Getting Started

Your MCS Software needs to have all the data necessary to serve for this school year. this includes having up-to-date student information, meal prices,

Student Information

Student Import
“Customers”, or Students, should be added to Newton through a Customer Import. The system will import a file from your Student Information system (SIS) that contains all of the students and their most up-to-date information, including names, grades, schools, addresses, guardian info, and contact information, to name a few. Student Imports are typically done at the beginning of the school year, and then they may automatically happen on a recurring basis throughout the rest of the year.
Perform a Customer Import

Update Student Pictures
Pictures are useful to have in Newton because they allow for cashiers to confirm the student’s identity. You can individually add a student’s picture, or you can mass-update all student pictures through the use of a photo import.
Information for individually adding a student photo can be found here.
Individually Add a Student Picture
Perform a Photo Import

Free and Reduced Information

You want to make sure that the Free and Reduced eligibilities for all of your students are correct. This allows for less confusion when serving and proper reimbursement for your district.
Free and Reduced information is handled through MCS Franklin.

Direct Certification Import
It’s import to complete a Direct Certification (DC) Import at the beginning of the year and periodically throughout the year.
State DC Import Instructions
District DC Import Instructions

Import Free and Reduced Applications
If you have an Online Free & Reduced software, you may run an import to upload those applications into MCS Franklin.
Application Import

Send Eligibility Letters
Once a student has been qualified as Free or Reduced, you can send out Eligibility Letters to notify their family of this update.
Mail Eligibility Letters
Email Eligibility Letters

Meal Prices

It’s important to make sure that your meal prices are up-to-date so that your district can collect proper payment.

Set or Update Meal Prices
You can enter meal prices and select the associated qualified state programs through the Price Categories function in Newton.
Update Price Categories

Hardware and Software Setup

Heartland School Solutions offers a variety of options to help keep your serving lines hands-free.
Hardware Options

To configure a new device, visit the Device section in the Override Settings of your Serving Line Setup.
Software Configuration

We also offer detailed setup and usage instructions for each device.
Hardware Setup and Usage Instructions

Service in the Classroom

We understand that your School may be serving students in the classrooms. MCS Newton offers printable rosters and lists of students to help you track meals.

Printable Lists

Cafeteria-Level Student List
You can print a list of students who are connected to a specific cafeteria, called “POS Customers”. The list can be customized to include IDs, balances, eligibility statuses, grades, and homerooms.
Master POS Customer List

District-Level Customer List
You can print a general list of students in your School or entire District. The list can be customized to include IDs, balances, Schools, eligibility statuses, grades, and homerooms.
Master Customer List

Printable Rosters

You can print a list of students that includes a sheet to track meals by the days of the week.
Student Roster

Printable Barcodes

You can print pages of student barcodes for quick and easy scanning.
Barcode Labels

Portable Terminals

You can put your serving line software on a tablet for easy, portable use. See our Hardware Options to purchase tablets for your District.

Finding Students

Fast Sale

AutoSale

Prompt for Auto Sale

Completing a Transaction

Prepayments/Refunds