Klein Forest High School in Klein, Texas
This Texas high school has upped the quality ante and raked in food sales thanks to a complete overhaul of the cafeteria servery to resemble an upscale, shopping mall food court.
By Donna Boss, Contributing Editor -- Foodservice Equipment & Supplies, 7/1/2007
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Predicting an increase in high school enrollment and a need for summer programs and other services, the school board at Klein Independent School District in Texas authorized a complete remodel of the servery and kitchen at Klein Forest High School. The new facility's appeal draws from bright, lively colors, tiled walls, graphics and themed service lines, which resemble teens' favorite food courts in retail malls.
Student customers continue to respond favorably to the new facility. Since its opening in September 2006, participation at this closed campus - students can't leave during meal periods - increased from 75 percent to 80 percent. Total revenue in the first year increased from $900,000 to $1 million.
Photos by Charles Edwards
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As one of four traditional high schools in the 42,000-student district, located about 40 miles north of Houston, Klein Forest High School enrolls 3,400 students and employs 350 teachers and staff. The kitchen serves 3,200 students and faculty daily.
"The kitchen was stripped down to dirt floors and rebuilt from scratch," says Jamal Hazzan, the district's director of foodservice. "It can produce up to 4,000 lunches." Construction began in early May 2006. Staff served the first meal on Sept. 20, 2006.
The foodservice footprint measures 8,900- square-feet, which includes a 4,300-square-foot servery. The remaining space holds a back-of-thehouse production kitchen and storage. "One of the major challenges was to add enough storage to handle the capacity needed," says the project's foodservice consultant, Bob Millunzi, principal of H.G. Rice/Millunzi and Associates. "We added 1,000-square-feet of cold storage, which includes a walk-in cooler and freezer, into a large service yard outside the building. We married the storage with the building by putting in a door that leads directly into the kitchen. Staff can operate from within the kitchen and don't feel they are 'outside' when they are in the storage area."
The unit's outdoor location places greater demand on the cooling system, which required upgrading the fans and other refrigeration system components. "Refrigeration is a challenge in a state such as Texas that has high temperatures and humidity," Millunzi says. "From the onset, we needed to install a system that would require as few service calls as possible. If internal maintenance people can't fix a problem, calling in outside service agencies is very expensive."
When production begins, staff take products from the cooler/ freezer and dry storage to the back kitchen's production area. Equipment in the bakery area includes a 60-quart mixer, baker's table and dough divider, which staff use for making homemade yeast rolls, glazed-topped cookies, spicy sausage kolaches, cinnamon rolls and pies. They also decorate pre-prepped cakes and cupcakes. Next year, the selection will be cut back due to restrictions limiting use of sugar and fats.
On the other side of this equipment grouping sit a tilting kettle for soup and a tilting braising pan for dishes such as beef stir-fry and chili. To the right side sit a 20-quart mixer for foods such as mashed potatoes, a slicer for meats and cheese, prep tables with overshelves, a can opener and food processor.
In the center of the production area, convection ovens heat a variety of menu items, many of which come prepared and simply need to be brought up to serving temperature. The facility features a larger number of convection ovens than might have been selected in the past. "Fryers will not be allowed in Texas schools by the 2009-2010 school year due to a ruling by the Agriculture Commission," says Teresa Lane, the operation's dietitian. These ovens heat egg rolls, bean and cheese burritos, precooked beef pot roast, steak fingers, cookies, popcorn chicken, chicken tenders, chicken nuggets, lasagna, chicken pot pies (assembled in this kitchen), enchiladas, barbecued chicken and corn dogs.
Also critical to this menu's production, steamers add moist heat to Thai meatballs, fajita meat, hot dogs, pasta and chopped beef in barbecue sauce.
Products from the kitchen move forward toward the serving lines, where staff assemble and prepare menu items for final service. In addition to expanding the kitchen's space by adding an outside cooler, designers also expanded the servery's space by taking six linear feet from the dining area. "Nonetheless, we still had to minimize total linear frontage space required for the lines," Millunzi says. "Serving areas take up a lot of room in the front. So, we folded up the lines by creating a 'W' shape and running them deep into the servery."
Three main sections comprise the servery, one for traditional service, another for food court selections such as pizza and sandwiches, and a third for à la carte sales. "All serving line modules, including their equipment, can be taken out easily and replaced if needed because trends change," says Hazzan, adding with a laugh, "I didn't want the next director to be furious with me because I didn't build in flexibility."
The 18 point-of-sale stations represent another prominent facet of the design. "We wanted to keep the lines moving quickly and efficiently," Hazzan says. "This is very important because we must serve so many students in only two hours for lunch and 30 minutes for breakfast." Eight POS stations are dedicated to the federally reimbursable lunch lines and 10 to à la carte lines.
