As a Food Service Assistant at Bezos Academy youll help provide nutritious compliant meals to children at our tuitionfree Montessoriinspired preschool and provide direct support with a variety of additional tasks both in and out of the classroom. You will manage all aspects of food preparation and service with strong attention to detail organization and adherence to safety protocols. Key responsibilities include preparing CACFPcompliant menus placing food orders and managing food costs receiving and verifying food deliveries ensuring all meals are delivered to classrooms on time and managing all cleanup organization and documentation. Assuming full ownership of the kitchen and food operations at the school you will serve meals in accordance with USDA requirements Bezos Academy policies and local childcare regulations.
Beyond the kitchen you will assist school staff and administration with a variety of tasks including inventory checks laundry and other ad hoc duties. As needed you will also occasionally step into classrooms to provide direct supervision and support to the children. You will become an integral part of your school team working to improve processes and provide an excellent preschool experience where we nurture every childs full potential.
LOCATIONS & START DATE
We are hiring for Food Service Assistants at our Louisville schools for the launch of 3 preschools in the fall of 2025. We anticipate a summer start date (lateJuly or August) for these roles.
SCHOOLS CURRENTLY HIRING:
Please confirm your location interest and availability on your application.
SCHEDULE BENEFITS & COMPENSATION
- School schedules vary depending on community needs but generally are from 8:30am4:30pm with start and end times totaling no more than 8 hours per day. Your specific schedule will be determined with your school leader when considering all staff classroom and community needs.
- This is a fulltime (40 hours per week) benefitseligible nonexempt/hourly position.
- Compensation for this position is $19$28 per hour ($39000$58000 annually). The upper third of the compensation range is typically reserved for existing employees who have been in the role for multiple years and demonstrate strong performance over time. Starting compensation will vary by qualifications and prior experience.
- This role includes 32 paid days of scheduled breaks 3 paid days of personal time off 7 paid days of sick (care) time 10 paid holidays and additional time off if required by applicable law. Benefits for this role include medical dental and vision insurance life insurance disability insurance a 401(k) plan with a 4% employer contribution match paid parental leave an employermatched flexible spending account for dependent care and more. Please see here for details.
MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS
PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS
- Familiarity with licensing or QRIS standards in Kentucky
- Experience working within the guidelines of theUS Department of Agriculture and Child and Adult Care Food Program (USDA/CACFP)
- Two or more years of experience working in a school kitchen setting (preschool early childhood education daycare or K12 environment)
- Working knowledge of food allergens intolerances preferences and accommodations
- Prior experience as an Assistant Teacher in a preschool setting
- Associates degree in Early Childhood Education or two years of postsecondary coursework in Early Childhood Education
- Experience with Montessori pedagogy
- Experience with children with special needs
- Fluent in Spanish
RESPONSIBILITIES
NOTE: The combination of responsibilities may vary based on the needs of the school site students and prior experiences of the Food Service Assistant.
Food Service and Site Operations
- Place weekly food orders with the vendor based on student attendance trends and food waste analysis.
- Receive and verify daily food deliveries to ensure accuracy with order quantities and alignment with the approved menu. If meals are noncompliant follow the Emergency Food SOP.
- Manage all aspects of routine vendor performance to ensure the vendor is meeting or exceeding expectations.
- Ensure all meals served to students are complaint and document any menu changes on menu.
- Track food consumption and waste daily to ensure food costs remain as lean and efficient as possible.
- Prepare and serve meals and utensils to classrooms for each scheduled meal service.
- Maintain compliance with strict food hygiene and safety protocols at all times.
- Ensure the kitchen equipment serving utensils cookware and dishes are consistently cleaned sanitized and wellmaintained.
- Manage and organize food inventory including proper labeling dating rotating stock and discarding items nearing expiration in accordance with food safety guidelines.
- Record and log food temperatures prior to each meal service to ensure compliance with safety regulations.
- Accommodate childrens special dietary needs including allergies medical restrictions and cultural or religious food requirements.
- Assist in serving meals during family engagement and school events as needed.
Added responsibilities if food is prepared onsite:
- Place weekly groceries orders based on the menu and current inventory.
- Receive and verify food delivery and follow up with vendor if food delivered is incorrect based on the order or spoiled.
- Prepare meals according to the planned menu and adapt recipes for dietary restrictions (allergies religious diets vegetarian etc.).
- Prepare meals on a schedule (breakfast/lunch/snack).
- Adapt the menu (make substitutions) to avoid food spoilage and waste following the Menu Substitution SOP.
- Help plan menus that are nutritious budgetfriendly and appealing to students.
Added responsibilities if school is under CACFP:
- Ensure vendor provides a delivery receipt and keep it for 3 years.
- Children receive the appropriate portion sizes for each meal pattern component by providing correctly sized serving utensils and clearly communicating the required serving sizes to classroom staff upon meal delivery.
- Review meal counts for accuracy and upload into SharePoint weekly
- If there are any menu substitutions provide the necessary menusupporting documentation (CN label product formulation statement Nutrition Facts standardized recipe).
- Attend the required annual sponsor CACFP training that includes meal pattern reimbursement meal counts claims recordkeeping and civil rights.
- Clock in/out of Workday based on foodrelated responsibilities.
Classroom Support
- Provide classroom coverage as needed
- Assist teachers with the full implementation of Bezos Academys performance standards policies and procedures
- Support Bezos Academy classrooms by following regulations and guidelines in the daytoday operation of the classroom (i.e. cleaning materials meal prep nap time transitions etc.)
- Organize materials and clean the workspace to facilitate the learning process for each child
- Support childrens increasing independence with daily living skills (i.e. washing hands using the bathroom eating meals and snacks cleaning up etc.)
- Provide 1:1 support for children who are experiencing big feelings
- Develop positive relationships with children
Other
- Assist the Head of School and school staff in other operational duties in the school as necessary when the kitchen work is complete (e.g. support with laundry front desk support and other duties as assigned by the Head of School)
- Participate in team meetings center activities and staff development
Please click here for the full job description.
Bezos Academy participates in EVerify and will provide the federal government with employee Form I9 Information to confirm authorization to work in the U.S. Bezos Academy only uses EVerify once a candidate has accepted a job offer and completed the Form I9. If EVerify cannot confirm that an employee is authorized to work Bezos Academy will give the employee written instructions and an opportunity to contact the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) or Social Security Administration (SSA) so the employee can begin to resolve the issue before any adverse employment action is taken. For more information about your right to work please see the Notice of Right to Work.