III.  CAFETERIA  

School Breakfast Program 

School breakfast is offered at St. Albert the Great School.  Numerous studies and reports on the health habits of American youth reveal that our children’s eating habits today can cause health problems in the future.  Eating a nutritious breakfast can reverse some of these trends.  The cost for a full breakfast will be $1.00, but ala-carte items will also be offered. 

School Lunch Program 

The purpose of the school lunch program is to provide your child with a nutritious and well-balanced meal each day at minimum costs.  Our school offers meals that have been planned to meet at least one-third of a child’s nutritional needs.  Every effort is made to provide reasonable choices and still meet the constraints of budget and acceptability.  We would like to encourage your child to select these balanced meals.  Monthly lunch menus are sent home with the students and are now posted on the website.  

When your child does purchase a meal, they have the option known as offer versus serve, a strategy that is intended to reduce plate waste.  Students have the option of choosing at least 3 of the 5 meal components.  The 5 components are a serving of meat, two fruit/vegetable choices, a bread or grain serving, and milk.  We would prefer students to select all 5 components since each provides specific nutrients important to health and growth. 

Our school also offers a variety of snacks each day.  Students have a choice in what they buy.  If you wish your child not to purchase snacks, please do not send cash with your child.  Students are not permitted to purchase snacks unless they have either packed a lunch or purchased lunch in our lunchroom.  Children who owe for a lunch charge are not permitted to buy snacks until all charges are paid. 

Grades 1, 2, and 3 have a snack break every morning.  Children may provide their own snacks or purchase snacks from the cafeteria. 

The cost of lunch is $2.00 and includes milk.  Milk purchased by itself is $.40.  First through 6^th grade parents may pre-pay for your children’s lunch and milk.  Seventh and 8^th grade parents may pre-pay for their children’s lunch, and ala-carte lunch line (subs, pizza, etc.).  Ala-carte sales are cash only.  The cashier will be available for you to put money on our cafeteria account on Monday morning between 7:30-8:00 A.M., or you may send money in an envelope marked with your child’s name, homeroom number, teacher’s name, and pin number.  The system will only work for them if they pre-pay money into their account.  Please make your check payable to St. Albert the Great School Cafeteria. 

If there is no money in an account, and a student wants to purchase a meal, this is considered a charge (negative balance).  All charges are to be paid the following day.  If the charge has not been paid, the student’s parents will receive a letter stating the amount their child owes.  If the charge has not been paid after 3 notices have been sent home, the charges will then be sent to the principal for collection.  Students will only be permitted to charge three lunches.  After the child has charged three lunches, they will no longer be able to charge and will receive a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. 

Free and Reduced Lunches are available to families who qualify.  Applications are sent home to each family at the beginning of the school year.  If an application is needed,  contact Linda Gibson in the cafeteria. 

No outside food (fast food) may be brought to the lunchroom. 

Parents who wish to have lunch at school with their children need to notify the office 24 hours in advance. 

Lunch Schedule 

            Grades 5 & 6                        11:25 – 11:50

            Grades 7 & 8                        11:50 – 12:10

            Grades 3 & 4                        12:15 – 12:40

            Grades 1 & 2                        12:40 --  1:10

 Cafeteria Behavior 

The cafeteria is a gathering place for students to eat lunch. In order for this to be an enjoyable experience, certain rules must be followed. Because the ages of the students are so varied, we have general rules for grades 1-4 and grades 5-8.

 General Rules

1. All students will enter and exit the cafeteria in an orderly, timely, and quiet manner.
2. All students are expected to eat lunch. This is accomplished by either purchasing a school lunch that was ordered during homeroom or by bringing a sack lunch.
3. Sharing food and borrowing of money is greatly discouraged.
4. All playground equipment or other objects, such as books, will be placed on the heater.  Non-lunch items should not be on the tables during lunch period so that no damage or problems are caused.
5. Students are not allowed to bring "fast food" from home or have it brought into them by an adult.  Doing so will result in the student sitting by themselves.
6. Students are expected to sit and act respectfully during the lunch period.
7. There is to be no walking around the cafeteria while eating food and no eating over the trash cans.  Students may not leave the cafeteria with food unless permission has been given.
8. Weekly table washers will be assigned to wash the tables after each lunch period.
9. Students are responsible for cleaning all trash off their table and floor area and any requested by the cafeteria volunteers.  All chairs must be pushed under the table.
10. Students may not leave the cafeteria without notifying an adult.
11. Students may not return to their classrooms.  Forgotten money will result in a lunch charge.  Forgotten coats will be directed to the recess monitors.
12. Students will be respectful and cooperative with the cafeteria supervisor, all cafeteria employees and the parent volunteers.
13. The cafeteria supervisor will have the authority to issue referrals and demerits.

  Grades 1-4

1. Students must go to their assigned table and be seated until the cafeteria supervisor directs the students to get in line to purchase a lunch or drink.
2. Students must raise their hand to ask permission to throw away their trash. This is to be sure that students have eaten a healthy lunch.
3. Students will be permitted to purchase a snack after eating their lunch and having had received permission from the supervisor or a volunteer. The snack bar will close at least 5 five minutes prior to the end of each lunch period.
4. Students must raise their hand to request to get out of their seats to go to the bathroom, etc.
5. Students are expected to line up for recess quietly.

Grades 5-8

1. Eighth grade students will sit in cafeteria 1.
2. Students buying a school lunch and/or milk will do so as soon as they enter the cafeteria. There is to be no line cutting.
3. Students may not save seats or tell other students where they may or may not sit.
4. Students may not change seats once they sit down.  Seats may be assigned as necessary.
5. Students may get out of their seats during lunch only if they are purchasing snacks or requesting to use the bathroom.
6. Students will throw their lunch trash away when they leave the cafeteria - not on the way to get snacks.
7. There are to be no more than eight (8) students at a table - no student should sit at the end of a table unless there is only one student sitting alone and permission has been given by the cafeteria supervisor or a cafeteria volunteer.

Consequences

1. Students will be given a verbal warning if their behavior is not acceptable.
2. Students may be asked to move to a time-out spot.
3. Students may remain in the cafeteria and lose their recess time.
4. Students may be removed from the cafeteria for the lunch period and placed in a supervised setting depending on the seriousness of the situation.
5. Students may receive referrals or demerits for serious behavior problems such as throwing food, causing a disturbance with other students or willful disrespect to fellow students, cafeteria supervisor, cafeteria volunteers and/or cafeteria employees.
6. If a student refuses to eat, the teacher and principal will be notified. Parents may be contacted because this behavior can cause serious problems if not addressed.