The lunch program is one part of middle school our sixth graders look forward to most when they arrive at South! Our Food Service Team works diligently to provide the students with tasty, healthy, and fun food options. Students use pin numbers to charge lunches. Parents are reminded to use My Mealtime https://www.mymealtime.com/signin.aspx to monitor their child's lunch account and/or make payments. This year, Food Service will only give students one lunch option if their balance is negative.
For the first time, sixth graders sat with their Homebases during the first day(s) of school. Our lunchroom supervisors recommended this approach to alleviate the stress for new students and all students during opening days in terms of deciding where to sit and who to sit with at lunchtime. They wanted to ensure all students would have a spot in the lunchroom. The purpose of Homebase is to introduce a small group of students, who are all on the same grade level team, to help them feel connected to begin the year. Later in the week, students were able to move around the lunchroom and choose their own seats. This was exciting for students because many were able to reconnect with elementary school friends-East and West.
At South, we sometimes receive questions about our lunchroom supervisors' routine of giving students a few days to decide their own table groupings and then asking them to stay in these self-selected groupings for a period of time-typically a quarter. The purpose is to avoid students rushing everyday to lunchroom in order to reserve a spot and then having some students experience anxiety everyday as to whether they will have a place to sit and enjoy lunch. Having regular table groupings also gives supervisors a record as to where students are sitting, which is important for everyday reasons but especially during emergency situations. This procedure is something we continue to revisit, however, as we want the lunchroom to be a place and time where students can relax and have fun with one another. If students ever approach a supervisor about moving early, a move will always be accommodated as best as possible.
Last year, games were introduced to the lunchroom setting. We will be offering this again, where students can move around to play games with friends after they have finished their meals.
For the first time, sixth graders sat with their Homebases during the first day(s) of school. Our lunchroom supervisors recommended this approach to alleviate the stress for new students and all students during opening days in terms of deciding where to sit and who to sit with at lunchtime. They wanted to ensure all students would have a spot in the lunchroom. The purpose of Homebase is to introduce a small group of students, who are all on the same grade level team, to help them feel connected to begin the year. Later in the week, students were able to move around the lunchroom and choose their own seats. This was exciting for students because many were able to reconnect with elementary school friends-East and West.
At South, we sometimes receive questions about our lunchroom supervisors' routine of giving students a few days to decide their own table groupings and then asking them to stay in these self-selected groupings for a period of time-typically a quarter. The purpose is to avoid students rushing everyday to lunchroom in order to reserve a spot and then having some students experience anxiety everyday as to whether they will have a place to sit and enjoy lunch. Having regular table groupings also gives supervisors a record as to where students are sitting, which is important for everyday reasons but especially during emergency situations. This procedure is something we continue to revisit, however, as we want the lunchroom to be a place and time where students can relax and have fun with one another. If students ever approach a supervisor about moving early, a move will always be accommodated as best as possible.
Last year, games were introduced to the lunchroom setting. We will be offering this again, where students can move around to play games with friends after they have finished their meals.