PHILADELPHIA, Aug. 13, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- As summer fades, parents smile and students everywhere head back to school, Aramark (NYSE: ARMK), the $15 billion global provider of award-winning services in food, facilities management and uniforms, will return to classes with an additional 39 new school districts in its U.S. book bag of K-12 education business, it was announced today.

Topping the list is a food service contract with the Archdiocese of Chicago, which serves 44,000 K-8 students through its Archdiocese, Charter, Private and Religious schools. Aramark received another Chicagoland contract with the Naperville Community Unit School District 203 to serve more than 17,000 students.

During the summer break Aramark also earned two large facility services contracts to clean classrooms in major school districts in GA and TX: the Paulding County Board of Education in Dallas, GA, with more than 38,000 students; and the Wichita Falls Independent School District in TX, with more than 14,000 students.

"Nothing excites us like the fresh start of a new school year, especially when we are asked to team up with so many outstanding administrators and teachers to deliver a great experience for their students," said Brent Franks, COO, Aramark's Education business. "Schools face operating and fiscal challenges and we are privileged to meet their food and custodial needs efficiently and effectively, allowing them to focus on educating and developing their students."

Rounding out the 39 new accounts are 23 food service and 12 facility services contracts serving an additional 165,000 students in school districts spanning a geography lesson from New England to the Plains in RI, NJ, PA, IL, MO, AR and TX. 

Aramark currently partners with more than 380 school districts nationwide providing almost 370 million meals annually to 2+ million children. The company also tailors facility services programs to meet the needs of more than 130 school districts across more than 2,700 buildings, and is the only provider that generates insights & actions based on direct feedback from over 100,000 middle and high school students annually.

Services provided by Aramark in America's schools include: on and off-site breakfast, lunch and dinner, after school snacks, catering and nutrition education; implementing complex nutrition guidelines, while increasing student participation in food programs; providing maintenance, custodial, grounds, energy and construction management; and building commissioning.

In its K-12 Education business, Aramark strives to improve childhood nutrition and enrich and nourish lives through creative menus featuring healthier versions of student favorites, as well as through initiatives like the Healthy Bites program, which encourages students to try free samples of unfamiliar foods to help them develop healthy eating habits.

In facility services, Aramark innovation includes the company's environmentally friendly Blue Cleaning® Program, which uses electronically activated water to kill bacteria in half the time required by traditional chemicals, while reducing the school's carbon footprint. This process also eliminates the risk of allergic reactions by students to harsher cleaning chemicals.

About Aramark
Aramark (NYSE: ARMK) is in the customer service business across food, facilities and uniforms, wherever people work, learn, recover, and play. United by a passion to serve, our approximately 270,000 employees deliver experiences that enrich and nourish the lives of millions of people in 21 countries around the world every day. Aramark is recognized among the Most Admired Companies by FORTUNE and the World's Most Ethical Companies by the Ethisphere Institute. Learn more at www.aramark.com or connect with us on Facebook and Twitter.

Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements made in this press release may constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the federal securities laws. Forward-looking statements are based on management's expectations, estimates, projections, and assumptions. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve certain risks and uncertainties, which are difficult to predict. Therefore, actual future results and trends may differ materially from what is included in our forward-looking statements due to a variety of factors.

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SOURCE Aramark