Some Fresno Unified schools offering free meals for kids this winter break. Here’s when, where

Laura S. Diaz, Leqi Zhong
·2 min read

Schools in Fresno are offering free meals to all children and teenagers ages 1 to 18 this winter break.

Students can get meals at any of 19 Fresno Unified School District schools offering meals during the holidays, even if they don’t attend that school or district, and they must eat their meals on-site.

From Monday, Dec. 18, through Friday, Jan. 5, Fresno Unified will provide meals from 11:15 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.. Out of the 19 sites open for lunch, one will be open the entire break and the others on specific dates. (See list at the end.)

Fresno Unified estimates it serves 74,000 meals daily during the school year, said the district’s Nutrition Services director Amanda Jane Harvey. For the winter break, however, the district has a smaller estimate based on past years it has served meals during the holidays.

“We are preparing for 250-300 children per school site,” Harvey said, “and staff will adjust daily based on the number of students on campus.”

Spokespeople for Clovis and Central unified school districts said they are not serving meals during the winter break. The two districts, also in the Fresno metropolitan area, did offer free meals for all children during the summer break.

“Our winter break is two weeks long as opposed to the longer break observed by neighboring districts,” said Kelly Avants, spokesperson for Clovis Unified.

Central Unified’s communications and public relations officer for the district Gilbert Malgallon said students who participate in winter school will be the only ones receiving meals.

“Only a specific group of students will be participating,” Malgallon said, “This is by invitation only.”

For kids with food allergies and/or sensitivities, Harvey said parents and guardians can call Fresno Unified’s Nutrition Services office at office 559-457-6250 so proper arrangements can be made for a child’s needs.

These are the 19 schools serving free meals this winter:

Open the entire break, Dec. 18-Jan. 5

  • Duncan Polytechnical High School, 4330 E Garland Ave.

Open Dec. 18-21 and Jan. 2-5

  • Ahwahnee Middle School, 1127 E Escalon Ave.

  • Computech Middle School, 555 E Belgravia Ave.

  • Cooper Middle School, 2277 W Bellaire Way

  • Kings Canyon Middle School, 5117 E Tulare Ave.

  • Tehipite Middle School, 630 N Augusta St.

  • Tenaya Middle School, 1239 W Mesa Ave.

Open Dec. 19 through Jan. 5

  • Bullard High School, 5445 N Palm Ave.

  • Edison High School, 540 E California Ave.

  • Fresno High School, 1839 N Echo Ave.

  • Fulton School, 2004 E Cambridge Ave.

  • Hoover High School, 5550 N First St.

  • McLane High School, 2727 N Cedar Ave.

  • Roosevelt High School, 4250 E Tulare Ave.

  • Sunnyside High School, 1019 S Peach Ave.

Open Dec. 18 through Jan. 4

  • Cambridge Continuation High School, 1001 S Chestnut Ave.

  • DeWolf High School, 2445 W Dakota Ave.

  • J.E.Young Academic Center, 822 N Abby St.

  • Phoenix Secondary Academy, 5320 E Church Ave.