How We Work With DCPS

We Are the Communities We Serve

SodexoMagic has a special commitment to community. It’s at the heart of our mission — to uplift and empower those we serve. Through healthy food and a focus on well-being, we aim to help build a more equitable future for all.

In our DC Public Schools, we treat our students like family. That means celebrating holidays meals together and recognizing our ethnic heritage celebrations with menus that foster a sense of belonging. These moments inspire meals that honor our rich history, such as our Juneteenth soul food feast.

We also love educating our community about healthy food campaigns, such as Vegan Awareness Month, National Food Allergy Awareness Month and World Vegetarian Day. And of course, School Lunch Week is a great excuse for fun meals and prize giveaways!

We strive to make our students smile and let them know their voices matter. We regularly seek community feedback through social media and online surveys.

We’re also proud to engage our community through supporting local vendors, particularly small- and medium-sized businesses owned by women and people of color. Investing our money with diverse suppliers and creating economic opportunities in the communities we serve is a fundamental value of SodexoMagic.

One D.C.-area supplier we’re thrilled to work with is Goldman Farms, a sixth-generation sustainable family farm in nearby Charlotte County, Virginia. Owner Brick Goldman is also a community leader; he and his fellow farmers at Walnut Winds Farm and Eby’s Produce often coordinate deliveries to our warehouse. Delicious fresh and local produce — such as collard greens, kale, summer squash, peas, and much more — is delivered to our schools across the region.

In addition to supporting local businesses, we continually look for ways to support our local community, like providing more than 7 million meals to the public during the COVID-19 pandemic and packing food boxes for families during spring break.

With more than 500 employees in DC Public Schools, we offer a supportive, inclusive workplace where talented team members can grow, learn and succeed. We love to recognize our workers with employee appreciation events and sharing their stories, like this recent Black History Month feature on Cafeteria Lead “Mr. D” at the Cardoza Education Campus. (Check it out here on Facebook.)

The participation of our valued employees is key to improving our services. Last year, we met with more than 500 local team members to share and identify the best practices for our schools. In February, we retrained 100-plus employees on food presentation, food safety, packaging, nutrition education and student engagement.

Even in times of great challenge — from pandemic shutdowns to supply chain difficulties, national staffing shortages to rising food costs — we aim to drive change and continuous improvement in feeding DC’s students. To serve more than 4 million meals in the first 6 months of this school year, we have to be top of our game. Our goal is always to serve equality for our communities through healthy food and exceptional service.

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