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This year we are reorganizing the cafetería. Before I explain the changes, I would like to make a special recognition of the efforts of Mrs. Sheyla McCaul over the last three years. On behalf of the Board and the Community, I want to thank her and her staff for managing the cafeteria and especially for the lovely and respectful relationship that developed with students during that time.
School cafeterias are difficult to manage. Students are almost never 100% satisfied (unless you are giving away ice cream and chocolate) and Discovery School has several characteristics that make this service particularly complicated. Our school is small, and for a cafeteria to be economically viable, it must have either high volume or high prices. Discovery School does not have the volume (that is, the number of clients necessary to generate significant income), nor have we wished to allow prices to go sky-high, which is always a problem for students in any school cafeteria.
Adding to this problem is the number of off-campus activities we have—more or less 3 per month—that takes secondary students away from our school. We participate in ABSH and AASCA so frequently, that the number of students available to patronize the cafeteria is almost unpredictable from week to week.
NEW CAFETERIA CONCEPT
The Administration of the school has been evaluating this situation for some time. The 2017-2018 school year will see the implementation of a new cafeteria concept – A NON-PROFIT COST CENTER. Simply put, the school is hiring personnel—a Chief Cook and 2 assistants—who are qualified to prepare quality foods with no profit objective. The school intends to break even; that is, salaries plus the expense of the food and income from sales have the goal of being equal. OUR GOAL IS TO PROVIDE QUALITY FOODS AND SNACKS TO OUR STUDENTS WITHOUT USING THE CHILDREN FOR PROFIT.
As of now, we are setting up menus and standardizing procedures (hygiene, service, etc.) with the goal of being ready for August 9, the first day of school. In a later memo, we will provide information about menus and pricing. We are confident that we can keep prices down, but we are also sure that there will be some adjustments as we reach a reasonable “balancing point” between revenues and expenses. This information will be reported to parents as part of the Director’s report at the yearly assemblies.
This approach will be evaluated in April, 2018 with the goal of either continuing or modifying our solution. I am sure we all agree that the well-being of the children merits this special attention.
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