Lunch Info

CHCA is pleased to partner with GTF (Grate Thymes Foodservice) to provide safe, nutritious, affordable lunches for our students and employees.

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How will lunches work this year?    Students will largely be eating in their classrooms or with their Connections Bell cohort.  Parents can preorder and prepay for daily lunch through a PaySchools Central account and each student's order will be delivered to their lunch location.  Students may bring a packed lunch from home and microwaves are unavailable for student use.  (Microwaves for US 7-12 students will be reevaluated after 09/07/20.)  Note that students are not permitted to order food to be delivered during school hours.

What type of food will GTF offer?   A single boxed lunch option designed for maximum nutrition and broad appeal, while minimizing mess.  A typical box lunch will contain either a hot or cold entree (ham or turkey sandwich, hamburger, etc) , fresh fruit or vegetable,  a side (pretzels, chips, french fries, etc.) and a fruit snack.  You can also preorder a beverage (water, juice, milk, chocolate milk, or organic milk).

Does everyone eat the same thing?   Like before, different divisions will have their own menu (EBL Campus PK-Gr 3, Upper Elementary Gr 4-6, Upper School Gr 7-12, Armleder Campus PK-Gr 6).  Due to the very limited time to process orders, prepare and deliver lunches, we are unable to customize in any way.

Why the price difference between divisions?  Price is driven by food selection and serving size, which varies across divisions.  Also with COVID logistics dictating food must be delivered vs. served, packaging costs have increased this year.  Finally, Gr 4-12 box lunches now include a beverage and fruit snack since they can't be purchased al la carte in the cafeteria.

Are snacks available?  No.  Each day there will be a single boxed lunch option and/or a beverage choice.  It's very simple.

Can I see a menu before ordering?  Of course.  View menus through the ordering process on your PaySchools account or on this webpage.

You said preorder and prepay, say more ...  Families load funds using a PaySchools Central account.  Before 9:00 PM nightly, you view the menu, preorder tomorrow's lunch, and prepay with money on your account.  You can preorder up to one week at a time.

What if I miss the 9:00 PM cutoff?  Send your child to school with a packed lunch.  Sorry, we're unable to take orders by email or phone.

What if my child forgets their packed lunch?  They come to the cafeteria so we can provide a cold boxed lunch and your account will be debited.

Can employees preorder a lunch?  Sure.  Email Jenny.Tippitt@chca-oh.org and she can create your PaySchools Central account.

Once school starts, will we get more choices or flexibility?   Our first goal is to successfully gather orders and prepare lunches, then deliver them to students in about 100 different locations who eat within about 120 minutes ... all in 7 hours.  Once we achieve that, we'll reassess how we can improve.

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So if I want to order lunch for my child, I should ...  

Published: 08/10/20