Bozeman Public Schools Food and Nutrition Services

06/11/2026

🎉☀️ School's Out for Summer! ☀️🎉

The trays are empty, the lunch lines are quiet, and another amazing school year is officially in the books! 📚✏️🍎

A huge THANK YOU to all of our students, families, and staff for making this year so special. We loved serving up smiles (and a few thousand lunches 😉) along the way!

As we wrap things up, we're working to clear any remaining negative lunch account balances. If you've been meaning to add funds to your student's account, now is a great time to do so.

💙 Want to spread a little kindness? We are also accepting donations to help cover end-of-year lunch balances for students and families in need. Every dollar makes a difference and helps ensure we start next school year with a clean slate.

Think of it as buying one last lunch for a friend. 🍔🍎🥛

🍎 A friendly reminder for families receiving meal benefits: Free and Reduced Meal applications must be renewed each school year. Current benefits will carry over for a short grace period, but they expire in October. Applications for the 2026-2027 school year will be available in August, so be sure to get yours submitted as soon as possible to avoid any interruption in benefits.

Thank you for supporting our school community all year long. We hope everyone has a safe, sunny, and adventure-filled summer! 🌞🏕️🍉

🍉🎉💙

06/09/2026

Summer meals for kids and teens 18 and under. Meadowlark elementary school from 11:00-12:00 Monday through Thursday June 22-August 6th.
Hyalite elementary June 22-July 22, Monday through Thursday. 11:30-12:30 .
Meals must be eaten on sight . No charge. Spread the word!

06/02/2026

Almost 20 years with us and Xiao-Ling is retiring. YOU WILL BE MISSED!

06/02/2026

The most regulated kitchen in your city is not a Michelin-starred restaurant.
 
It is your school cafeteria. And the people running it are there every single morning whether anyone notices or not.
 
That is what showing up looks like.
 
If you work in school nutrition, drop your school name below. We want this thread to be a map of every cafeteria showing up today. 💛
 

05/19/2026

This has to be the best thing We have seen all year. You never know what kind of impact a small gesture you show to a child will have.

Local Bozeman High School (BHS) student Peyton Cahill surprised Bozeman Police Department School Resource Officer (SRO) Harlee Barbao with this painting for his office. Read on to learn their stories about this beautiful work of art.

SRO Barbao writes, “As the SRO at BHS, I have enjoyed watching students go back and forth between school and The Rock Youth Center, located at 214 North 11th Avenue, right across the street from BHS. The space offers a wide range of opportunities for students to come together in a safe space with adult supervision. As their website states, 'The Rock exists to give teenagers a fun, welcoming space to hang out, enjoy inexpensive food and drinks, chat with adults, play games, laugh, and be cared about.' This goal resonates deeply with me both as the SRO and as a parent.

Rhonda Cahill, Director of The Rock Youth Center, an amazing person who does a lot for BHS students, was first introduced to me when she took on her current role. Rhonda introduced me to her daughter, Peyton Cahill, shortly thereafter and showed me some of Peyton’s artwork displayed around the business. Peyton also showed me some of her other drawings, and I couldn’t believe how talented she was. I remember encouraging her to try her hand at painting and see if it was something she might enjoy. She later surprised me with a one-of-a-kind painting of a lion to hang in my office. Peyton knew that I had been searching for the perfect painting to hang in my office, and I immediately knew this was it. I sincerely hope that Peyton continues painting because she is so talented. Those who know Peyton know how caring, kind, and how positive of an influence she is. Now anytime someone walks in my office, the painting is the first topic of conversation. Thank you again, Peyton!”

Peyton Cahill writes, “I'm 18 and a senior this year at Emerge Christian Academy. I love volleyball, music, friends and art. My mom, Rhonda Cahill, is the director of The Rock Youth Center, and it was there that I met Officer Harlee. He saw some of my drawings at the youth center and encouraged me to try painting. He shared that I should pursue my passion of art and to keep going with it. I had never painted before, but he gave me a canvas to give it a try. I decided to create my first painting for Officer Harlee and wanted to depict an image that reflected who he is to our community and the students at BHS. I felt that a lion most represented who I saw him to be: a leader with quiet strength and a protector of his tribe. I am so thankful I was encouraged to try painting. I plan to keep pursuing it.”

Thank you for this amazing piece of art, Peyton!

05/12/2026

05/12/2026

🍔 BURGER DEBATE TIME 🍔
Are you a “just ketchup” kind of person… or are you out here building a burger like it belongs on a cooking show? 👀

Some people carefully place every pickle.
Some people create mustard zig-zags worthy of modern art.
Some people stack toppings so high you need a construction permit to eat it. 😂

Ketchup?
Mustard?
Pickles?
Onions?
Extra cheese?
Or do you believe a burger should require absolutely zero vegetables? 🤣

We need answers…
👇 Drop a pic or tell us: HOW DO YOU BURGER? 🍔🔥 Also these photos were taken at Hawthorne elementary, can you tell if your child's burger is there?

05/12/2026

Montana offers SUN Bucks, a summer grocery benefit that provides eligible school-
aged children $120, so you can stretch your grocery budget and buy more of the foods
your children love! SUN Bucks is designed to work together with other benefits your
family may already get, like SNAP, TANF, or FDPIR.
Learn more about SUN Bucks and how to
apply at

DPHHS is offering one-time incentive payments to recruit employees at Montana’s state-run health care facilities. For more information go to Work4DPHHS.com

05/01/2026

📢💛 Bozeman Community — We Need You! 💛📢

Did you know that last year, Bozeman schools ended with $39,641.70 in unpaid meal debt?
This year… that number is even larger and still growing.

Behind every dollar is a student who needed a meal — no questions asked, no stigma, just support. Because in our schools, every kid eats. 🍎🥪

Now we’re asking our incredible community to step in and help us close the gap.

✨ Every donation makes a difference
✨ Every dollar goes directly to student meal debt
✨ Every act of kindness helps a child focus on learning, not hunger

Let’s come together, Bozeman, and show what we’re made of. 💪
If you’re able, please consider donating and helping us wipe out school meal debt — one meal at a time.

❤️ Together, we can make sure no student carries this burden.

05/01/2026

We’ve had some big changes in our department lately—and honestly, watching this team rise to the occasion has been nothing short of amazing. Every single day, you show up, roll with the chaos, and somehow make it all work (and make it look easy, which we know it absolutely is not).

Have you ever fed 200–500+ kids in a day? In just a few hours, no less—prepping, cooking, serving, and cleaning like a well-oiled (slightly caffeinated) machine? It’s not just a job… it’s a full-blown superpower.

School nutrition heroes don’t wear capes—they wear aprons, hairnets, and maybe a glove or two. They juggle meal counts, last-minute menu changes, spills, smiles, and still manage to make sure every kid is fed and cared for. You are the calm in the chaos, the fuel behind learning, and the reason so many students get through their day.

So yes… superpowers. No question about it. And we see you, we appreciate you, and we are so grateful to be on this team with you