As part of the Activity section of brightwheel, you can create custom menu items for tracking purposes! This resource will walk you through how to create custom items, enable/disable menu items in rooms, and touch on reporting options as well.
Table of Contents
Assign Student Meal Type
Before logging a meal, assign each student a Meal Type within the School Details Panel on the student profile. Options are Not Specified, Free, Reduced, or Paid. Meal Types will appear next to student data on the Meal Report.
Logging Food Activities
Teachers can log a meal just like any other activity in the Add Activity wheel:
If logging in as an Administrator or Manager, tap Rooms. If logging in as a Lead Staff or Staff member, use the rooms drop-down at the top of the page to open the correct room.
💡Be sure the student is checked in to the room you are logging a meal in to ensure records appear on the Meal Report
Once in the appropriate room, tap Add Activity
Select Food
Select an individual, some, or all of the students
Adjust the Time as needed
Tap Food or Bottle
If tapping Food, tap All, Most, Some, or None to reflect how much of the meal was consumed
If tapping Bottle, input the ounces drank
Select the Type of Meal (Breakfast, AM Snack, Lunch, PM Snack, Dinner, Late Snack)
Tap the + next to 'Meal Items' to add custom tags or pre-populated meal items for the food you serve
Check the 'Staff Only' box as needed
Add an optional note or attach a photo
Click Add Activity when finished
Quick-Add Meal Items From Menus
Any staff member assigned to a given Room can add easily add pre-populated meal items from the menus you've created in brightwheel. This also ensures children's meal items are accurately tracked for CACFP reporting.
To add pre-populated meal items, staff can simply tap the Quick add [meal name] items for today? button shown below when they are logging a food activity for their Room.
Add Custom Menu Items
Custom food items can be added at any time! Once a menu item has been created, it cannot be deleted. In addition, all menu items are specific to the room. To add a menu item that another room added, tap + to Room when adding custom food items.
If logging in as an Administrator or Manager, tap Rooms. If logging in as a Lead Staff or Staff member, use the rooms drop-down at the top of the page to open the correct room.
Once in the appropriate room, tap Add Activity
Select Food
Select an individual, some, or all of the students
Click Next
Tap the + next to 'Meal Items'
Click the Edit option in the top right corner
Use the search bar and type in your new food item
Tap the green Add 'FOOD' button
Once added, this food item will permanently be in your system to select
Please Note: Menu items cannot be deleted once they have been saved!
Enable/Disable Menu Items in Rooms
Once you have created custom menu items, you can enable or disable them by room! The process is very similar to adding a new item. Here's how:
If logging in as an Administrator or Manager, tap Rooms. If logging in as a Lead Staff or Staff member, use the rooms drop-down at the top of the page to open the correct room.
Once in the appropriate room, tap Add Activity
Tap Food
Select an individual, some, or all of the students
Tap the + next to 'Meal Items'
Tap the Edit option in the top right corner
Tap the + to Room option to add the food item to the room or the ✓ In Room to disable the item
This feature allows the menu in each room to be customized depending on the room but still standardized throughout your organization!
Reporting
Admins and Managers can easily pull reporting on planned menus and meals served at your program from your account on the web. Learn more about our Meal Report and our Menu Report.
These reports are a great resource when you need to collect necessary data to ensure that your school or center complies with the CACFP (Child and Adult Care Food Program) federal program that provides reimbursement for healthful meals and snacks served to children and adults.