Kindergarten and Lunch (and Breakfast?)

[Anonymous]

First, we did not go to the open house because we were on vacation. I will freely admit that the information I am looking for was probably provided there.

Food Questions:

1) Can we send peanut butter in lunches?
2) How does a new Kindergartener get a PIN (and remember it!) for me to put money on her lunch card
3) Do they serve Breakfast always and do I need to also send money for that? Is it optional? How does breakfast work?

thanks

[Anonymous]

Call the school office and ask these questions. The one about the PIN number- At our school, the kids get an index card with their name and PIN number on it and they just hand it to the cafeteria worker who keys it in for them.

[Anonymous]

What school? Things are different from school to school.

[Anonymous]

At our school, they strongly encourage Kindergartners to bring lunch the first week. Liens of hot lunch are long and often they don't have much time to eat. Also, you are allowed to bring in PB at our school.

[Anonymous]

Call the school. At our school, k students are not allowed to buy lunch for a few weeks. By that time the kids have been taught their pin and the procedure.

[Anonymous]

Shame on you, 18:04. Check your PTA and school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Shame on you, 18:04. Check your PTA and school.

Uncalled for.

[Anonymous]

Whether or not they serve breakfast depends on your school.

We really can't answer these questions.

[Anonymous]

At our school, kids get the pin number on the first day of school. You can fund the lunch account either by check or by using mylunchmoney.com. My lunchmoney.com takes 48 hours for the transaction to go through, so if you want to buy lunch the first week and haven't funded the account yet, you have to send a check. Peanut butter sandwiches are fine. And, as far as breakfast, it depends on the school. Also, all through elementary school, our kids had a snack time. You can send anything that doesn't require a utensil and isn't too junky (like a candy bar isn't going to work). You can also send juice box.

[Anonymous]

Our school (Somerset) provides bagels, lox and fresh squeezed orange juice for all students. Not sure what school you are going to. I heard that some of the non-W schools give out bologna and kook-aid.

[Anonymous]

No organic cream cheese?

[Anonymous]

Feel free to send in peanut butter if you have no compassion for the peanut free kids. You heartless monster!!

[Anonymous]

At our school, Kindergarteners are given their lunch PIN by their teacher and it is written in their assignment book. My oldest had no problems memorizing his PIN. But the lunch staff was prepared (I'm not sure how) to help kids with this during the first week of school.

We can send in PB. In the lunchroom at least 1 table is designated at "PB free" and an adult makes sure that no one with PB or anything that might potentially have peanuts in it sits there.

Breakfast is offered everyday at my school. Kids can pay for with their lunch account (using their PIN).

My question this year (as my youngest starts K) was if kindergarteners were responsible for carrying their own tray in the lunchroom (if they bought a lunch). My oldest say that someone always helps the kindergarteners with their trays. (DS is about 75% reliable with that kind of information.)

[Anonymous]

At our school:

1) Yes, you can send peanut butter.

2) I called the school and got my kid's PIN

3) Breakfast is offered, but optional.

[Anonymous]

Some things depend on the school, some don't. You can send peanut butter. Your child will receive his/her PIN and be encouraged to memorize it. You will receive a paper with lunch information and balance on it within the next couple of weeks. Until then, you can send a check or use mylunchmoney.com to pay for lunch. If your child doesn't have money on the account at the beginning of the year, he/she can usually charge it. At our school, they charge all lunches at the beginning of the year while they figure out which kids are FARMS-eligible. You will get a bill if you are not FARMS-eligible.

All schools offer breakfast, see the menu on the MCPS site. At some schools it is free and served in the classroom, at other schools you will have to pay, but it is always optional. As long as your child has money on his/her account your child should be able to use that money to cover breakfast.