Award Recipients for the Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program (FFVP) for School Year 2019-2020
The schools selected to participate in the Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program (FFVP) for the upcoming 2019-2020 school year were announced this week! Check out the
FFVP webpage
to see the full list of schools selected to participate as well as other FFVP resources.
For questions related to FFVP, please contact the Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program Specialist Jessa Zuck at (602) 542-8790 or by email at
jessa.zuck@azed.gov
.
School Nutrition Programs is pleased to announce that the following items have been made available on our webpage:
Direct Certification
Direct Certification means determining which children are eligible for free meal benefits based on documentation obtained directly from the appropriate State or local agency. In most situations, Direct Certification of a child’s eligibility status should not involve communication with the household or require the household to submit supporting documentation. The communication exchange should be between an appropriate agency and the LEA/school. No application is necessary if eligibility is determined through the direct certification process. LEAs are not required to provide applications to parents when children are eligible for free meals through direct certification, but must assure that these children are not overtly identified through the method used to distribute applications. If a household submits an application for children who were directly certified, direct certification takes precedence over an application.
- Direct Certification documentation can come from:
- CNP Direct Certification
- Program/Agency Documentation
- Notice to Provider (Foster)
- Migrant Education Program liaison confirmation(Migrant)
- McKinney Vento liaison confirmation (Homeless)
- Runaway Youth Homeless Act Shelter Director/liaison(Runaway)
- Letters from the government agency (TANF, FDPIR)
- Head Start Roster list
All Child Nutrition Program School Food Authorities (SFAs)* are required to run a Direct Certification report at least three times per school year using CNP Direct Certification:
- At or around the beginning of the school year (July 1)
- three months after the initial effort, and
- six months after the initial effort.
Learn more about conducting direct certification and the latest enhancement of the CNP Direct Certification/Direct Verification system to help you ensure you are getting the most out of the system for the upcoming school year by attending the
Direct Certification Best Practices (3120)
on
July 9, 2019
from
1:30 pm to 2:30 pm.
Summer Food Service Programs (SFSP)
ADE Health and Nutrition is very proud of each 2019 Farm to Summer Week Challenge participant and can’t wait to show off these food service professionals at the 2020 Summer Food Service Program Summit! Below are two highlights from staff site visits last week.
- Isaac Elementary District participated in their first Farm to Summer Week Challenge event at J B Sutton Elementary School last Monday, June 10th, 2019. This event focused on local dairy and was supported in partnership with the Dairy Council of Arizona. Josh Gladden from Saddle Mountain Dairy, Roxie the Cow and the Shamrock Foods team joined in the celebration! The children were able to participate in a milk taste test (vanilla, strawberry and chocolate) and a cheese curd taste test. Children were able to vote for their favorite milk and if they liked the cheese curd (yes/no). Strawberry milk was a crowd favorite and most children loved the cheese curds.
- On Monday, June 10th Jack Harmon Elementary School in the J O Combs Unified School District participated in their first Farm to Summer Week Challenge. Patty Narducci and her team put a ton of effort into their DIY Farm-to-Summer events. The Superintendent (Mark) stopped by the site to help feed more than 200 kids! Each day of the week captured a different theme, but Monday focused on students building-their-own greenhouse station where kids could color a green house and plant some pinto beans (a basic germination experiment). The greenhouses will adorn the windows until the beans sprout. Monday’s event also provided egg-cicle taste tests with local Hickman Farm eggs. They had excellent events planned throughout the week: Tuesday was National Corn on the Cob Day with popcorn games, Wednesday was a visit from a dairy farmer with cheese curd tasting (in conjunction with the Dairy Council), and Thursday there will be an equine visitor. They are really doing great work on a shoestring budget this summer, with great promise for years to come.