Love in the Time of Coronavirus

Hi folks,

What a whirlwind this past month has been. Just over a month ago, we were still in school, serving up school breakfast and lunch to students in our kitchens. We cannot thank you enough for your continued flexibility in this unprecedented time.

We hope everyone is staying safe and sane at home, and getting plenty of rest. These are difficult times. Catch up on that Netflix watch list. Read that book series you’ve been putting off. Spend quality time with your children. Call your best friend. Cry when you can’t remember how to do 7th grade math. Call your folks. Set up a virtual therapy session. Pet your furry friends as often as you can. Set up a virtual family/friend hangout. Take a deep breath in. Let it out in 1-2-3. Repeat.

And of course, please remember - stay home, wash your hands, stay 6 feet apart from those not in your household, and wear a mask when going out!

Your friendly neighborhood mask-wearing dietitian,

Shennie Quintanilla

School Closure Meal Program – Built From the Ground Up

In a matter of days, our food service operation changed dramatically. CPS administrative higher ups called upon us, and entrusted us to flip our service style and create a completely new way of producing meals. You, especially those that have been able to come in during this time, have been flexible, understanding, and adaptive with every single change placed upon our department.

We will be taking a much deserved break from producing meals during April Break (April 20th - 25th). S&S will be providing meals during break to give our team a rest.

As of today, we have not heard about school closure extending past May 4th. The likelihood of this happening is fairly high, and we will keep you posted on news from CPS as we receive it.

Find out more about our CPS Emergency Meals Program & place a preorder for your children in Cambridge here >>

Sanitation Protocol

With the pandemic and confirmed cases of COVID-19 making its way through our state and community, we have had to step up our cleaning and sanitation procedures. With following CDC recommendations as much as we can, we’ve added layers of precaution to our workplace:

• Added Germicide Spray to our daily cleaning, a product provided by SNS that has shown to kill the virus. Watch the how-to video here >>
• Allowed for distance between staff when prepping in the kitchen
• Minimized staffing to reduce cross layering in the kitchen
• Masks worn at all times in the building and gloves worn in the kitchen when preparing meals

Lemme Mask You A Question

We want to give a huge THANK YOU and 6 feet apart air hugs to the Rodriguez family. Melissa and Rico have donated reusable cloth face masks to our staff in this worldwide mask shortage. Use of these face masks will serve as an additional level of precaution, while hand washing and social distancing will continue to take priority.

If you or your family has cloth masks available for donation, we would greatly appreciate more as wear, tear, and different team members join us!

Current Staffing Needs Update

To minimize having too many people in the kitchen, we’ve implemented low staffing in our production kitchens at KLO and CRLS, with multiple teams alternating daily. In case of any confirmed cases related to our operation, we will be making a list of staff who are able to come in as needed. If you would like to be on that list, please email Anthony or call the office at 617.349.6858.

CRLS BSU Thanks YOU!

Student members of CRLS’s Black Student Union created a heartwarming video for our staff members who have come in during the school closure. View the video here >>

Got Anything to Share?

Do you have pictures or a story you want to share from your kitchen in the newsletter? Email Shennie at [email protected]!

Stay in Touch with Daily Updates...

...on the school menu and behind-the-scenes school meal photos.

Follow us on Twitter @CPSD_Nutrition! >> 

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