School Meal Programs Training

Contact Information

National School Lunch Program (NSLP)/School Breakfast Program (SBP)

360-725-6200
TTY: 360-664-3631

Staff Contacts

USDA Meal Programs are designed to promote the health and well-being of children by providing nutritious meals to children. OSPI Child Nutrition works to compile trainings that helps sponsors of the program serve meals according to USDA requirements, keep them up-to-date on current requirements, and expand general knowledge of the programs they serve.

We are hosting our trainings using the Canvas platform, check out our School Meal Programs Training courses today!

School Meal Programs Annual Training

SY 2023–24 School Meal Programs Annual Training

Thanks to your feedback requesting an in-depth look into school meal program requirements, we revamped our annual training format! The set up for this year is intended to dive into key topic areas and will provide hands-on activity time, break-out activities, and sharing of best practices! Workshops will not be recorded and are only available in-person at Annual Training. Recorded trainings on program requirements, such as meal pattern, processing applications, and verification, are available on the School Meal Programs Training Canvas course.

Best Practice: Review the Annual Training Schedule to view session descriptions and class times before registering! Participants may receive up to 8 Professional Standards Credits per day.

Who Should Attend Annual Training?

This training is meant to enhance your knowledge about the School Meal Programs and allow time for you to connect to other School Meal Program operators around the state. Training is free to attend; however, participants must pay for meals, parking, and any overnight stays.

Registration Information

Use the Registering for Events with Multiple Sessions Information Sheet for an overview of how to register for trainings with multiple break-out sessions.

  • Each participant must register for the event using their own pdEnroller account. While there is an option to register more than one attendee with one account, you will not be able to register each person for different sessions. Due to this issue, we recommend each participant to register with their own account.
  • Create your free pdEnroller account if you do not have one already.
  • Please limit attendance to 3 people per organization to ensure all who are interested in attending may have the opportunity.
  • Registrants will receive a confirmation email with their selected sessions. Keep this email for your records!
Register for the SY 2023–24 School Meal Programs Annual Training by August 2!

Accessing Virtual Training

  1. Go to the School Meal Programs Training Canvas course and follow the account creation instructions.
  2. After creating an account, you will be directed into the School Meal Programs Training course.
  3. Watch the Recorded Session(s) and utilize the Slide Printouts as needed by selecting the links.
  4. Document your Professional Standards Credits. Please keep record of your participation by using your training log or by printing the professional standards slide from the slide printout.
At-Risk Afterschool Meals Annual Training for Districts

School District Sponsors

Review the steps below to complete At-Risk Training for District Sponsors. Please keep record of your participation by using your training log or by printing the professional standards slide from the slide printout.

How to Access the Training

All CACFP sponsors must certify completion of all training requirements when submitting their FY 2023–24 (FY24) sponsor application in WINS. Use the FY24 CACFP Annual Training Checklist to help you ensure to meet your training requirements.

Training requirements include:

1. Watch Required Trainings

Required annual training is available virtually in the FY24 Required Training for LEA CACFP Sponsors module in Canvas. You will need to create a free account to access these trainings. To complete training requirements, you must enroll in the course and complete all applicable training requirements.

Use the FY24 CACFP Annual Training Checklist to help you ensure to meet your training requirements.

2. Complete Requirements and Obtain Your Certificates

  1. Certify completion at the end of the Canvas Module after you have viewed the recorded trainings per your sponsor type.
  2. Once you certify completion of the training, a training certificate will be available to print.
    • You may download and print your certificate. Retain this documentation for your records.
    • The person completing the FY24 CACFP sponsor application will certify sponsor staff will complete all required annual training in the Washington Integrated Nutrition System (WINS) Sponsor Application.
    • We will not ask for a copy of your certificate during renewal but may ask for it during administrative reviews.

Community Organization At-Risk Sponsors

Community Organization At-Risk Sponsors must attend the Child Care Centers, Family Day Care Home Sponsors, and At-Risk Sponsors Annual Training. Please visit the CACFP Training Webpage for more details.

Administrative Review Prep Training

Training on Preparing for your Administrative and Procurement Review is available on the School Meal Programs Canvas.

Staff Training - Use these trainings to train your staff

Civil Rights training must be completed annually by all staff who help administer a Child Nutrition Program. Program directors and administrators must train staff on organizational practices and requirements. This training is geared toward Child Nutrition Program sponsors and administrators or directors of organizations. While this training goes over what is required for Civil Rights training, it does not go specifically into organizational practices.

To view this training:

  • Go to the School Meal Programs Training Canvas course and follow the account creation instructions.
  • Select the "Civil Rights" training module.
  • Watch the Recorded Session and utilize the Slide Printouts as needed by selecting the links.
  • Watch the recording and document your Professional Standards Credits.

Outside Organizations

The Institute of Child Nutrition (ICN)

  • Institute of Child Nutrition (ICN) E-Learning Portal – free self-paced online courses for all staff members

    • Basic Culinary Math
    • Focus on the Customer
    • Food Safety in Schools
    • Food Allergies in School Nutrition Programs
    • Introduction to HACCP for School Nutrition Programs
    • Meal Patterns Weights and Measures
    • Nutrition 101
    • A 6-part course on preparing healthy meals.

  • Request a Face-to-Face Group Training - ICN offers free group training on a broad range of topics for child nutrition professionals working in school nutrition and child care settings. Training may be requested free-of-charge for presentation at local sites throughout the country.

  • Request a Virtual Group Training - ICN offers free virtual group training and may be requested free-of-charge.

USDA Training

USDA Team Nutrition Resources

  • Team Nutrition Website- focuses on training for school food service, nutrition education for children and families, and resources to support a healthier school environment.

  • Team Nutrition's Be in the Know Webinar Series- focuses on food crediting implementation released in 2019. Includes:
    • Moving Forward: Update on Food Crediting in Child Nutrition Programs with Guidance for Dried Meat Products
    • Additional Meat/Meat Alternates Options for CNPs: Crediting Tempeh and Surimi
    • Crediting Coconut and Vegetable Noodles in CNPs
    • Crediting Popcorn, Hominy Corn Masa and Masa Harina in Child Nutrition Programs
    • CN Labeling Program: Update for Industry
  • Food Buying Guide- Helps schools plan for purchasing, preparing, and serving nourishing meals by providing data for the different food groups.
Administrative Staff Training

Program Training for Administrative Staff

Community Eligibility Provision

Verification

The Verification Summary Report (VSR) will be completed in the Washington Integration Nutrition System (WINS). To discover more about this process, we recommend the following:

Additional Training

Additional recorded trainings can be found on the School Meal Programs Canvas course. Training topics include:
  • Administrative and Procurement Reviews
  • Breakfast After the Bell (BAB)
  • Claims and Financial Management
  • Community Eligibility Provision (CEP)
  • Food Distribution Program topics
  • Meal Applications and Verification
  • October Building Data
  • Procurement and Purchasing
  • Serving Preschool Meals