Food Services

Welcome to the 2025-26 School Year! Cafeteria News for the 2025-26 School Year

Free and Reduced Meal Applications

Children need healthy meals to learn. The School District of Haverford Township offers healthy meals every school day.

For the 2025-26 school year, Governor Shapiro’s budget provides for free breakfast to all Pennsylvania public school students. Additionally, students identified as eligible for reduced-price lunches through the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) will not be charged for their meals; non-eligible students will require payment.

Your child(ren) may qualify for free meals or for reduced-price meals.

APPLY ONLINE: Click here to complete the online application: https://www.schoolcafe.com/

INSTRUCTIONS: Click here for School Cafe instructions or watch this video for instructions on using School Cafe.

ELIGIBILITY INFORMATION: Please review the eligibility information for your household here.

APPLY PAPER:

The National School Lunch and Breakfast Program (NSLBP) is a federally assisted service that helps schools provide meals in over 100,000 public and non-profit private schools, as well as residential child care institutions. In previous years, NSLBP provided over 31 million children with nutritionally balanced, low-cost or free meals each day. The NSLBP follows the United States Department of Agriculture's (USDA) guidelines for nutrition and dietary specifications for each meal provided to students.

Special Dietary Needs

If a student has a food allergy or medical condition, parents/guardians must send a written doctor’s note to the school nurse. For dietary substitutions, federal regulations require that parents/guardians please submit the “Children with Disabilities and Special Dietary Needs” form to: ltaddei@haverfordsd.net.

Parent/Guardian Requests

All parent requests should be updated annually for student requirements or restrictions that do not require a doctor’s note. To do this, parents must notify the food service offices at (610) 853-5900 ext. 7142

Student Account Payment Options

The following options are available to add funds to a student's meal account:

Submit a check to the food services cashier
Setup an account at www.schoolcafe.com to pay using a credit card or a checking account. The checking account option does not charge a transaction service fee.
- Below are the steps for adding a checking account to a SchoolCafé account:
  - Click the Payment Info button on your SchoolCafe account's navigation bar.
  - Click the Payment Sources tab.
  - Click the Add a Bank Account button.
  - Complete the Add a Bank Account form then click the Add button to save.
  - You will now see your checking account on your Payment Sources page.
  - Within 4-6 business days you will see a tiny withdrawal from SchoolCafé on your bank account. The amount is typically less than a dollar and will automatically be refunded back to the account.
  - When you see the validation debit on your bank account, you will go back to your Payment Info > Payment Sources page to complete the validation process.
  - Click the Click here to validate account link on your bank account.
  - Enter the amount debited from your bank account into the Amount field.
  - Click the Validate button.
  - You can now use your bank account to make payments from your SchoolCafé account.

Board policy Student Meal Charge Policy #808

Board Policy #246, Student Wellness, Section: Pupils

Children with Disabilities and Special Dietary Needs

We recognize the critical importance of our approach to supporting students and families who manage food allergy issues every day and work closely with the families of students who have food allergies and medical conditions that require a modification to their menu.

If you would like your child to receive meal accommodations for allergies or a medical condition please ensure that you submit the “Children with Disabilities and Special Dietary Needs” form to: ltaddei@haverfordsd.net.

In order to modify the school meal, we must have this written Medical Statement on file signed by a licensed medical provider (physician, physician assistant, or nurse practitioner).

Please see the attached Food Allergies Letter.