 20 meals are charged, a referral will be made to a school social worker. The social worker will assess whether the student’s family is experiencing hardships, barriers or other circumstances with which the social worker can assist. The social worker will encourage the parents/guardians to submit a free and reduced-price meal application and inquire about any assistance that might be needed to complete the application. Once a student’s unpaid meal charges equal or exceeds the cost of 30 meals, the District is required to make a referral to the McKinney-Vento Act Homeless Education Liaison.

5. All credited meals must be repaid. The Connecticut State Department of Education requires that the household pays all delinquent student debts no later than June 30th to ensure that students’ accounts are closed. These student meal accounts must be at a zero balance for the next school year

SNAP is the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, which offers nutrition assistance to eligible individuals and families and provides economic benefits to communities. SNAP helps individuals and families purchase food at participating supermarkets, groceries, and farmers' markets. This federally funded program was created to help income-eligible recipients eat well and stay healthy. The program is administered by the United States Department of Agriculture and the CT State Department of Social Services.

Nondiscrimination Statement: This explains what to do if you believe you have been treated unfairly.

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 be obtained online at: https://www.usda.gov/sites/default/files/documents/ad-3027.pdf, 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:

1. Mail: U.S. Department of Agriculture
   Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights
   1400 Independence Avenue, SW
   Washington, D.C. 20250-9410; or
2. Fax: (833) 256-1665 or (202) 690-7442; or
3. Email: program.intake@usda.gov

This institution is an equal opportunity provider.

Research has demonstrated that children learn better when they are well nourished. With this in mind, Hamden Public Schools uses Whitsons Culinary Group to make available healthy and tasty meals for our students. Please visit the Whitsons website for more information about their services. The General Manager of Whitsons in Hamden is Roberto Espinoza, who could be reached at the food service office at 203-230-1010, or at espinozar@whitsons.com.

Wellness Policy
A school wellness policy is a written document of official policies that guide a school district’s efforts to establish a school environment that promotes students’ health, well-being, and ability to learn by supporting healthy eating and physical activity. The Hamden Public Schools Wellness Policy can be found here.

Triennial Assessment
An assessment was performed during the 2021-22 school year to measure the effectiveness of the Hamden Public Schools District Wellness Policy. The Triennial Assessment documentation can be found here.