Derby Public Schools is a public K-12 school district located in Derby, CT. The food services department serves approximately 4400 lunches per week in 4 schools. A longtime Horizon customer, they made the switch to cloud-based solution Solana on the first day of the 2016-2017 school year.
The results? Checking out students in the line is faster, reporting for back of house operations is simplified, and there are fewer calls to technical support. And online applications have transformed the way they manage student eligibility.
Solana was designed in collaboration with the foodservice industry’s leading POS user-interface expert and Horizon customers. So it’s no surprise that Food Service Manager Sal Giannoti says his staff finds Solana “simpler, clearer and easier to use.” Not only are the lunchlines moving faster because of how easy it is to check out students; depositing money into meal accounts and searching for visiting students at the POS is faster.
Sal manages the back of house operations with his office manager, and they both find the reports are simple, yet comprehensive, and make it “easier to do everything.” Co-managing the back of house operations is no longer a headache because they don’t have to waste time searching for reports, and they can “both access everything in one place.”
“The point of sale is simpler, clearer and easier to use. Solana’s reports make it easier to do everything. Cloud based is the way to go!"
For Derby School District, it’s perhaps the online Free & Reduced Price Meal Program application system that has made the biggest impact on their operations. Sal and his team have perfected the parent application process at orientation, throughout the year, and upon registering a new student.
Parents submit applications online when they register students. Parents that inquire about a paper application are encouraged to submit the application online, which eliminates incomplete applications or the chance of an application being lost in the paper shuffle.
At the 2017-2018 open houses, computers were set up and principals directed parents to fill out their applications right then and there. Sal sat nearby with his laptop and enjoyed simply refreshing the webpage, watching the number of new applications being submitted rise. According to Sal, “we literally didn’t have to do anything.”
Since implementing Solana, Sal notes there have been less calls for technical support. From front to back of house, every level of the operation (parents, students and staff) have seen a significant change for the better. As Sal says, “cloud-based is the way to go!”
The point of sale is simpler, clearer and easier to use. Solana’s reports make it easier to do everything. Cloud based is the way to go!
Derby Public Schools is a public K-12 school district located in Derby, CT. The food services department serves approximately 4400 lunches per week in 4 schools. A longtime Horizon customer, they made the switch to cloud-based solution Solana on the first day of the 2016-2017 school year.
Derby Public Schools wanted to to streamline more of their processes, and was eager to take advantage of automation with new technology.
Solana, Horizon’s Cloud-Based System
Features Include:
• Point of Sale
• Student Eligibility Management
• Claim Reporting
• MyPaymentsPlus
• Online Applications
Since implementing a hosted, cloud-based solution, Derby Public Schools has minimized technical issues, increased the speed of their cafeteria lunchlines, and has transformed the way they manage free and reduced meal applications.