Free/Reduced Meals Assistance

Free/Reduced Meals Assistance
Haga clic aquí para conocer los 5 beneficios de solicitar comidas gratuitas y a precio reducido en español

Reminder: It’s Time to Complete Your Free/Reduced Lunch Application! 

A new school year means it’s time to submit a new Free/Reduced Lunch Application for your student(s). Applications can be completed quickly and easily online at SchoolCafe.com. 

Already received a Direct Certification notice? 

If you’ve received an email confirming that your student has been directly certified but not all students in your household are listed, please contact Food Services immediately at 574-254- 2814. 

If you have any questions or need help with the application process, we’re here to support you!

Your family may be eligible for assistance paying for cafeteria meals. 

Households that meet the financial guidelines of the National School Lunch Program are eligible for free or reduced meal prices. To receive this support parents must apply annually and provide information that serves to verify household income. The application is easy to fill out; you can choose online or paper format.  Please make sure to submit only one form (application) per household, even if the children are in different schools.  

We encourage P-H-M parents to apply online at this website: www.schoolcafe.com.

Applying online is faster and easier than using printed forms, and your benefits will start sooner!

Click here for detailed instructions on how to apply via SchoolCafe.

Free/Reduced Meals Assistance

Prefer to apply using a paper form? ​

Questions about the application process should be directed to Administrative Assistant of Food Service Mindy Jaroch, click here to email or call (574) 254-2814.

Summer Food Service Program

Summer School Food Service 2025:

PHM will be supplying free breakfast and lunch to all of our summer school students. We will also be operating public serving sites at the school hosting summer school. Participants will receive one free breakfast and lunch meal per child. Students who are attending summer school will get their meals with summer school.

Meals for summer school students will be available at both elementary locations, Moran Elementary School (Main Entrance) 6/12/25- 7/2/25 and Meadows Edge Elementary School Door A (Main Entrance) 6/12/25-7/2/25.

Meals will be free of charge to students

Summer Food Service Program:

The Food Service Department of the Penn-Harris-Madison School Corporation is participating in the Summer Food Service Program.

Summer is here and so are FREE MEALS!!!! ALL children 18 years of age and under are eligible to receive a FREE lunch at any of the locations listed below.

Children do not have to attend a PHM school and no student ID is required

The only requirement is to enjoy your lunch at the site. Food may not be taken off site to eat.

Adults (over age 18) may enjoy a meal for a charge of $5.00.

The program will operate Monday through Friday, June 9, 2025-August 15,2025.

All sites will be closed on Friday, July 4, 2025.

The locations, times and dates can be seen in the graphic below, or click here.

Site Listing 2025

*Menu items are subject to change based on product availability

To find additional Summer Food Service site please use the resources:

 

Contact Penn-Harris-Madison Food Services at 574-254-2814.  

USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer.

 

Special dietary needs in the school breakfast or lunch program

This form is used by a medical professional to certify dietary needs related to a student’s health condition or disability

Medical Statement for Children with Special Needs in the School Breakfast and Lunch Program

Penn Menus

Breakfast & Lunch is served at Penn High School.

Menus:

Click Here for Information on our Summer Food Service Program

CLICK HERE to fill out a new application for Free / Reduced Lunch. 

*If a student has a specific dietary need, the family is welcome to fill out a special diet form that can be obtained from the school nurse or click here to download it off our website, and then there will be a full meal waiting for the student each day.  

Benefits of Breakfast 

  • Eating breakfast can help improve math, reading, and standardized test scores
  • Children who eat breakfast are more likely to behave better in school and get along with their peers than those who do not
  • Breakfast helps children pay attention, perform problem-solving tasks, and improves memory
  • Children who eat school breakfast are likely to have fewer absences and incidents of tardiness than those who do not
  • By eating breakfast, students get more of important nutrients, vitamins and minerals such as calcium, dietary fiber, folate and protein
  • Studies have shown that children who eat breakfast on a regular basis are less likely to be overweight
  • Eating breakfast as a child is important for establishing healthy habits for later in life
  • Schools that provide breakfast in the classroom to all students have shown decreases in tardiness and suspensions as well as improved student behavior and attentiveness
  • What you eat for breakfast can have an impact on learning. One study showed that eating breakfast food high in fiber and low in sugar for breakfast helped students sustain the cognitive effects of breakfast
  • School Breakfast provides daily servings of fruit, whole grains, and milk, plus roughly ¼ the recommended calories needed for lasting energy

Meal Payments | SchoolCafe

SchoolCafé is an online platform and mobile app that allows parents and students to easily manage school meals. Through SchoolCafé, families can view daily cafeteria menus (including nutritional and allergen information), add funds to meal accounts, set up balance alerts, and monitor purchases. The platform also provides a convenient way to apply for free or reduced-price meals—all in one place.

*Parents can set spending limits for their student(s) accounts. Please visit www.schoolcafe.com to create your new accounts.