The traditional service area includes two lines. The Klein Line offers items such as chicken fried steak, barbecued chicken, chicken nuggets, fish strips, beef pot roast, homemade chili, soup, macaroni and cheese, and sides of vegetables, breads, fruit and milk. The International Line features a daily theme: Monday, Asian; Tuesday and Friday, Tex-Mex; Wednesday, international; and Thursday, Italian. Customers receive entrées and sides of vegetables, fruit, breads and milk.
Menu items in the traditional service area sit in cold and hot recessed serving wells. Customers tell staff which items they'd prefer. However, customers can help themselves to salads and beverages from refrigerated units with air screens.
A food court-style area includes six lines for reimbursable meals. One specializes in pizza. A nearby pizza prep table and conveyor oven allow staff to prepare the pies continuously throughout service times.
The other lines feature "create your own" hoagies, wraps, burritos, baked potatoes and burgers. Behind these lines, pass-thru and reachin heated cabinets hold items until needed on the line.
As students approach the counters, they walk by menu items on display in cold pans and heated merchandisers. "Menu items are portioned in advance and placed in the merchandisers as needed," Millunzi says. "This approach is the only way to serve such a large number of people quickly."
Students also pass by refrigerated units with air screens that hold wrapped sandwiches and salads, fruit and beverages. "The benefit of the air screens is that they allow more self-serve items to be placed in a smaller footprint," Millunzi says. "Rear-loading capacity allows staff to replenish without interrupting service on the front of the lines."
Despite the benefits of air screens, they present difficulties, as well. "In a hot, humid climate, it's more difficult to get the air screens up and running in the mornings because the air conditioning is usually turned off after hours," says Millunzi. "Schools using air screens must adjust their climate controls to accommodate the equipment used."
The third area, a snack bar, offers non-reimbursable, à la carte menu items. Favorites include round pizza, chicken wings, popcorn chicken, egg rolls, specialty sandwiches such as Philly cheesesteak subs and buffalo chicken sandwiches, tater tots and other potatoes, baked chips, bottled beverages, ice cream, cookies and granola bars. Here, staff use a convection oven, pizza oven, steamer, a slushie machine, an ice cream dispenser, heated cabinets and refrigerators to prepare and dispense menu items.
"In the snack bar area, staff make a quarter turn to have access to the menu items," says Millunzi. "This quarter-moon operation minimizes steps staff must make to fill orders and increases the speed to get customers through the line."
In addition to maintaining speed and high-quality food, sanitation also tops the list of priorities in this operation. Hands-free sinks with electronic sensors assist staff throughout the kitchen. "Throughout the district, we centrally monitor refrigeration electronically so we can maintain proper temperatures in this equipment," Hazzan says.
In addition, once staff clean stations they place a flower arrangement on a cloth at that station. "This tells everyone this is a clean area, so don't use it unnecessarily," Hazzan says.
Another detail that contributes to overall operational efficiency is the placement of a management office in the center of the kitchen, so managers can see production lines from this vantage point. "Managers are, of course, out on the floor during production periods," Hazzan says. "But when they aren't, they can see exactly what's happening. If a problem occurs, they can solve it right away."
As Hazzan looks to the future, he is confident that this kitchen and servery will serve the district well for at least the next two decades. "It's been 25 years since the last renovation and I expect it will be another 25 before another one is possible," he says. "That's why we insisted on selecting the right equipment and building in flexibility for whatever changes may occur in students' tastes."
| DESIGN CAPSULE |
| The remodel of Klein Forest High School, located in Klein, Texas, 40 miles north of Houston, allows staff to serve up to 4,000 lunches daily. The population includes more than 3,400 students and 350 teachers and staff. Students can select reimbursable and à la carte meals. Today, 10 months since its opening in September 2006, the kitchen serves 3,200 meals, 420 of which are breakfasts and 1,400 reimbursable lunches. Student participation is 80-percent. The servery has 18 points of sale. Total revenue reached more than $1 million this year. The kitchen includes a full array of equipment but no fryers, which is due to the fact that Texas regulations prohibit schools from serving fried foods. Products sit in a cooler/freezer that was built into a service yard adjoining the school building. The 8,900-square-foot layout includes a 4,300-squarefoot servery. Staff include 38 people (two managers and 36 employees). Hours: breakfast, 7 a.m. - 7:30 a.m. and lunch, 10:45 p.m. - 12:45 p.m. |
| Superintendent of Schools: Dr. Jim Cain Associate Superintendent, Facilities and School Services Division: Tom Ricker Klein Forest High School Principal: William Lakin Director of Foodservice: Jamal Hazzan Foodservice Managers: Diane Evans and Pat Owens Foodservice Dietitian: Teresa Lane Director of Capital Projects: Don Blue Architect: Cheryl Lawrence, principal, RWS, Houston Kitchen Consultant: Robert Millunzi, H.G. Rice/Millunzi and Associates, Spring and Dallas Signage/Décor: Frank Medina: The Edu-Source Corp., San Antonio General Contractor: Jeff Manthei, Marshall Construction, Houston Kitchen Contractor: Glenn Redman, Custom Kitchens, Humble, Texas |
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