Head Start Nutrition Coordinator - JOB ID# 14372

Nutrition Coordinator

Since 1966, the Capitol Region Education Council (CREC) has been dedicated to providing innovative, high-quality, and cost-effective educational programs and services to meet the diverse needs of children and adults in Greater Hartford. Serving 33 member districts and reaching additional communities statewide, CREC supports approximately 12,000 students annually through more than 120 educational programs. Our offerings include professional learning and coaching for educators, specialized programming for students with diverse needs, and PreK-12 education across 16 interdistrict magnet schools. Additionally, CREC provides school construction, operations, and cooperative business services, while also delivering programs that help adults build real, job-ready skills.

Under the direction of the Health Specialist, the Nutrition Coordinator oversees nutrition operations for Head Start and Early Head Start including nutrition education, meal service, family style dining, maintaining inventory and purchasing of supplies. The Nutrition Coordinator assesses, plans, and evaluates nutrition services to ensure they are meeting local, State and Federal requirements; provides supervision and content knowledge for the Meal Aides; interacts with the Food Service Vendor, submitting daily meal counts, verifying invoices, preparing correspondence, and monthly reports; ensures the ChildPlus databases and recordkeeping files related to nutrition are in compliance.

Essential duties and responsibilities include:

• Effectively administer and follow all Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) and USDA guidelines pertaining to menu development, food production, food service operation, meal components, food safety/handling, and claims.
• Train, supervise, and evaluate Meal Aides; assist with recruitment and hiring of all nutrition staff; local travel to satellite centers is required and expected weekly.
• Oversee daily meal service of breakfast, lunch, and snack to enrolled children, including infants, toddlers, and preschoolers; monitor to ensure family-style dining feeding practices and appropriate portion control.
• Provide content direction to the program Meal Aides and lead the nutrition department, including meal planning, kitchen preparation, food service delivery to sites, and evaluation of nutritional components
• Monitor meal service for reimbursement; submit all reimbursement reports and data for claims, report to Policy Council and stakeholders monthly. Provide corrective action when necessary.
• Identify and track children's food allergies and meal modification requests. Ensure all documents are completed appropriately and meal modification and allergy lists are current and posted in each kitchen and classroom.
• Review children's nutritional and dietary needs, provide parent communication, and refer high-risk children for further assessment and implementation of necessary interventions, as appropriate.
• Partner with community agencies to ensure comprehensive nutrition services; collaborate with local WIC offices; complete documented MOUs annually for content partnerships.
• Ensure compliance with Head Start requirements for growth assessments, lead, and hemoglobin screenings. Conduct screenings when necessary and complete all child file documentation.
• Act as the point of contact for the Food Service Vendor; submit daily meal counts and milk orders, oversee menu development, and provide information about alternative meals; engage in contractual information discussions in conjunction with CREC Nutrition Service Director
• Maintain inventory and order supplies to ensure all kitchens have the appropriate equipment.
• Design and conduct nutrition education programs for parents, staff and students; implement the Office of Head Start initiatives, related to nutrition and health, such as I Am Moving I Am Learning.
• Conduct CACFP, Civil Rights, and meal service training for all new hires, and annually for all staff; providing updated information about CACFP implementation to staff as it becomes available.
• Maintain strict confidentiality with respect to Head Start/Early Head Start children, families, and staff in accordance with established policies and procedures.
• Establish and carry out content-relevant MOUs for the program.
• Create, foster, and maintain a positive culture and climate across the program and support the mission and vision of CREC and CREC Head Start.
• Ensure compliance with Head Start Performance Standards and all federal, state, and local entities. Comply with all company policies and procedures.
• Other duties as assigned. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Supervisory responsibility includes managing and being responsible for the performance management of the employees of the department and assisting with hiring as needed.

Competencies include leadership, professionalism, dependability, judgment, initiative, interpersonal skills, written & oral communication, managing people, quality management, adaptability, diversity & ethics, innovation, problem solving, analytical, customer service, technical skills, and planning/organizing.

Qualifications include an associate's degree from a college or university, one to two years of related experience and/or training, and two years of supervisory experience. Obtain ServSafe certification within 3 months of hire if not already certified. A valid Motor Vehicle Operator's License and a reliable personal vehicle are required to provide on-site supervision, technical support, and attend meetings, trainings, and professional learning opportunities as required.

Physical demands include prolonged standing/movement, frequent bending and crouching, lifting and carrying materials, fine motor skills for manipulating small objects, clear speaking voice, good vision and hearing, the ability to focus on multiple tasks simultaneously, and sometimes the need to move quickly to respond to student needs. Staff require the ability to work in a high-energy environment with varying noise levels (from quiet to loud) based on student activity. Staff is expected to work both indoors and outdoors (as needed) and may be expected to participate in off-site field experiences.

Benefits include group health insurance plans, basic & supplemental life insurance, long term disability & short term disability options, 403(b) retirement savings plan with employer matching contribution if applicable, flexible spending account, pre-tax savings for health care, dependent care, and limited purpose post deductible, comprehensive benefit time package, employee assistance program, bereavement time & religious holidays, credit union access, tuition reimbursement program, employee network groups, access to professional learning opportunities with two fully paid courses through CREC University each year, and a 15% discount on tuition for next-level degree programs through an exclusive partnership with Springfield College.

CREC strives to understand and confront the symptoms and causes of racism and prejudice ranging from biases to aggressions to discriminatory policies, practices, and traditions that harm people from systemically marginalized groups or that benefit privileged groups. CREC staff and students acknowledge and respect people of all identifiers, such as race, socioeconomic status, gender identity and expression, education, age, ability, ethnicity, culture, sexual orientation, language, nationality, religion, and veteran status.

Capitol Region Education Council