With schools remaining closed due to the COVID-19 public health emergency, Metro Nashville Public Schools are providing breakfast and lunch to children. In addition to school-based food distribution sites, MNPS is offering meal delivery at locations in areas experiencing high rates of poverty.
“We know that many of our families won’t have access to the transportation necessary to get to one of our school-based distribution locations, so we’re doing our best to get out into the community and get food to the kids who need it the most,” said Dr. Adrienne Battle, director of schools. “[We are] implementing social distancing best practices and requirements to reduce the potential for the spread of COVID-19 while we make every effort to provide for the needs of our students and families.”
Late Friday, MNPS officials were notified that an employee in the nutrition services division tested positive for COVID-19. The employee is not involved in food preparation or in supervising those who prepare food. The employee has not been to work since Monday, March 16, and had no contact with the food or those preparing the food. Based on conversations with the Metro Public Health Department, there is no risk to the food that was prepared. The district will be working with the Health Department and our school nurse program to implement additional safety precautions to ensure no employees that have symptoms of illness would be working to prepare or deliver meals.
Six MNPS school buses are being used to pick up approximately 250 meals each from preparation kitchens and brought to locations where children are able to pick up the meals. Locations and times for the bus drivers to provide meals can be found on www.mnps.org/COVID19, as well as being shared with MNPS families through social media and callouts.
Meals are available to anyone under the age of 18, regardless of their school status; however, they must be present to collect the meals, per federal law. The bagged or boxed meals will be provided in a drive-through setup. The meals will be available for pickup between 10 am and 12:30 pm at the following locations:
Apollo Middle School: 631 Richards Rd., Antioch, Tenn. 37013
Buena Vista Elementary School: 1531 9th Ave. N., Nashville, Tenn. 37208
Cole Elementary School: 5060 Colemont Dr., Antioch, Tenn. 37013
DuPont Elementary School: 1311 9th St., Old Hickory, Tenn. 37138
Glencliff High School: 160 Antioch Pike, Nashville, Tenn. 37211
H.G. Hill Middle School: 150 Davidson Rd., Nashville, Tenn. 37205
I.T. Creswell Middle School: 3500 John Mallette Dr, Nashville, TN 37218
Lakeview Elementary School: 455 Rural Hill Rd., Nashville, Tenn. 37217
Madison Middle School: 300 W. Old Hickory Blvd., Madison, Tenn. 37115
McKissack Middle School: 915 38th Ave. N., Nashville, Tenn. 37209
Napier Elementary School: 67 Fairfield Ave., Nashville, Tenn. 37210
Rose Park Middle School: 1025 9th Ave. S., Nashville, Tenn. 37203
Shwab Elementary School: 1500 Dickerson Pike, Nashville, Tenn. 37207
Stratford STEM Magnet High School: 1800 Stratford Ave., Nashville, Tenn. 37216
Two Rivers Middle School: 2991 McGavock Pike, Nashville, Tenn. 37214
In addition to meals, Book’em is offering free books to students at rotating sites where meals are being provided. The books will be pre-bagged and separated into age ranges for those children who are present to pick up meals. Book’em’s schedule is as follows:
Monday: Buena Vista Elementary, Cole Elementary, Rose Park Middle
Tuesday: Dupont Elementary, Lakeview Elementary, Madison Middle, Stratford High
Wednesday: Apollo Middle, McKissack Middle, Napier Elementary, Shwab Elementary
Thursday: Glencliff High, H.G. Hill Middle, I.T. Creswell Middle, Two Rivers Middle
“Feeding the body is important, but so too is feeding the mind while schools are closed and social distancing requires us all to limit our interaction with other people,” said Dr. Battle. “We’re grateful to Book’em for their commitment to the children of Nashville and their efforts to spark a passion for reading among all of us.”
