Quality Rating 5: Nutritious Meals & Snacks

Next Steps

Check your documents one more time as you prepare to upload them to the Maryland EXCELS System.

Step 1: Check your document

Your documents should include:

  • A nutrition policy that clearly explains that:
    • meals/snacks provided by families are monitored
    • meals/snacks provided by families are supplemented, as necessary
    • fatty, sugary, and salty foods are limited
  • A weekly menu plan from within the past month, showing that you provide healthy, balanced food choices to children, including:
    • whole grains, fresh fruits, and vegetables served at least four times a week.
    • limited servings of fatty, sugary, and salty foods

Step 2: Save your document

Use a file name you can find easily when you upload it to the system (example: nutrition-policy.docx; weekly-menu-plan.docx).

Use any one of these formats:

  • Typed electronic documents  (examples: Microsoft Word, PDF)
  • Scanned documents  (examples: PDF, PNG, JPG)
  • Digital images of documents (examples: JPG, PNG, PDF)
  • Identified section within a family handbook (examples: Microsoft Word, PDF, JPG)

Step 3: Upload your document (ADM 4.5)

Log into the Maryland EXCELS System to upload your weekly menu plan and nutrition policy.

Remember, if you do not serve your own foods/snacks, or you do not allow “outside” food in your program, you may leave a comment for your Program Coordinator. You are still required to provide a policy that meets the remaining requirements.

Select Add new file, Select file and save.