#7 School breakfast program in the US

#2 Large school food program in Texas

2017 -2018 Excellence in Summer Meals Gold Sponsor

Best of the Bunch local produce award

Founding member

Children at Risk Recognition

Children at Risk recognized Dallas ISD to be 2nd among large school districts and 12th among all districts, with 75% of eligible students participating in school lunch and 63% participating in breakfast.

Texas has over 3 million low-income students that qualify for free or reduced-price school meals through federal programs such as the National School Lunch Program.

The Texas School Food Rankings where announced to recognize the schools that are doing an excellent job at ensuring Texas' students are getting nutritious meals throughout the day.

The ranking analysis evaluates how districts across Texas provide meals to low-income school children, by focusing on meal participation rates and after-school meal programs offered in each district.

Mission Statement

Our goal is to provide nutrition to students that fuels successful learning. 

Each year the Food and Child Nutrition Services department serves roughly 40 million meals to students across Dallas ISD. We support the district in helping students prepare for the daily rigor of learning. FCNS focuses its efforts in providing nourishing meals, nutrition education, and activities that support a healthy lifestyle to improve a student's opportunity for a more productive and happy life.

The meals and services of FCNS are an important part in Dallas ISD's Coordinated School Health program and we collaborate with both district and community partners to promote overall wellness in and out of school. We also work closely with community organizations that focus on hunger, food access, and promoting a healthy school environment for all. Our break meals program is a huge initiative designed to address the issue of hunger in Dallas. During the summer, Thanksgiving, winter, and spring breaks, kitchens across Dallas ISD remain open to feed anyone under the age of 18, regardless of where they live or are enrolled. This year FCNS recieved the Dallas Summer Supper Council's Excellence in Summer Meals award, presented by United Way of Metropolitan Dallas and the Texas Hunger Initiative, for displaying best practices as we continue to grow our break meals program and better serve the community.

Another focus of FCNS is supporting local agriculture. We aim to procure the freshest produce from Texas farms, and to educate students on the nutrition and science of fresh fruits and vegetables. FCNS was recently recognized by the Texas Department of Agriculture for continued dedication to supporting Texas farms with the Best of the Bunch award. Programs such as Harvest of the Month continually introduce the students of Dallas ISD to foods and information they might not be exposed to otherwise, and instill a love of delicious, healthy foods and learning at an early age.