Lunch

[Anonymous]

We are generally happy with our elementary school. My older child has been there for a couple years and the teachers seem supportive and nice and she’s doing really well academically. But I have volunteered at lunch a few times and it’s absolutely chaos! Recess was loud and noisy but sort of how I expected. But lunch was loud and crazy and apparently a couple kids wear noise canceling headphones to help deal with it. My kid has never complained about the noise although she has mentioned her friends arguing sometimes. But my younger kid who is supposed to start kindergarten there in the fall is much more sensitive to noise and I’m worried about him. Do your kids seem bothered by lunch at their MCPS school?

[Anonymous]

Don't worry in advance. Deal with it if the issue comes up.

[Anonymous]

It's noisy because there are LOTS of kids in one room and it's the only real chance they have to sit with their friends and talk. Headphones might be an option but you have time to figure it out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's noisy because there are LOTS of kids in one room and it's the only real chance they have to sit with their friends and talk. Headphones might be an option but you have time to figure it out.

+1

Unless your principal is like ours and implemented a silent lunch for a while.

[Anonymous]

Lunch and recess were definitely the week lonks at our great ES. They keep expanding the schools but don’t build a second lunch room or more playground areas (and we lost playground with our expansion). There are just too many kids and basically no supervision. The first time I went in, I was a little shaky after I left and I am not someone who normally has trouble with crowds or noise! Some teachers or counselors will do lunch bunches for kids that need a break. But I know at least one family that went to private because their child could not handle the lunch madness. I was worried about my youngest who is an introvert who hates crowds as a preschooler — but she actually did fine. She definitely needed a lot of time to decompress after coming home from school

[Anonymous]

Put one or two hundred kids in a room and it'll get noisy. We ask them to stay on best behavior most of the day - they need space to goof off.

[Anonymous]

Oh, yeah, mine always hated it. Middle school was worse. Fortunately, their high school allows kids to eat outside, in hallways, or classrooms with a teacher present. They’ve never stepped foot in the high school cafeteria.

But lunchrooms were noisy when I was a kid, too. It’s the nature of a huge tiled room filled with kids. My elementary school had a noise-sensitive traffic light, and if it hit red, we weren’t allowed to talk for the rest of lunch. The wave of shushing whenever it hit yellow was kind of hilarious, and probably sent it to red anyway more often than not.

But noise isn’t the same as chaos. Are the kids getting out of their seats, or yelling to kids at other tables? If not, then it’s probably about as good as it gets without draconian measures that wouldn’t be good for kids’ stress levels, either. You don’t want your kid to be afraid to talk to their friends during one of the only breaks they have during the day.

[Anonymous]

Just wait until High School. 45 min in 7 periods and no other breaks and an ungodly start time for teens. Could not be an unhealthier climate!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just wait until High School. 45 min in 7 periods and no other breaks and an ungodly start time for teens. Could not be an unhealthier climate!

Most MCPS high schools can’t come anywhere close to fitting their whole school in the cafeteria anyway. They either have open lunch, or allow kids to eat in a bunch of different areas on campus.

After an 11am lunch slot in middle school, and only having about 20 minutes to eat in a chaotic, deafening cafeteria, 45 minutes in a quiet hallway with a few friends has been like heaven for my DD.

[Anonymous]

Lunch is terrible. Our schools here in Montgomery County are all too crowded and understaffed. All of them - from elementary school to high school.

My 5th grader has a ridiculously late lunch because it is the only time that works.

MS is insanity with the fights and the craziness.

[Anonymous]

No, 3 kids in MCPS elementary and middle and lunch is fun for them.

[Anonymous]

I have a child with some noise sensitivities who stated K last year and I was surprised that she adapted. I think lunch and recess has gotten a bit more chaotic at her school this year (maybe there are less staff?) so she complains about it much more then last year but gets through it. She definitely "rages" a bit when she gets home, so I have to give her some space.

[Anonymous]

I wish so much that they could eat in their classrooms. We did this for a while during covid and it was great.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No, 3 kids in MCPS elementary and middle and lunch is fun for them.

Which school?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have a child with some noise sensitivities who stated K last year and I was surprised that she adapted. I think lunch and recess has gotten a bit more chaotic at her school this year (maybe there are less staff?) so she complains about it much more then last year but gets through it. She definitely "rages" a bit when she gets home, so I have to give her some space.

This is OP - I guess the noise is to be expected. There’s also what I would consider normal but disruptive behavior between several children, generally the same kids over and over. But like 20 across the room because there are just so many kids. My oldest actually did really like eating in the classroom during COVID (although there were other things that were less ideal during that time, obviously). Is it the same for private schools? My kids preschools always ate in their rooms but I don’t know about private elementary schools.