Seamless Summer

Meals Continue for Many During Summer Break

The Cherokee County School District’s (CCSD) School Nutrition Program feeds our students during the summer through a program called the Seamless Summer Option (SSO) of the National School Lunch and School Breakfast programs.

The Seamless Summer Option allows the school district to continue the same meal service procedures used during the regular school year. The federally funded program is approved through the Georgia Department of Education.

For several consecutive summers, the CCSD has provided a reliable source of nutrition to the community during the long summer break from school. Meals are served at no charge to children age 18 and younger. We served 33,000 lunches and 20,000 breakfasts through the program last year, which averages about 1,000 lunches and 600 breakfasts each day.

Menus during the summer months, just as those during the traditional school year, reflect our desire to provide the most nutritious, flavorful and desirable foods. We take great pride in the fact that customer preference and acceptability is always at the forefront of our minds during the menu development process. Summer menu items include a variety of fresh fruits and vegetables, whole-grain entrees and low-fat milk options. The school nutrition staff consistently communicates the importance of balanced eating and emphasizes healthful choices to students who participate in the summer program.

Feeding sites are established each year at the schools operating summer educational programming and in places such as local YMCA campuses, sports camps and local community churches where students are often hosted for summer camps. The program will operate June 4-July 20, with breakfast and/or lunch meals offered at various locations. Specific dates, times and locations will be announced on the CCSD website and social media accounts this spring.

If your organization will be hosting a summer program and you would like to partner with CCSD school nutrition to offer meals at no charge, please contact the school nutrition office at 770-721-8419 for more information.

By Tina Farmer, director of school nutrition for Cherokee County schools.