It's official-the new school year is now under way. Another year brings some changes to Guilford food service.

Chef Timothy Cipriano has recently been hired as the new director of Food Services for Guilford Public Schools. Cipriano, currently under contract as the executive director of Food Services for New Haven Public Schools, will officially start his new position in town on Tuesday, Sept. 18.

"We went through an entire interview process. There was a number of really qualified candidates, but Tim is just an absolute standout and we are lucky to have someone of his caliber," said Superintendent of Guilford Public Schools Paul Freeman. "He's going to be great and we're very excited-he's very creative and he's very enthusiastic?He's got a lot of energy and he's gong to help us do some great things."

During his time in New Haven, Cipriano helped start educational programs to increase nutritional awareness and offered more nutritious foods for the students. Known as the "local food dude" according to a Guilford Public Schools press release, one of Cipriano's first priorities is to partner with area farms to provide local ingredients for the schools.

Freeman said the plan will be to work with the current produce vendors and focus on the state and locally grown food, with hopes to bring the farmers to the schools to lecture the students.

In 2011, Cipriano was named a Champion of Change by the White House for his role in creating the Chefs Move to Schools program and joined approximately 700 other chefs in the country in the summer of 2010 at the White House to officially kick off the program, which brings chefs together to work in schools in their committees to educate children about healthy food and nutrition.

"He has been instrumental in the farm-to-school movement; his opinion on school lunches has been sought clear up to the White House; he's been instrumental with turning New Haven schools around; and we're really excited about what he's going to help us achieve here in Guilford," Freeman said.

A new food service director isn't the only change occurring at Guilford public schools.

Parents and children can also expect to see an approximately 15 percent increase in lunch prices for the 2012-'13 school year. The increase, which won't go into effect until Oct. 1, according to Freeman, is the first increase to lunch prices in almost five years.

"There's going to be a minor increase in lunch prices. We have not increased our lunch prices since 2008, so we're looking at approximately a 15 percent increase across the board," the superintendent explained. "That was part of trying to make sure Tim has got the resources that he needs to do the things that he has planned."

Freeman said if they haven't already received an informational letter in the mail, parents could expect to receive one outlining the increase in the near future.