Anonymous
Post 08/20/2021 06:27     Subject: Which districts/schools are having outdoor lunch?
Anonymous wrote:There is nowhere to eat outside at our school except to sit on the blacktop. There are 2 underpaid PT lunch monitors (not counting kitchen staff) and yes it’s much easier for them to supervise 5 classes worth of kids in a contained room.

And we don’t have “lunch recess.”


In ES? Do they not have recess before or after lunch? I figured that was standard. If ES, when do they go to recess then? Anyway, our school does have some picnic tables, but obviously not all kids can eat there due to the size of the school. We bought chairs that they set up on the blacktop/basketball court.

When I was in HS my school let us eat wherever we wanted on campus. We didn't have a grassy area, but we just ate on benches in outdoor corridors or on the sidewalk (with our backs against the wall).
Anonymous
Post 08/20/2021 06:25     Subject: Which districts/schools are having outdoor lunch?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:So I have an obvious question. Does it really take that much more staff to have lunch outside? I assume that someone watched the kids in the cafeteria and at lunch recess. These people can't watch the kids outside?

Our APS school is continuing outdoor lunch without the use of parent volunteers. We have a few picnic tables, but otherwise set up chairs for kids to use. The lunch monitors and custodians would load the chairs into large wheeled/bin cart to take out to the playground and they were stored in a nearby closet that has a door to the outside.

There were also wagons by the kichen that staff would use to load up the school lunches to make it easy to bring the meals outside. I THINK during spring. The specials and Sped teachers would ask grab lunch orders at the beginning of the day. Kitchen would prepare. Then Specials/Sped teachers would bring them outside to the classes eating outside and the lunches would be distributed.

I mean this does use some more staff or staff in different ways, but it wasn't undoable. Just takes flexibility.

It really depends on the space the school has available and the extra staff. Schools without gates around their playgrounds need a bit more supervision to prevent wandering. It worked in APS in the spring because we had extended day staff helping to monitor. In a regular year classroom teachers (sometimes depending on schedule), SPED, Specials teachers and specialists and instructional assistants already have recess duty. It would be pretty difficult to monitor the kids eating and the kids at recess in most schools due to layout. The classroom teachers helped more than usual last year because the day was shortened so their planning time was after school.


Pp here. Our school does not have a gated playground and shares space with a public park. But the kids at w/in a few feet of the school playground so it seems folks could monitor both. But we shall see how it goes with more kids. Our principal is extremely committed to outdoor lunch.


I'm guessing our kids go to the same school. Outdoor lunch was a success last year and my child was thrilled to hear it's the plan again. The school does have plenty of outside space for it, though.


Please tell me which school this is.


My kid is at Claremont.
Anonymous
Post 08/19/2021 22:36     Subject: Which districts/schools are having outdoor lunch?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:So I have an obvious question. Does it really take that much more staff to have lunch outside? I assume that someone watched the kids in the cafeteria and at lunch recess. These people can't watch the kids outside?

Our APS school is continuing outdoor lunch without the use of parent volunteers. We have a few picnic tables, but otherwise set up chairs for kids to use. The lunch monitors and custodians would load the chairs into large wheeled/bin cart to take out to the playground and they were stored in a nearby closet that has a door to the outside.

There were also wagons by the kichen that staff would use to load up the school lunches to make it easy to bring the meals outside. I THINK during spring. The specials and Sped teachers would ask grab lunch orders at the beginning of the day. Kitchen would prepare. Then Specials/Sped teachers would bring them outside to the classes eating outside and the lunches would be distributed.

I mean this does use some more staff or staff in different ways, but it wasn't undoable. Just takes flexibility.

It really depends on the space the school has available and the extra staff. Schools without gates around their playgrounds need a bit more supervision to prevent wandering. It worked in APS in the spring because we had extended day staff helping to monitor. In a regular year classroom teachers (sometimes depending on schedule), SPED, Specials teachers and specialists and instructional assistants already have recess duty. It would be pretty difficult to monitor the kids eating and the kids at recess in most schools due to layout. The classroom teachers helped more than usual last year because the day was shortened so their planning time was after school.


Pp here. Our school does not have a gated playground and shares space with a public park. But the kids at w/in a few feet of the school playground so it seems folks could monitor both. But we shall see how it goes with more kids. Our principal is extremely committed to outdoor lunch.


I'm guessing our kids go to the same school. Outdoor lunch was a success last year and my child was thrilled to hear it's the plan again. The school does have plenty of outside space for it, though.


Please tell me which school this is.
Anonymous
Post 08/19/2021 22:17     Subject: Which districts/schools are having outdoor lunch?
There is nowhere to eat outside at our school except to sit on the blacktop. There are 2 underpaid PT lunch monitors (not counting kitchen staff) and yes it’s much easier for them to supervise 5 classes worth of kids in a contained room.

And we don’t have “lunch recess.”
Anonymous
Post 08/19/2021 14:12     Subject: Which districts/schools are having outdoor lunch?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:So I have an obvious question. Does it really take that much more staff to have lunch outside? I assume that someone watched the kids in the cafeteria and at lunch recess. These people can't watch the kids outside?

Our APS school is continuing outdoor lunch without the use of parent volunteers. We have a few picnic tables, but otherwise set up chairs for kids to use. The lunch monitors and custodians would load the chairs into large wheeled/bin cart to take out to the playground and they were stored in a nearby closet that has a door to the outside.

