Hatfield Public Schools Food Services
August 3, 2022
Dear Parents and Caregivers,
We want to update you with exciting news about universal free school meals. The Commonwealth of Massachusetts has decided to extend free school meals for all students through the 2022-2023 school year! This means that lunch will continue to be served at no cost to all students.
Please note that even though meals will be free for all, it is very important for families to still complete the household Application for Free and Reduced Price Meals for the 2022-2023 school year. You can view and complete the application here: Free & Reduced Lunch Household Application. We strongly encourage (but don’t require) ALL families to submit this form as it allows us to establish eligibility for P-EBT benefits and serve families most effectively.
In addition, please consider applying for SNAP, the federal nutrition program that provides eligible residents with monthly financial assistance to purchase groceries. More SNAP information can be found at gettingsnap.org or by calling Project Bread’s FoodSource Hotline at 1-800-645-8333.
The food and nutrition department at Hatfield Schools thanks you for your patience awaiting this news! As always, we are grateful for the opportunity to provide nourishing and healthy meals to all Hatfield School students so please reach out to us with any questions or concerns.
Best,
John Halpin
Food Service Director
Hatfield Public Schools
August 2, 2022
Free & Reduced Lunch Household Application
Free & Reduced Lunch Household Application Directions
June 9, 2022
Dear Parents and Caregivers,
We want to update you regarding the free school meals that Hatfield Schools has been able to serve to your children since the beginning of COVID in March 2020. When COVID started, the federal government created a national policy that allowed schools in the entire country to provide free meals to all students. As of now, it is likely that this national policy will end on June 30th. We hope this is not the case, but we want to be prepared and want to give all families time to prepare for this change.
What this means for Hatfield School families is that next school year we may return to the traditional system, where students receive free, reduced-price, or full-price meals based upon income status. In order to ensure we can provide free or reduced-price meals to as many families as possible, we will need families to complete the household Application for Free and Reduced Price Meals in July 2022 for next school year. Please note that this does not affect the remainder of the current school year. We will continue to offer free lunch to ALL students until this school year ends on June 15, 2022.
The most important thing that you can do to prepare for the start of school is to complete the 22-23 MA Application for Free and Reduced Price Meals, which will be available in July 2022 on the school website. We strongly encourage ALL families to submit this form as it is very important to the district’s records, and allows us to also {waive fees, etc. for those who qualify}. We will be in touch again in July with the Application form.
In addition, please consider applying for SNAP, the federal nutrition program that provides eligible residents with monthly financial assistance to purchase groceries. While the 22-23 MA Application for Free and Reduced Price Meals is not available to complete until July, the application for SNAP is available now. More SNAP information can be found at gettingsnap.org.
Th food and nutrition department at Hatfield thanks you for your patience during this anticipated change and we understand the burden that this may place on many families. As always, we are grateful for the opportunity to provide nourishing and healthy meals to all Hatfield students so please reach out to us with any questions or concerns.
Best,
John Halpin
Director of Food Services
October 14, 2021
Dear Families,
The Hatfield Public Schools Food and Nutrition Department is asking for your patience and support as we navigate new challenges. As you may be aware, we are currently faced with unprecedented shortages of food and packaging materials, massive delays or cancellations of deliveries, and department labor shortages. Nationwide shortages and delays have affected availability of certain food items, leading to substitutions of menu items we’ve been able to offer regularly in the past. These supply issues are occurring throughout the country and are especially challenging for school systems, due to the quantity of meals we serve and the nutrition standards we follow.
All of this means that we may need to make quick substitutions to our menu(s) based upon what we are able to acquire. We know that this affects students, and we are doing our best to provide updates about menu changes when possible as soon as we identify an issue.
Please know that our number one priority continues to be providing healthy, nutritious, and appetizing meals for your children. We love seeing them every day and appreciate your support and patience as we continue to offer meals at no charge for all students. The good news is that free lunch will continue throughout the school year, so please stick with us while we face yet another challenge. Your participation helps our program stay strong, and we look forward to serving you!
Warmly,
Christopher Buckland- Principal
John Halpin- Food Service Director
August 18, 2021
Dear Smith Academy and Hatfield Elementary School Families,
I would like to start by introducing myself. My name is John Halpin and I am the new Food Service Director at Hatfield Public Schools.It is a pleasure for me to be part of such a great school system in Hatfield Massachusetts.
My experience has been in the Restaurant industry for many years and I recently moved to school nutrition. Our goal is to provide quality food for each and every student.
As you may know, the food program here is basically starting over and I am happy to be part of the transition as we begin the new school year. I am currently in my third week here and I am learning a lot about food nutrition and how the school kitchens operate. My first goal is to hire staff in this difficult labor market. I am asking for patience as we move through this process of “starting over”.
A few notes as we begin the school year. We will not be serving breakfast or any snack to begin the year. We will be serving lunch only until we are able to transition into the school year. Please have the students plan accordingly.
We are asking that all students/parents fill out the “Lunch Selection” each week on the Hatfield Public School site by Thursday prior to the upcoming week in order to have the correct counts for each day of the school week. Please make sure this is done by Thursday of the previous week.
I thank you for your cooperation in advance as we look to start a great school year. Please reach out to me with any questions you may have.
Sincerely,
John Halpin
Food Service Director
Hatfield Schools
Information about Free and Reduced Lunch: 2021/2
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