West Valley Faculty unveiled its common free meal program with a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the campus’s newly renovated cafe on Tuesday afternoon.
West Valley-Mission Group Faculty District and Thomas Delicacies are partnering to offer the nation’s first common meal program at a U.S. neighborhood school, in keeping with Chancellor Bradley Davis. He clarified that their program applies to each scholar and supplies a number of freshly ready meals per day, whereas different schools supply a single meal or solely present free meals to quite a lot of college students which might be most in want.
“We flat out refuse to let things like the cost of tuition, the cost of childcare, heck, even the cost of parking be barriers for our students,” Davis mentioned through the ceremony. “And when we asked the students at West Valley-Mission, ‘What is the one thing that will make the biggest difference to you?”, 2,000 of them mentioned, ‘We’d like assist with meals insecurity.’”
The neighborhood school district is working with meals service administration firm Thomas Delicacies to offer each in-person scholar at the least one recent, nutritious meal per faculty day without cost beginning this fall. This system launch was accompanied by the opening of latest cafes and eating halls at West Valley and Mission schools.
At West Valley Faculty, the cafeteria was upgraded with plush seating and communal eating tables. Davis mentioned the area was the coed campus middle, which held the campus bookstore, cafeteria and an empty convention room. Because the bookstore was moved on-line, the area was vacant for 4 years, Davis mentioned. Scholar suggestions led to to the faculty redesigning the cafe with extra seating, and the bookstore was changed into a restaurant that serves free drip espresso for college students. Because the renovation, Davis mentioned the place has been “packed every single day.”
“Students told us that they wanted a more relaxing environment where they could spend time with colleagues and relax on comfy furniture,” Davis mentioned.
The cafe renovations value $2 million for each schools, Davis mentioned, and had been paid for by native property taxes and accomplished in simply 74 days. He mentioned it prices the college district $2.5 million to $3 million per yr to fund the meals program for college students, which comes from the district’s common funds.
“We’re able to do that by being really careful in terms of managing the availability of food around student schedules, making sure that we’re open at the hours that they’re here,” Davis mentioned.
Samantha Depew, district supervisor for Thomas Delicacies, mentioned the corporate was drawn to working with the neighborhood school district due to the folks that they had met, like Davis and his chief of employees Cade Story-Yetto, who labored carefully with Davis to handle meals insecurity on the campuses. Thomas Delicacies was chosen by the district out of 24 different meals service administration firms.
Depew mentioned Thomas Delicacies’s meals is nearly fully constituted of scratch, together with the sauces. Nevertheless, they outsource their bread and pastries from native bakeries like SF High quality Bakery. Thomas Delicacies additionally supplies meals to senior residing services, hospitals and grade-level colleges, however that is the primary neighborhood school they’ve partnered with, Depew mentioned.
Saratoga Mayor Belal Aftab seems at some burgers at West Valley Faculty at West Valley Faculty in Saratoga, Calif., on Tuesday, Sept. 9, 2025. (Shae Hammond/Bay Space Information Group)
Santa Clara County Supervisor Margaret Abe-Koga speaks durning a press convention about free meals at campus cafes which might be opening at West Valley Faculty at West Valley Faculty in Saratoga, Calif., on Tuesday, Sept. 9, 2025. (Shae Hammond/Bay Space Information Group)
(Left to proper) West Valley Faculty Trustee Paul Fong, Los Gatos Council Member Maria Ristow, and Los Gatos Vice Mayor Rob Moore line up for a ribbon chopping of a brand new campus cafes providing free meals at West Valley Faculty at West Valley Faculty in Saratoga, Calif., on Tuesday, Sept. 9, 2025. (Shae Hammond/Bay Space Information Group)
West Valley Faculty Trustee Paul Fong, left, and Los Gatos City Supervisor Chris Constantin, proper, have a look at meals at a brand new campus cafe at West Valley Faculty at West Valley Faculty in Saratoga, Calif., on Tuesday, Sept. 9, 2025. (Shae Hammond/Bay Space Information Group)
Individuals discover a brand new campus cafe at West Valley Faculty at West Valley Faculty in Saratoga, Calif., on Tuesday, Sept. 9, 2025. (Shae Hammond/Bay Space Information Group)
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Saratoga Mayor Belal Aftab seems at some burgers at West Valley Faculty at West Valley Faculty in Saratoga, Calif., on Tuesday, Sept. 9, 2025. (Shae Hammond/Bay Space Information Group)
Broaden
A number of different native officers made an look on the ceremony and even spoke on the occasion, together with Saratoga Mayor Belal Aftab and Santa Clara County Supervisor Margaret Abe-Koga. The latter highlighted the significance of the district’s common free meal program on account of federal funds cuts to social packages, like Part 8 and monetary assist for larger training college students.
“One of the cuts that we are experiencing at the county is cuts to our food nutrition programs, our supplemental nutrition assistance program, so honestly, that does mean that we are expecting to see more people hungry and more people in need of food assistance,” Abe-Koga mentioned, including that she was “so proud of our community” for serving to bridge the hole.
