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At its March 12 meeting, the Aromas San-Juan Unified School District heard a presentation from Dan Giusti, founder of the food service organization Brigade, which conducted an on-site survey of all three district schools in Sept. 2024.
Giusti proposed creating a centralized kitchen hub at San Juan School to serve all three district schools, which he said would offer students more variety, serve more scratch-made foods, and bring in more local produce.
“Public school is an extremely important place to feed folks,” Giusti said. “So we’re very familiar with many different models: how they work, how they don’t work, current trends in what kids like to eat, and what kids might not want to eat.”
All hot meals would be prepared at San Juan School and delivered in bulk to Aromas and Anzar High Schools. Kitchen services at the two “spoke” schools would be limited to producing cold entrees, like sandwiches, and maintaining a salad bar. Giusti said it would result in lower food costs through reduced waste.
Brigade currently operates in 10 states, including California, where it serves over 30 school districts. The organization has over 70 chefs available as consultants during the transition to Brigade’s system and would help with menu development and the program’s expansion in the future.
Giusti said that while accommodating the hub model in the upcoming redesigning and rebuilding of San Juan School would benefit the district, the current kitchen equipment, with a few additions such as a tilt skillet, is sufficient to support the program.
Principal Ethan Stokes presented a report on the San Juan School, saying that after three years there, he had “hit the sweet spot” because some of the systems he had implemented were beginning to take hold.
“I feel it’s a little easier to be principal these days,” he said. I’m proud of what our students have achieved and their growth. I’m proud of the staff members we’ve brought on board who are beginning to make awesome things happen.”
He acknowledged that there is room for growth, particularly with the school’s English learners, who he said have been a focus of his this academic year.
Stokes also discussed the upcoming expansion of eligiblity for Transitional Kindergarten (TK) as the State lowers the minimum age for students which might require a dedicated TK room classroom at Aromas School.
Stokes said that the state requires one adult for every ten students. With 13 TK students at Aromas School and six at San Juan, the district needs three adults. By consolodating the students to one school, they would have enough adults to take care up up to 30 children.
“So right now we’re working at the logistics of transporting students from San Juan to Aromas,” Stokes said, “but also notifying the parents in case some of them choose to just stay with a preschool.”
As one of the first acts of the meeting, the board voted to approve a memorandum of understanding with El Teatro Campesino to bring instructors to the school twice a week for 13 to provide student activities in theater and art.
“We’re very excited,” Dill-Varga told BenitoLink, “about the opportunity to have professionals in their theatrical experiences come and work with kids and help enhance the work we’re already starting to do.”
Dill-Varga said that the new school design allows for roll-up doors in the multipurpose room, which could provide a setting for plays to be produced. She hopes that El Teatro will assist in this creative process as well.
Dill-Varga also told BenitoLink that the district is on track for the first phase of demolition to start at San Juan School in May, beginning the campus rebuilding following seismic studies indicating possible safety issues arising from its proximity to an earthquake fault.
“We’re hoping for a groundbreaking the first week in June,” she said. We have a meeting with everybody on Friday, which will give me a little more clarity on that.”
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