GCPS Offers Students Breakfast and Lunch Options

The Gwinnett County School System offers breakfast and lunch for students daily in the school cafeterias. Breakfast typically costs $1.25 and lunch is $2 in the elementary schools and $2.25 in the middle and high schools. Last year the Gwinnett County Public School system served 22,231,157 student lunches and 9,917,172 student breakfasts. Some of the most popular items among school age children include orange juice and strawberry yogurt.

• During the 2011-2012 school year, GCPS students will learn the benefits of eating locally grown products. The School Nutrition Program is continuing its Farm-to-School initiative that was started last year. This initiative known as the NEAT project, Nutrition Education and Training, is implemented at each Gwinnett school to educate students on making healthy food choices and help equip Gwinnett students with nutrition lessons that they will hopefully continue with through their lives.

• GCPS children and their families may benefit from free meals or reduced price meals if they qualify. The cost of reduced school meals is $.30 for breakfast and $.40 for lunch. Interested individuals do not need to fill out an application for each child in their family. Applicants can use one free and reduced price school meal application for all students in their household. Applications should be completed and returned to any school cafeteria office or mail in to GCPS-SNP, 437 Old Peachtree Road, NW, Suwanee, GA 30024.

• How do you know if your child qualifies to receive free or reduced price meals at school? If your household receives SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits (formerly known as the Food Stamp Program), TANF or FDPIR and foster children, regardless of household income, will qualify for this program at their local school. Children from families whose household income is within the free limits on the Federal Income Guidelines will also qualify. Applicants are only good for one school year so if you benefited from this program last year you will need to fill out an application again this year.

In local school news:

• The first day of school for Gwinnett County students is Monday, August 8.

• graduate James Hill and graduate Shelby Bentley have received UGA scholarships.

• Congratulations to former cheerleaders who will be cheering this year at the following colleges: .

In local college news:

• The Gwinnett Tech Associate degree nursing program has earned accreditation by the Board of Commissioners of the National League for Nursing Accrediting Commission, Inc.

• Gwinnett Technical College is now offering registration for “Green” courses. These courses offer a range of seminars and workshops on energy conservation, sustainability and green building practices.

• Georgia Gwinnett College recently held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new instructional laboratory facility. This new building is a $7 million, 24,000 square foot structure funded by the University System of Georgia.