1. We are wondering if any of you changed your recess from after lunch to before lunch. If you have, please comment on the positives and/or negatives of making the change.
2. What is your unwritten or written policy in the lunchroom in regards to children receiving seconds on food?
3. Do any of you have salad bar available for elementary students? If so, explain how it is used (staff, items in salad bar, rules, etc).
Thanks
Craig
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At Lowell, some students have recess before, some after to accommodate the schedule. I haven't seen any problems, either way.
The last group, 4th and 5th graders, get seconds if any are left. No written policy, just using up the food if some's left!
No salad bar!!
June A Gaston
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We have not changed our recess to before lunch time, but we are looking at it. I would be interested in any answers that you get along those lines.
As for question number two, students may take many things off our salad bar as they go through. We always have lettuce, apples, carrots and celery. In addition to what we always have on the salad bar, the students will have one of the following: jello, coleslaw, fruit salad, mandarin oranges, etc in addition to the "staples of the salad bar". If the child wants "seconds", they have to buy another main dish. This is rather expensive, but many parents do it. This is how it is K-5 in the elementary.
Mark Upward
Vermillion Elementary
605-677-7010
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1. We are wondering if any of you changed your recess from after lunch to before lunch. If you have, please comment on the positives and/or negatives of making the change.
Noon recess is still after lunch.
2. What is your unwritten or written policy in the lunchroom in regards to children receiving seconds on food?
Rarely do they receive seconds, however they do trade or share food items sometimes.
3. Do any of you have salad bar available for elementary students? If so, explain how it is used (staff, items in salad bar, rules, etc).
No salad bar in the elementary.
Kathy Aughenbaugh
De Smet
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All of our students are allowed to eat seconds if they would like. For many students this is the one good meal they might get in a day, so we don't want to keep them from getting a good meal if they need it.
We do have a salad bar available for all students and staff at no extra charge. It usually has lettuce, a fruit, nuts, or a salad. K-3 is served by the kitchen staff, and the 4-6 serve themselves from the salad bar. Once the k-3 gets through the line the cooks move the salad items to the salad bar and wheel out to where the students can get to it.
4-6 have recess before lunch, and k-3 has recess after lunch. This seems to work for us.
Ryan Nielsen
Canistota Elementary Principal
P.O. Box 8
Canistota, SD 57012
605-296-3458
ryan.nielsen@k12.sd.us
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We do not have recess before lunch. We have thought about it, but think we will have issues with the younger students especially when winter hits. I am going to look at this again for next year. Steve Anderson at Mellette and Darrell Stacey at McKinley have recess before lunch and they think it is going well. Hopefully, they will respond to this email.
We do not have seconds available for our student. They can only get a second milk if one is available.
We do not have salad bar available.
Have a great day!
David Eggen, Principal
Jefferson Elementary School
Watertown, SD 57201
605-882-6390
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We have our grades 3-5 go outside before they eat. This is our first year. We have the students stay a designated time in the lunchroom, and they are finally eating and not gulping.
We have a salad bar for all students. We teach the little ones (kindergarten) and help them but the rest of the kids are pretty self sufficient.
We hired Lunchtime Solutions two or three years ago--and they have been great to work with.
Children are allowed to receive seconds, but we encourage them to go to the salad bar and get a peanut butter sandwich instead, because there is an additional charge to their account. Some families want them to have seconds, while others do not. Our lunchroom gal does a great job of sorting that out.
Hope this helps. Sandra
Sandra McGeough, Ed.D.
Elementary Principal
Sioux Valley School District
Volga, SD 57071
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Our district offers seconds. Some of the items are listed as ala carte which has a charge such as a hamburger. These items have an asterisk denoting this charge on the monthly menu.
Connie Vermeulen
Sanborn Central
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1. In Madison we had recess before lunch for six years at Washington K-2. Like anything there are positives and negatives.
*On hot days I think kids drank a lot of milk before eating - therefore didn't want to eat the meal.
*Some people say they went back to the classrooms more settled and ready to work than when they came in from recess.
*I think it makes a difference if they have to sit there for the whole 25 minutes - they tend to eat better than if you allow the ones who finish first to leave for recess. In Harrisburg our kids eat first and then go out but they have to sit at the table the entire 25 minutes so I am not sure it would make a difference.
*Some teachers thought they didn't bring in so many recess problems but I think the people in the lunchroom would say they just got solved in the lunchroom vs. the classroom.
*You didn't have to start lunch so early - we didn't have kids eating at 10:45 but then we got complaints they were eating too late in the day-so six of one 1/2 dozen of the other!
*Personally I have seen it both ways and I can't say one is better than the other.
As far as seconds our kids have to pay for seconds of the main meal- very few go back for salad bar items.
I have had salad bar in Madison and Harrisburg for elementary- the kids help themselves. You do have to train them in regards to the amount they take- we have a "if you take it you need to eat the majority of it" rule. The salad bar changes - we usually have carrots, pickles, fruit, lettuce- in Madison we would have Jell-O, pudding, fruit in addition to the staples.
Hope that helps- call if you have questions.
Tanja Pederson
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1. The answer to #1 is no. We can not make it work with our schedule because our P.E. teacher travels to three different buildings.
2. We do not let children have seconds, not do we allow them to share or swipe food items.
3. We do not have a salad bar for elementary students.
Paul Struck
Lincoln Elementary
Yankton, SD