The SchoolCafé secure payment portal at www.schoolcafe.com allows parents to pay online using credit or debit cards. Other SchoolCafé benefits include:

  • Easy to enroll
  • Downloadable app
  • View your child’s cafeteria balance
  • Apply for Free and Reduced Meal Assistance
  • See what your child ate & spent
  • 24/7 access to your account
  • Set up automatic payments
  • Get low balance email reminders
  • Apply online for Free/Reduced Lunch & Textbook Assistance 

Click here to download a pdf of step-by-step instructions to set up your account today. 

SchoolCafé will charge a 5% service fee for each transaction (no minimum required). Parents may find it most beneficial to add $39 at a time to their child’s account which would keep the SchoolCafé service fee at $1.95.

To create a SchoolCafé account, you will need a valid email address and your child’s school ID. Then go to www.schoolcafe.com and follow the steps. 

  • Once you’ve created your account, all the school children in your family, no matter which P-H-M school they attend, can be added to your one account. 
  • Remember to bookmark www.schoolcafe.com in your browser—or you can get there quickly through all P-H-M websites. Just look under QUICK NAVIGATION in the lower left corner of the page and click on PAY MEALS ONLINE.

DOWNLOAD THE SCHOOLCAFÉ MOBILE APP   

  SchoolCafe app logo              apple App Store logo   Google Play app logo

SCHOOLCAFÉ CUSTOMER SUPPORT

School Cafe company logo

CASH OR CHECK

​If you prefer to pay the school via cash or check, please write your child’s name and “lunch money” on the envelope. Don’t forget to specify either “Meal account” or “Ala-carte account.”  The meal account only allows full meal purchases, while ala-carte allows for the purchase of snacks as well as meals.

Note that when you provide a check as payment for a food purchase in the food service department, you authorize the P-H-M Food Service Department to process the payment as a check transaction. Federal Automated Recovery Systems (FARS) processes our electronic collection of checks returned for insufficient funds (NSF).  ​

PAYMENT TERMS

Please make sure that your child has lunch money available each day. Children without lunch money may be required to call home, or be served a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, milk and fruit, after the first charged meal. You will still be charged for peanut butter and jelly meals. Ala-carte and snack items may not be charged.

If your child has a negative balance, they will not be allowed to purchase snacks. Food Services is not allowed to carry negative balances on children’s accounts in the National School Lunch Program so if a meal is charged for your student, you must pay the amount due the following day.

 

Food & Nutrition

Horizon students at lunch

The Summer Food Service Program has been updated for 2025! Click Here for details.

Penn-Harris-Madison Food Service proudly serves nutritious school meals that meet federal nutritional standards and guidelines. Providing healthy, well-balanced meals supports students’ overall performance and success at school. Proper nutrition fuels the brain!

Penn-Harris-Madison’s Food Service Department is located within Penn High School, at 56100 Bittersweet Road, Mishawaka, IN 46545. 

List of Contacts:

  • Jill Riggs, Director of Food Service (574) 258-9552
  • Michael Alwine, Assistant Director of Food Service 574-258-9500 ext 20997
  • Mindy Jaroch, Secretary (574) 254-2814

Jill, Michael, and Mindy are all happy to assist Penn-Harris-Madison families with questions or concerns about food service at any of the fifteen schools.

Penn-Harris-Madison is an equal opportunity provider

In accordance with federal civil rights law and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) civil rights regulations and policies, this institution is prohibited from discriminating on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex (including gender identity and sexual orientation), disability, age, or reprisal or retaliation for prior civil rights activity.

Program information may be made available in languages other than English. Persons with disabilities who require alternative means of communication to obtain program information (e.g., Braille, large print, audiotape, American Sign Language), should contact the responsible state or local agency that administers the program or USDA’s TARGET Center at (202) 720-2600 (voice and TTY) or contact USDA through the Federal Relay Service at (800) 877-8339.

To file a program discrimination complaint, a Complainant should complete a Form AD-3027, USDA Program Discrimination Complaint Form which can be obtained online, click here. Or call the USDA office at (866) 632-9992, or write a letter addressed to USDA. The letter must contain the complainant’s name, address, telephone number, and a written description of the alleged discriminatory action in sufficient detail to inform the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights (ASCR) about the nature and date of an alleged civil rights violation. The completed AD-3027 form or letter must be submitted to USDA by:

    1. mail:
      U.S. Department of Agriculture
      Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights
      1400 Independence Avenue, SW
      Washington, D.C. 20250-9410; or
    2. fax:
      (833) 256-1665 or (202) 690-7442; or
    3. email:
      program.intake@usda.gov

School Menus

During the school year, P-H-M offers breakfast and lunch at all 15 schools.

Please click for information on our Student Food Program.

*School menus are also posted in Schoolcafe.com. 

**Please note that menus are subject to change due to school delays or closings. 

***If a student has a specific dietary need, the family is welcome to fill out a special diet form that can be obtained from the school nurse or click here to download it off our website, and then there will be a full meal waiting for the student each day.