School Nutrition


Important Note: For the 2023-2024 school year The Capitol Encore Academy will be taking part in the Community Eligibility Provision of the USDA’s National School Lunch Program. This means that there will be no applications necessary for this upcoming school year and EVERY student will be able to eat FREE meals.

A daily lunch program is offered to all students at TCEA from an outside food service, J&S Food Company. Menus are available online. Starting in 2023-2024, TCEA will be a part of the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP), which means that all students can receive a full reimbursable meal for FREE. However, additional purchases, a la carte items, and non-reimbursable meals will still have a cost.

Prepayment for additional purchases can be made via the website, https://www.k12paymentcenter.com/ with your student’s ID number or with a check or money order made out to The Capitol Encore Academy. TCEA can also accept credit/debit card payments in the main office on the Square POS System; however, the preferred method will be setting up an account on K12 Payment Center’s website.

There are no refrigerators or microwaves for student use. All lunches brought in need to be prepared ahead of time. Drink boxes, for example, can be frozen the night before and packed in the student’s lunch to keep items cool.

Parents/guardians may sign their students out for lunch; however, they must not miss class time. If students are missing class time due to off‐site lunch plans, then students will receive a tardy that will accrue to absences. (See attendance guidelines for details.) This will not be excused.

Parents may bring lunch and drop it off in the main office, but it must have the student’s name and teacher on it. (Please note students will not be pulled out of class to come and get their lunch. The student will have to come down to the office during their designated lunchtime to pick it up.) Lunch delivery by vendors such as DoorDash, Uber Eats, Grubhub, etc. are not permitted.

As a parent, you are permitted to sign in at the front desk and eat lunch with your student. Students are not allowed to have classmates join them for lunch with parents and due to an increase in enrollment, no parent visits will be allowed during the lunch period until after September 11th. Furthermore, at no time are caffeinated beverages or other similar products permitted for students.

Lunch Times

Capitol Building

  • K, 5th-6th grade 11:00 am – 11:30 am
  • 1st & 3rd grade   11:30 am – 12:00 pm
  • 2nd & 4th grade 12:00 pm – 12:30 pm

Mason St. Building

  • 7th grade           10:56 am – 11:23 am
  • 8th grade           11:23 am – 11:56 am
  • 9th -12th grade 11:56 am – 12:29 pm

Students will be permitted in the school at 7:30 am and are to report directly to the kitchen if they want to participate in breakfast. Breakfast is a prepaid system and families qualify for free/reduced status according to the same guidelines followed for lunch. Second Chance Breakfast is a new initiative, where we are offering tardy students the opportunity to get a meal after breakfast closes. We understand there are circumstances that don’t allow students to arrive on time. However, the need for a healthy breakfast for students is still there. Studies have shown that when a student eats a healthy, full breakfast, their attentiveness in class is better and they score better on tests. From 7:50 am until 8:15am, tardy students will have the opportunity to get breakfast on their way to class.

USDA Non-Discrimination Statement

In accordance with federal civil rights law and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) civil rights regulations and policies, this institution is prohibited from discriminating on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex (including gender identity and sexual orientation), disability, age, or reprisal or retaliation for prior civil rights activity.

Program information may be made available in languages other than English. Persons with disabilities who require alternative means of communication to obtain program information (e.g., Braille, large print, audiotape, American Sign Language), should contact the responsible state or local agency that administers the program or USDA’s TARGET Center at (202) 720-2600 (voice and TTY) or contact USDA through the Federal Relay Service at (800) 877-8339.

To file a program discrimination complaint, a Complainant should complete a Form AD-3027, USDA Program Discrimination Complaint Form which can be obtained online at: https://www.usda.gov/sites/default/files/documents/ad-3027.pdf, from any USDA office, by calling (866) 632-9992, or by writing a letter addressed to USDA. The letter must contain the complainant’s name, address, telephone number, and a written description of the alleged discriminatory action in sufficient detail to inform the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights (ASCR) about the nature and date of an alleged civil rights violation. The completed AD-3027 form or letter must be submitted to USDA by:

   1.  mail:
U.S. Department of Agriculture
Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights
1400 Independence Avenue, SW
Washington, D.C. 20250-9410;

  2.  fax: 
(833) 256-1665 or (202) 690-7442; or

  3.  email: program.intake@usda.gov

This institution is an equal opportunity provider.