About Keys to Excellence

What is Keys to Excellence?

Keys to Excellence in School Food and Nutrition Programs is a self-assessment tool that allows you to assess and evaluate your program in four "key" areas:

• Administration
• Communications & Marketing
• Nutrition and Nutrition Education
• Operations

Keys to Excellence may be completed online using Keys Express. Take the Guided Tour to learn more about the features within Keys Express.

Who Should Use Keys?

The director, assistant director, or other central office staff person should complete Key Expresss. This person should have sufficient knowledge of district operations to be able to answer questions in all four key areas. The person completing Keys Express for the district may ask staff to assist in completing the interviews, but only one person per district needs to create a Keys Express record to conduct the self-assessment and reassess the program over time . 

How Does Keys Help My School Nutrition Program?

Your district must complete Keys Express self-assessment in all four "key" areas. After you have met this requirement, you must submit a complete application to the School Nutrition Foundation to verify that your district does meet best practices. The School Nutrition Foundation has established two annual application deadlines for all districts applying for this distinction. The 2009-2010 deadlines are October 31, 2009 and March 31, 2010. Each application will be reviewed by a peer review panel. Districts will receive notification of District of Excellence Distinction status approximately 8 weeks after each application deadline.

Keys also provides information to develop and implement a district-wide improvement plan.  Once you've determined your strong and weak points through the self-assessment, you can develop a plan to strengthen your program. By backing up your plan with objective data based on national standards, administrators and employees will more likely buy into your plan. Continuous program improvement demonstrates your child nutrition program's commitment to excellence and can earn respect and recognition from your peers, employees and the school community. Motivating these important stakeholders strengthens your program's support network which can benefit you in many ways. 

Keys is also the first step in the District of Excellence and District of the Year programs. These programs go even further in enabling you to advance the public image of your programs both in the local community and on a state and national level.

How Do District of Excellence Distinction and District of the Year Benefit My Program? 

District of Excellence Distinction allows you to demonstrate to stakeholders in your district that your program meets and/or exceeds national best practice standards for school nutrition programs. In today’s education world focused on achievement and standards, this is a strong message. Furthermore, with public and community interest in school wellness, demonstrating a strong nutrition program can strengthen public confidence in your program as well as student participation.

Districts earning District of Excellence Distinction are listed on SNA’s website and the program is promoted through SNA media and public relations efforts. Furthermore, each District of Excellence receives a comprehensive packet of public relations tools, including press release templates, a recognition plaque, and use of the Keys to Excellence logo. SNA also send letters to several stakeholders, including the district superintendent, the chief state school officer, and state SNA affiliate president, and the director of the state agency administering the school nutrition programs. District of Excellence Distinction recipients may also purchase District of Excellence pins as incentives for staff and may use the District of Excellence logo in approved ways in district marketing and communication efforts.

Winning the District of the Year Award is very prestigious and will earn your district respect and recognition on a national level. The District of the Year Award also includes a $25,000 cash award to the school district to further improve and enhance program operations.

Who Developed Keys?

A multi-disciplinary committee of school nutrition district directors, managers, federal and state agency representatives, university instructors and SNA/School Nutrition Foundation staff members developed the Keys and created the District of Excellence Distinction program in 2003. A special Ad Hoc Committee appointed by SNA’s President worked jointly with SNA’s Nutrition Committee in 2007 to further enhance the District of Excellence Distinction program and to introduce the District of the Year Award. [Acknowledgements]

What is District of Excellence Distinction in School Nutrition?

A formal recognition program for a school nutrition program (or district) that demonstrates its knowledge and fulfillment of superior performance in providing nutritious food and a healthy school environment for all students. Districts of Excellence work with the school community to contribute to positive educational outcomes and to ensure that students learn life-long healthy nutrition habits. Districts of Excellence in School Nutrition embody "nutrition integrity" throughout the school environment. They meet and exceed national best practice standards and benchmark their quality. They also demonstrate commitment to continuous program improvement and excellence and earn respect from others in the school community. [View List of Districts of Excellence]

What is the District of the Year?

The District of the Year is the school district that has been selected among all District of Excellence applicants in a given year to best reflect the Keys Express national best practice standards. The District of the Year Award winner will be formally recognized at SNA’s Annual National Conference in July of each year and receive a $25,000 cash award. Districts may only become a District of the Year once. 

How Does My District Become a District of Excellence?

Your district must complete Keys Express self-assessment to assess your operations in all four "key" areas. After you have met this requirement, you must submit a complete application to the School Nutrition Foundation to verify best practices. The School Nutrition Foundation has established two annual application deadlines for all districts applying for this distinction. The 2009-2010 deadlines are November 30, 2009 and March 31, 2010. Each application will be reviewed by a peer review panel. Districts will receive notification of District of Excellence Distinction status approximately 8 weeks after each application deadline.

More information on District of Excellence 

What Do Districts of Excellence Receive From SNA?

Districts should attain this new status to serve as examples to other districts and child nutrition programs. This designation demonstrates your child nutrition program's quality.

Districts of Excellence also receive a recognition package consisting of:

• Congratulatory letter sent to the district superintendent or other selected school official
• Congratulatory letter sent to the chief state education officer
• Congratulatory letter sent to the President of the state School Nutrition Association (SNA) affiliate
• Recognition plaque acknowledging District of Excellence Distinction
• Press release that can be customized and published locally
• Recognition on the SNA website
• An electronic version of the Keys logo to be used on the district website, menus, correspondence and marketing materials
• Ability to purchase District of Excellence pins for staff.

How Long Will My District Remain a District of Excellence? How Do I Renew?

Districts receive the District of Excellence Distinction for a 3 year period. At the end of the 3 years, the district may renew the District of Excellence Distinction by submitting a new District of Excellence Application.

How Can My District Become District of the Year?

To be eligible for the District of the Year Award, a district must receive the District of Excellence Distinction first. District of Excellence recipients will receive the District of the Year Award application from SNF in May of each year and will be invited to submit a proposal.