• Free Meals for 2024-25 School Year

    • Thanks to the state of Michigan putting Michigan School Meals in the budget, UCS students will receive free breakfast and lunch throughout the 2024-25 school year.
    • All UCS families are asked to complete the Education Benefits form Here - enter "Utica Community Schools" and follow the prompts. These forms help wave fees for pay-to-play sports, lower internet costs, reduced AP/college application fees and more!
    • Most online forms are processed within two (2) working days compared to 10 using paper applications. 
    • Paper copies of these forms are distributed to all student households or are available at your child’s school. 

    How to Managing Your Student's Account

    • Go to  https://utica.familyportal.cloud to set up your account
    • Please review this video for instructions on how to set up your account. Https://utica.familyportal.cloud/tutorials 
    • You will need your child’s 9-digit ID number to set it up (you can get this from the office)
    • You can access student meal accounts 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to view account balances, deposit histories, or your child’s meal or snack selections free of charge.
    • You can also make deposits on your child’s cafeteria account using Visa, MasterCard or Discover-a bank service fee of $1.50 will be charged on your credit card.
    • A La Carte may still be purchased with cash or check; however amounts of $20 or more are recommended.
    • Checks should be made to Utica Community Schools Food Service Department
    • Checks returned for Non-Sufficient Funds (NSF) will be assessed a $25 fee.

    UCS Meals Are Nutritious And Delicious!

    • UCS cafeterias offer a wide variety of different food choices to meet your student's needs.
    • We serve the same brand-named products, like Tyson, Land-O-Lakes and Jennie-O, that you do in your homes.
    • Meals follow Federal guidelines for nutrition.
    • Meals include a variety of fresh fruit, vegetables, whole grains, low fat meat and dairy-as well as low fat and fat-free milk.
    • To qualify for free meals, students must take at least 1/2 cup of fruit or vegetable with a meal. 
    • Breakfast meals include up to 2 grains, up to 2 fruits and milk. You must take at least 1/2 cup fruit or vegetable with 2 more items to qualify. 
    • Lunch meals include a grain, meat/meat alternate, vegetable, fruit & milk. Students must take 3 out of 5 with one being 1/2 cup fruit or vegetable to qualify. 
    • We watch our saturated fat and sodium levels to help support our student's health needs.
    • Visit the Healthy Meals at School page to learn more about meal requirements 

    Supply Chain Issues

    It appears that the supply chain crisis that has impacted school food service programs, restaurants, and grocery stores over the last two and a half years is not yet quite over. While the supply chain issues seemed to have improved over the summer months for school food service programs, schools throughout the country have been placing opening food and supply orders for the new school year and many have not been able to receive the products they need due to the extreme demand. Manufacturers are warning distributors and school food service programs throughout the country to prepare for shortages and substitutions for the near future. We continue to work very closely with our distributors and manufacturers on a daily basis to secure both the food and supply items needed to support our program. However, the availability of these items is expected to change with little or no notice. While it is our intention to serve the posted menu every day at every school, supply chain issues will not make this possible every day through this school year. When changes to the posted school menu become necessary, we will attempt to substitute the scheduled menu item with another that is as similar as possible, to the extent we are able to do so, based on the products we are able to receive.

    Please go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sEwOa9Mx7WQ to view this informative video regarding supply chain issues in the US. 

Made With School Lunch from School Nutrition Association on Vimeo.

  • "Hey Alexa, what's for lunch?"

    UCS's School Menus are digitally accessible on all devices as well as Amazon's Alexa!

    Customize, view and print all school menus by clicking here or visiting  https://uticak12.nutrislice.com

    Nutrislice Flyer

    Click on this link for a video demo of UCS NutriSlice or watch below.

    Allergens Form

    We take food allergies and student safety very seriously. If your student has any food allergies, please have your physician fill out the MDE Dietary Needs Form and return it to the food service office. MDE Special Diet Form. 
     
    1- You must fill out a physician signed MDE Special Needs Accommodation form and send it to the Food Service office. Without this, we cannot make any accommodations. Please make sure to be specific in regard to the allergy (Example: all dairy or just fluid milk intolerance, etc.) 
    2-Because allergies can change, you MUST fill out a new form EVERY YEAR.
    3- You must indicate to your child's school which days and which menu item you would like at least 48 hours in advance. We will not automatically have these available if we do not hear from parents in advance. 
    4-A vegetarian and nut free options are available every day, so please see the regular menu.
    5-Juice or water are not acceptable substitutes per USDA guidelines. At this time, we have Kikkoman Soy milk as a substitute. You're welcome to send in your own milk with your child if they don't like it.
    6-We will do the best we can to accommodate other requests, but there may be some limitations. For questions, please call our food service office at 586-797-1180

    Elementary menus are available online under the Allergy Menu tab. For Secondary Allergy menu items, please submit the same form and then contact Food Service at 586-797-1180 for meals.

    Start the day right! Come join us for breakfast!

    A free, nutritious breakfast is available to all students every day! Breakfast is available at least 20 minutes before the start of school. For your school's breakfast time, please contact the school directly. We look forward to serving you.

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    We Want You!
    If you’re looking for extra cash but want to be home when your children are there, consider employment opportunities within the Food and Nutrition Services Department. A comprehensive Manager Certified training program is provided for each and every employee, as well as continuing education courses.

    Create your own hours on your terms by becoming a substitute on our team. Substitutes may work 2-3 hours a day, usually from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. You must be available to work three or more days a week. Permanent staff is hired directly from the substitute list. To apply, call Kathy Conrad (586) 797-1183. 

     

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