Wheeling School District: New Kitchens for a Better School Lunch
Location:
Wheeling, IL
Michael Debartolo understands the importance of having good, nutritious food for school students. “We know that when kids are eating healthy meals, their brain is turned on and they’re ready to learn,” says the assistant superintendent for finance and CSBO at Community Consolidated School District 21 in Wheeling, Ill. So, when the district’s foodservice provider, Organic Life, approached him with a plan to create finishing kitchens at eleven schools in the district, Debartolo jumped at the chance to elevate the school district’s foodservice offerings.
Before the renovations, the district’s eleven middle and elementary schools were serviced by one production kitchen, which then shipped out lunch to the other schools in warming boxes to be served to students. Breakfast was limited to cold items that could be packed up the night before. Organic Life proposed a change that would allow them to provide fresh, hot meals for both breakfast and lunch to the kids in the district. The contract management company reached out to Boelter for help sourcing the equipment, and it was then they found the job was more intensive than originally thought.
"As I toured the schools, it became clear the project would involve much more than sourcing and installing new equipment," says Jeanine Lopez, K-12 director, Boelter. "They were planning to renovate spaces that were currently used as warming kitchens—or in some cases, little more than staff break rooms. It became clear the district needed help with design, including schematics for electrical and plumbing upgrades."
Location:
Wheeling, IL
Michael Debartolo understands the importance of having good, nutritious food for school students. “We know that when kids are eating healthy meals, their brain is turned on and they’re ready to learn,” says the assistant superintendent for finance and CSBO at Community Consolidated School District 21 in Wheeling, Ill. So, when the district’s foodservice provider, Organic Life, approached him with a plan to create finishing kitchens at eleven schools in the district, Debartolo jumped at the chance to elevate the school district’s foodservice offerings.
Before the renovations, the district’s eleven middle and elementary schools were serviced by one production kitchen, which then shipped out lunch to the other schools in warming boxes to be served to students. Breakfast was limited to cold items that could be packed up the night before. Organic Life proposed a change that would allow them to provide fresh, hot meals for both breakfast and lunch to the kids in the district. The contract management company reached out to Boelter for help sourcing the equipment, and it was then they found the job was more intensive than originally thought.
"As I toured the schools, it became clear the project would involve much more than sourcing and installing new equipment," says Jeanine Lopez, K-12 director, Boelter. "They were planning to renovate spaces that were currently used as warming kitchens—or in some cases, little more than staff break rooms. It became clear the district needed help with design, including schematics for electrical and plumbing upgrades."
"As I toured the schools, it became clear the project would involve much more than sourcing and installing new equipment. They were planning to renovate spaces that were currently used as warming kitchens—or in some cases, little more than staff break rooms. It became clear the district needed help with design, including schematics for electrical and plumbing upgrades."
– JEANINE LOPEZ, K-12 DIRECTOR, BOELTER
Getting the Right Fit
The experience and creativity of the Boelter design team brought to life eleven individual plans to help meet the district’s goals of having a kitchen in each school. “The space in each school was different, but they were all small and tight,” says Eric Chaplick, vice president operations and design, Boelter. “The smaller ones were around 100 square feet, while the bigger kitchens topped out around 200 square feet.”
The first priority was to draw up a list of the necessary equipment. Each kitchen includes:
- Double stack combi oven
- Holding cabinet
- Refrigerator/freezer
- Prep tables
- Three-compartment sink
- Handwashing sink
“The space in each school was different, but they were all small and tight. The smaller ones were around 100 square feet, while the bigger kitchens topped out around 200 square feet.”
– ERIC CHAPLICK, VICE PRESIDENT, OPERATIONS & DESIGN, BOELTER
Armed with the equipment specs, Chaplick worked to create designs that would make the most efficient use of the space and provide a comfortable work environment. He utilized what was currently available in the schools and made recommendations for upgrading power and plumbing when necessary.
Making the most of the space available included sourcing ventless equipment for the schools that didn’t currently have exhaust hoods. “It would have been too costly to add the ductwork and infrastructure for the schools without ventilation, but we were able to utilize ventless technology to ensure the schools can do the cooking they need,” Chaplick says.
Timing and Teamwork
The Boelter team came onto the Wheeling school district project in January, with a timeline already set to have the kitchens up and running by the time school started in August. Boelter rose to the challenge and met this quick turnaround time thanks in part to excellence in the following aspects:
Equipment. In-depth knowledge of foodservice equipment and knowing the latest trends and features available helped the Boelter team specify the right type of equipment for this job. With so little space, it took a minimalist approach to equipment, and the combi oven was the perfect choice for its ability to do so many types of cooking. In addition, long-term relationships with manufacturers proved beneficial in terms of logistics. For example, realizing the project would need 22 combi ovens of a certain size, Boelter worked with the manufacturer to make sure they could provide the ovens, figure out the lead time, and partner with a warehouse for holding until time for installation.
Communication. Boelter worked directly with the general contractors, the architect and the contract management team throughout the project. Whether it was coordinating orders or working on designs and changes as the process moved forward, Boelter’s commitment to customer service and timely communication helped keep everyone in the know and processes running on schedule.
Experience in K-12. Understanding the needs of the school segment helped the Boelter team be able to come into the job, recommend equipment, work within the budget and communicate with administration in a way that helped keep everything on the project running smoothly.
"The strength of our team and our combined experience helped us keep pace with the project’s fast timeline," says Nick Pope, project manager, Boelter. "We were committed from the start, which allowed us to stay fully engaged and do whatever it took to get things moving and keep the project on track."
"The strength of our team and our combined experience helped us keep pace with the project’s fast timeline. We were committed from the start, which allowed us to stay fully engaged and do whatever it took to get things moving and keep the project on track."
– NICK POPE, PROJECT MANAGER, BOELTER
As CCSD21 welcomed students in the fall of 2024, each school was able to provide hot breakfast and more variety at lunch thanks to the new and improved kitchens. “Everyone will have the fresh pizza, baked chicken wings and other menu items they didn’t have the option to do before,” says DeBartolo. “We now have the ability to cook things fresh on site, allowing us to act as a leader in the area on the school nutrition front for our kids.”
“Everyone will have the fresh pizza, baked chicken wings and other menu items they didn’t have the option to do before. We now have the ability to cook things fresh on site, allowing us to act as a leader in the area on the school nutrition front for our kids.”
– MICHAEL DEBARTOLO, ASSISTANT SUPERINTENDANT FOR FINANCE AND CSBO, WHEELING SCHOOL DISTRICT
Learn more about Jeanine Lopez, Eric Chaplick and Nick Pope.
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