Lunch

[Anonymous]

OK, this may be petty, and certainly won't affect my ultimate decision about where to send my kid, but I sure wish all the private schools served lunch, instead of just some of them. I'm so sick of packing lunches! Plus, I think it's nice for the kids to sit and eat together in a dining hall.

[Anonymous]

Be careful what you wish for pp. Our daughter's exclusive private school served lunch and it was part of the very expensive tuition tab. Problem was she was/is an athlete and couldn't eat the greasy fried food that was served. She had to bring her lunch anyway. I wish the school made it a choice of paying of not. The food was terrible.

[Anonymous]

Really? I've never heard of a school that doesn't serve lunch. How small does a school have to be to not offer what is really (at least I think so) a basic service?

[Anonymous]

Don't most schools offer the choice of bringing lunch or buying it in the cafeteria?

[Anonymous]

I thought all of the privates sereved hot lunch. At my DC school they serve lunch and we love it because my DC loves to eat. It is a healthy lunch with several options and never anything fried. Breaded and baked is what I see but never fried. I still supplement and send plenty of healthy snacks which is welcomed, but I will also say like the pp be careful what you wish for, the lunch is not cheap!

[Anonymous]

GDS, for one, does not serve lunch. There is no cafeteria.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm so sick of packing lunches!

I started making my own lunch the first day of first grade (my private school didn't have a cafeteria, although there was milk). If your child ends up attending a school with no lunch program, empower your kid to make his/her own lunches. Discuss what makes an acceptable meal and supervise as necessary.

I do think that lunch programs give a greater variety than I can easily do in a packed lunch though. With just one person eating sandwiches, a single pack of lunch meat lasts four days. So it is ham all this week. Turkey all next week. Etc. With Fridays being wild and crazy: soy butter and jelly or cream cheese and jelly. (I'm too disorganized/lazy to freeze portions of lunch meat to be able to serve variety.)

[Anonymous]

I am a GDS parent, and LOVE the freedom and the control to be able to pack completely healthy and delicious lunches for my children. I send them only organic foods and snacks. I don't know any cafeteria that would do the same. Sidwell tries to do organic but it isn't 100%. I wouldn't trade this for anything.

[Anonymous]

GDS and Edmund Burke don't serve lunch.

[Anonymous]

The other problem is that the high school kids at schools without cafeterias are allowed to leave campus, which brings a whole other set of issues.

[Anonymous]

Our relatively small school (the Heights) has no cafeteria and recently hired a caterer to provide a nutritious hot lunch for those who want one. My sons love it; they don't like packed lunches. We pay by the quarter, so it is not part of tuition. Perhaps you should suggest this as an option at your school, OP.

[Anonymous]

Yes, but with the tuition so high already, why should parents be expected to pay extra for what other comparable schools include as part of the tuition?

[Anonymous]

My kids lunch is catered by a nice place, but I will not pay for it (they never finish it) and they food is STILL not healthy enough for me. My DD in K packs her lunch every AM. Turkey and cheese or peanut butter and jelly, piece or fruit, water, pretzels, and a string cheese.

[Anonymous]

We spent years in a K-8 private with no lunch provided. They wouldn't even consider adding that really nice organic lunch delivery system that many other schools use and is optional for all families.

Now in a school with fabulous lunch program. It is optional and added to the cost of tuition. Worth every penny. A number of options from vegetarian to full-out meat - and everything inbetween. Lots of choice and menus available so you can check in with your child.

They even have a nutritionist come in to discuss portion control, fruits and vegetables and reading ingredient labels.

I will admit it was a point against GDS during our application to not have lunches available epsecially when we had visited some really great cafeterias at other schools. Also heard that many parents are not happy with the Safeway being next door to the HS where the kids tend to go.

[Anonymous]

Can GDS kids get deliveries from one of those outsource packing lunch companies?