1
Dining Guide for Meals in the Classroom (MIC)
Introduction
Welcome to the Dining Guide for Meals in the Classroom. If your plan is to serve all or some
meals in the classroom (MIC) when schools reopen, this is likely to be a major adjustment for
everyone in the building. This Guide has been developed to help you communicate your district
or school procedures for serving in the classroom – whether it’s breakfast, lunch, supper and/or
snacks – to your school partners.
Back to School 2020 meal service is likely to be as unprecedented as emergency feeding during
spring school closures. As schools reopen following COVID-19 closures, districts will utilize
different scenarios for feeding students that may vary by individual school sites. While some
school nutrition teams may choose to feed all children all meals in the classroom, others may
adopt blended plans where some students are eating in the cafeteria, some are eating the
classroom, and some are taking meals home. At the time of this Guide’s development (July
2020), it seems clear that classroom dining will be commonplace for at least some students in
most U.S. districts during SY 2020-21.
Eating school meals in the classroom already has a long – and very successful – history in
districts where Breakfast in the Classroom (BIC) programs have been implemented. This Guide
will draw extensively on those experiences and provide links to resources and best practices
from those programs, especially those developed with support from Partners for Breakfast in
the Classroom (PBIC): Food Research and Action Center, National Association of Elementary
School Principals Foundation, The NEA Foundation, and School Nutrition Foundation, with
generous support from the Walmart Foundation.
How to use Dining Guide for Meals in the Classroom
This Guide was designed with a very specific purpose in mind:
To provide customizable templates that allow school nutrition teams to easily share their
plans for meals in the classroom (MIC) with key audiences within their school community.
This Guide is not intended to provide guidance or training for school nutrition department
staff. Development of policies, SOPs and training materials on best practices for MIC are still
very much “in progress” as this resource was being created.
To use this Guide most effectively, you should already have district-specific plans and
policies in place. You can enter the top-line details into the appropriate section of each
template and then share the document with the target audience group.
The templates are designed to include the most important need-to-know information. They do
not include details like Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for safe food temperatures or
when staff must wear gloves. If you needs new SOPs for MIC, check
[Link]/MIC, where we have collected examples for you.
2
Template descriptions and instructions:
The Dining Guide for Meals in the Classroom includes several templates and one letter – all
completely customizable.
The templates include an overall MIC plan, which is a comprehensive template for all key
MIC issues, plus individual templates for specific audiences: principals, teachers,
paraprofessionals, school nurse/health professionals, school secretary/office staff and
custodians/facilities staff.
The letter, written in a more conversational format, is intended for parents and families.
Each template is designed to help you easily create a 1- to 2-page handout.
There are two versions of each template, plus an instructional PDF for each version:
1. A TABLE template (Word docx) has customizable text areas highlighted in yellow with an
Instructional (PDF) with suggested additions in red text
2. A Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) template version (Word docx) also has customizable
text areas highlighted in yellow with an Instructional template (PDF) with suggested
additions in red text
The customization of these templates is easy using Microsoft Word on any computer. Simply
follow these basic steps:
Save the downloaded template – either TABLE or FAQs – onto your computer with a new
file name.
Remove “INSERT LOGO” in the top left of the template. Add your department, school or
district LOGO into the box as a JPG or PNG file (resize as necessary to fit the box).
Replace any text highlighted in yellow with personalized information about your program,
using the instructional PDF for examples of the information that is appropriate to include.
Add or delete rows in the TABLE or questions in FAQs in the template as necessary to
ensure it reflects relevant and specific information about your program.
TIPS FOR TEMPLATES:
Remember: Most readers are busy. They will be likely to skim the first page and may
not take the time to read the second page or back of the handout. Keep the most
important information in those first few rows on page 1.
Keep the overall handout as brief as possible, using clear, simple sentences.
Add only the most important, need-to-know information.
Keep information consistent from template to template. For example, make certain that
details about time to eat minutes are identical from template to template.
Before finalizing any template, review the language to make certain that it is aligned with
existing contract roles and responsibilities in your district.
3
Once the template is customized to your program with a clear AS OF DATE, save the file as a
PDF. You are now ready to share this PDF electronically or as a printed copy. NOTE: DO not
share an electronic copy of the [Link] templates because they could be altered and could
spread inaccurate information.
Acknowledgements
Dining Guide for Meals in the Classroom was created with inspiration and support from many
School Nutrition Association members, leaders and staff. A small group of school nutrition
trailblazers was especially valuable in sharing their time, expertise and perspective:
Lori Adkins, MS, SNS, Child Nutrition Consultant, Oakland Schools, Michigan
Dan Ellnor, C.P.-F.S., BA, SNS, Assistant Director, Nutrition Services Center, Jefferson
County Public Schools, Kentucky
Dr. Robert S. Lewis, SNS, Chief Executive Officer, Santa Clarita Valley School Food
Services Agency, California
Karen Luna, Director, Nutrition Services, Santa Clara Unified School District, California
Courtney Morabito, MBA, DTR, SNS , Supervisor of Operations, Student Dining Services,
Cincinnati Public Schools, Ohio
Jeanne Reilly, NDTR, SNS, Director of School Nutrition, Windham Raymond School
Department, Maine
Timikel Sharpe, MS, Executive Director, School Nutrition, Bibb County School District,
Georgia
Jessica Shelly, MBA, SNS, REHS, RS, Director of Student Dining Services, Cincinnati Public
Schools, Ohio
Content written by Dayle Hayes, MS, RD, School Meals That Rock, and edited by Patricia
Fitzgerald, PFitzCommunications