Food & Nutrition Services

NTPS Food & Nutrition Services serves thousands of nutritious meals daily to our students and staff.

2024-25 School Meals

Thanks to funding from state and national school nutrition programs, 17 NTPS schools qualify to serve free breakfast and lunch to all students in the 2024-25 school year! Five NTPS schools will have paid breakfast and lunch service as they did not meet the state or federal funding requirements. Families at paid-meals schools can still qualify for free meals by filling out the Child Nutrition Application (formerly the Free & Reduced Lunch Application).

All families should complete the Child Nutrition Application this school year, even if your school provides free breakfast and lunch to all students. Qualifying applications provide important funding for all NTPS schools, and can provide additional benefits to families like waived school fees and summer food assistance.

2024-25 Child Nutrition Application

Free Summer Meals

NTPS provides free drop-in breakfasts, lunches, and snacks at several schools over the summer months. All kids 18 and under eat free on-site – no registration required!

View SUMMER meal times and locations

Menus

Downloadable and printable menus are posted here and on your school website. Use our interactive online menu to access daily meal menus and information on carbohydrates and allergens. Visit the website, select your schools, and see the full menu. Nondiscrimination & complaint procedure.

See interactive menu

Elementary Menus

Middle School Menus

High School Menus

Quick Links

Contact Us

360-412-4446

foodnutrition@nthurston.k12.wa.us

Nondiscrimination Statement
Complaint Procedure
This institution is an equal opportunity provider.

Menus & Nutrition Info

We proudly serve:

Whole Grain Bread Products, Pasta, Rice, and Tortillas
Many menu items prepared from scratch
Self-Serve Fruit and Vegetable Bars that consist of: Romaine, Spring mix, Broccoli, Cauliflower, Carrots, Cherry Tomatoes, Edamame, Kidney Beans, Cucumber Coins, Celery, Baby Corn, Apples, Oranges, Grapes, Bananas, a variety of lightly sweetened canned fruits, and other seasonal options.
Low-fat Dressings
Low Fat 1% White Milk and Fat Free Chocolate Milk

North Thurston Public Schools participates in the National School Lunch and Breakfast Program sponsored by the USDA. Breakfast entrées are accompanied by a variety of fresh and lightly sweetened canned fruit, 100% fruit juice, and an option of 1% white milk or non-fat chocolate milk. Lunch entrées are accompanied by a self-serve fresh fruit and vegetable bar, and an option of 1% white milk or non-fat chocolate milk. A vegetarian entrée is available daily. The middle and high schools have expanded menus that feature fresh specialty salads, sandwiches, wraps, parfaits, freshly baked pizzas, and burgers.

Special dietary needs?

Working together with parents, school nurses, and other student support staff, we can help create a plan to meet special dietary needs.

Standard Food Allergy Substitutions

USDA Child Nutrition Programs support access to healthy meals to all children, including children with disabilities who have special dietary needs. Disability is defined as an impairment that substantially limits a major life activity. This can include allergies and digestive conditions. However, it does not include religious or personal diet preferences.

How do I get Special Dietary Accommodations for my child?

Please complete a Request for Special Dietary Accommodations form, and return this to your school.

Request for Special Dietary Accommodations

The request must include:

Food(s) to be omitted/avoided from the child’s diet.
How the ingestion of the food impacts the child.
Food(s) to be substituted.
A signature of a State-recognized medical authority (a licensed health care professional authorized to write medical prescriptions in Washington) for example:
- Medical Doctor (MD)
- Doctor of Osteopathy (DO)
- Physician’s Assistant (PA) with prescriptive authority
- Naturopathic Physician
- Advanced Registered Nurse Practitioner (ARNP)

Continuing to work with your School

Continued communication is necessary for the most up-to-date care. Times to communicate with your school may include:

New special dietary needs.
Updated restrictions (for example: your child was not able to eat tomatoes, but now they can).
Questions or concerns about your child’s care.

Lactose Intolerance

USDA approved soy milk is available daily at all school locations. No forms or documentation are required to receive soy milk.

Vegetarian/Meatless

In an effort to accommodate those students requiring meatless meal choices, Food & Nutrition Service offers a vegetarian entrée daily at all school locations.

Meal Prices & Payment


Meal	Paid	Free & Reduced Price
Breakfast (grades K–5)	$0.00	$0.00
Lunch (grades K–5)	$0.00	$0.00
Breakfast (grades 6–12)	$2.50	$0.00
Lunch (grades 6–12)	$3.80	$0.00
Breakfast (adult)	$3.00	Not applicable
Lunch (adult)	$5.00	Not applicable
Milk à la carte (not included with a meal)	$0.50	$0.50

Meal charge policy

If a student does not have sufficient funds to pay for a school meal, it is the policy of NTPS to allow the student to purchase a meal and run the lunch account into a negative balance. À la carte items (such as milk) may not be charged. Parents/guardians are responsible for negative balances on a student's account. Contact Food Services for more information on setting limits on accounts.

Adding money to a meal account

Cash or check: Pay through your school office (elementary) or school cafeteria (secondary). During summers, you can make payments at the district office.

Credit card: Pay online through our payment portal.

Log into the payment portal
Select your student
Shop: Items at student's school
Category: Food Service
Select a pre-set amount or a custom amount

Monitoring meal account balances

Current balance: Check your student's current account balance anytime in Skyward Family Access using the Food Service tile.
Low balance: Turn on low balance notifications in Skyward Family Access by selecting My Messages > Settings > Food Service Low Balance.
Negative balance: Messages are automatically sent to the parent/guardian of a student with a negative meal account balance each Sunday and Wednesday. Please pay the negative balance and add any extra needed.

Lunch Accounts Refunds & Transfers

Moving out of district and there's a balance on your student's lunch account? You can have us mail you a check, or you can donate the remainder to the Compassion Fund to help pay for meals for students in need. Want to transfer amounts between your student's accounts? No problem! Be sure your account has a balance - check Skyward Family Access or call your student's school office to check your balance. Use the form below to refund, transfer, or donate money on your student's meal account:

Lunch Account Balance Refund Request Form

Want to transfer money between student accounts?

Fill out the Refund Request Form above. Transfer requests are typically processed within the same day, but may take up to five days to complete at the beginning or end of the school year due to a high volume of requests.

Leaving the district?

Student food account balances can be refunded or donated to the Compassion Fund using the Refund Request Form above. NOTE: Refund requests may take up to four weeks to process due to board approval.

Wellness Policy & Resources

Wellness Committee

Parents and community members are invited to join the wellness committee and/or offer input. If you are interested in joining the committee and learning about the regulations that govern school nutrition programs, please contact Food & Nutrition Services at 360-412-4446. See Policy 6700 & Procedure 6700P for more information.

Assessment of Wellness Policy

July 2024 Wellness Policy Assessment (PDF)

Smart Snacks Calculator

Does your snack meeting USDA Smart Snacks in School guidelines? Use the Smart Snacks Product Calculator to find out!

Other Nutrition & Wellness Links

Community Use of School Kitchens

School kitchens may be used if you have approval from the Food & Nutrition Services (F&N). Once approval has been granted, arrangements will be made for an F&N staff member to be present during use of any kitchen equipment. The staff member will be responsible for supervising use of equipment and supplies, along with assisting with any food preparation that takes place in the kitchen in order for the food function to be sanctioned by the Thurston County Health Department. $30 per hour will be charged for labor associated with use of a school kitchen.

To inquire on availability of school kitchens, please contact the kitchen manager or head cook at your school or email Food & Nutrition Services.

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