Renovations are coming to the former Pinckney School – and they’re more delicious than you might think.

Kameron Macrorie | @kameronmacrorietv

The school was shut down after the 2022-2023 school year, but has found new life and is now home to Community Connections, a collective of Lawrence Organizations.

What was once Pinckney’s school kitchen will now become a bakery due to a $100,000 grant received by the district, a dream that is a long time coming. 

“We have been dreaming about getting a bakery going in the district for a while now,” Julie Henry, director of nutrition and wellness for Lawrence Public Schools, said. 

The baked goods made in this bakery will come from locally sourced grains in order to help the district provide healthier, more nutritious foods.

“From a quality standpoint, making products fresh in-house is gonna result in better, higher quality, more delicious food for the kiddos,” Henry said.

Nutrition is important for people of all ages, but it is especially crucial for growing kids. 

“At schools, this is where we are setting the foundation. we’re establishing those habits. so if we can get those good nutritional habits in place now it can help the kids as they grow up,” Henry said.

Providing healthier food options is easier said than done– it’s expensive and the district is limited by a small budget. Just 10% of the district’s food is currently sourced locally, which will soon change due to this grant. 

Funding details

The project will be funded by a Resilient Food Systems Infrastructure Grant through the U.S and Kansas Department of Agriculture. The grant is equipment specific, so the money will go toward bakery specific equipment to transform the former school kitchen into a fully functioning bakery.

Over the next year, the district will focus on ordering and installing equipment such as new ovens, provers, and slicers, as well designing a new bakery menu for the students.

Baked goods aren’t the only thing the bakery will provide. The new space will give members of the Community Transition Program, a group of students ages 18-21, an opportunity to gain work experience and life skills. 

“My goal is that we can get as many kids as interested as possible in those positions in the kitchen so that way when they leave us when they’re 21 when they’re adults they have some really good skills in their pocket,” Jenna Viscomi, administrator at Community Connections at Pinckney, said. 

The district aims to finish the bakery construction by the beginning of the 2025-2026 school year.

“We are really excited to be here and to make a difference in our community,” Viscomi said.