There were also wagons by the kichen that staff would use to load up the school lunches to make it easy to bring the meals outside. I THINK during spring. The specials and Sped teachers would ask grab lunch orders at the beginning of the day. Kitchen would prepare. Then Specials/Sped teachers would bring them outside to the classes eating outside and the lunches would be distributed.

I mean this does use some more staff or staff in different ways, but it wasn't undoable. Just takes flexibility.

It really depends on the space the school has available and the extra staff. Schools without gates around their playgrounds need a bit more supervision to prevent wandering. It worked in APS in the spring because we had extended day staff helping to monitor. In a regular year classroom teachers (sometimes depending on schedule), SPED, Specials teachers and specialists and instructional assistants already have recess duty. It would be pretty difficult to monitor the kids eating and the kids at recess in most schools due to layout. The classroom teachers helped more than usual last year because the day was shortened so their planning time was after school.


Pp here. Our school does not have a gated playground and shares space with a public park. But the kids at w/in a few feet of the school playground so it seems folks could monitor both. But we shall see how it goes with more kids. Our principal is extremely committed to outdoor lunch.


I'm guessing our kids go to the same school. Outdoor lunch was a success last year and my child was thrilled to hear it's the plan again. The school does have plenty of outside space for it, though.
Anonymous
Post 08/18/2021 20:28     Subject: Which districts/schools are having outdoor lunch?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
I’m sure the parents of Arlington would be very chill if their kids weren’t the ones lucky enough to eat outside


Then the parents of Arlington can sign up for the lunch supervision pool, understanding that they may not be doing it at their kids' school because all schools need to be treated equally


It is incredible to me that you all think this is logistically feasible. The amount of time, effort and coordination would be immense, and again, I do not believe it would be sustainable.
Not to mention there are probably a huge number of rules and regulations that would make this not legal.
And... after all this effort, there would be SO. MANY. DAYS. that it wouldn't happen due to weather.


I agree, sadly. We are a school of 700 elementary kids, who pre-pandemic had lunch from 10:30-2 pm-ish by grade. To find the number if volunteers to watch up to 150 kids at a time, five days a week, is daunting. We can’t even find people to take on PTA positions this year.

I don’t even know if school districts have the budget to hire people right now either.

As much as I would like outdoor lunch, for most schools, I’m just not sure it’s feasible.


Anonymous
Post 08/18/2021 17:10     Subject: Which districts/schools are having outdoor lunch?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:So I have an obvious question. Does it really take that much more staff to have lunch outside? I assume that someone watched the kids in the cafeteria and at lunch recess. These people can't watch the kids outside?

Our APS school is continuing outdoor lunch without the use of parent volunteers. We have a few picnic tables, but otherwise set up chairs for kids to use. The lunch monitors and custodians would load the chairs into large wheeled/bin cart to take out to the playground and they were stored in a nearby closet that has a door to the outside.

There were also wagons by the kichen that staff would use to load up the school lunches to make it easy to bring the meals outside. I THINK during spring. The specials and Sped teachers would ask grab lunch orders at the beginning of the day. Kitchen would prepare. Then Specials/Sped teachers would bring them outside to the classes eating outside and the lunches would be distributed.

I mean this does use some more staff or staff in different ways, but it wasn't undoable. Just takes flexibility.

It really depends on the space the school has available and the extra staff. Schools without gates around their playgrounds need a bit more supervision to prevent wandering. It worked in APS in the spring because we had extended day staff helping to monitor. In a regular year classroom teachers (sometimes depending on schedule), SPED, Specials teachers and specialists and instructional assistants already have recess duty. It would be pretty difficult to monitor the kids eating and the kids at recess in most schools due to layout. The classroom teachers helped more than usual last year because the day was shortened so their planning time was after school.


Pp here. Our school does not have a gated playground and shares space with a public park. But the kids at w/in a few feet of the school playground so it seems folks could monitor both. But we shall see how it goes with more kids. Our principal is extremely committed to outdoor lunch.
Anonymous
Post 08/18/2021 16:31     Subject: Which districts/schools are having outdoor lunch?
Anonymous wrote:So I have an obvious question. Does it really take that much more staff to have lunch outside? I assume that someone watched the kids in the cafeteria and at lunch recess. These people can't watch the kids outside?

Our APS school is continuing outdoor lunch without the use of parent volunteers. We have a few picnic tables, but otherwise set up chairs for kids to use. The lunch monitors and custodians would load the chairs into large wheeled/bin cart to take out to the playground and they were stored in a nearby closet that has a door to the outside.

There were also wagons by the kichen that staff would use to load up the school lunches to make it easy to bring the meals outside. I THINK during spring. The specials and Sped teachers would ask grab lunch orders at the beginning of the day. Kitchen would prepare. Then Specials/Sped teachers would bring them outside to the classes eating outside and the lunches would be distributed.

I mean this does use some more staff or staff in different ways, but it wasn't undoable. Just takes flexibility.

It really depends on the space the school has available and the extra staff. Schools without gates around their playgrounds need a bit more supervision to prevent wandering. It worked in APS in the spring because we had extended day staff helping to monitor. In a regular year classroom teachers (sometimes depending on schedule), SPED, Specials teachers and specialists and instructional assistants already have recess duty. It would be pretty difficult to monitor the kids eating and the kids at recess in most schools due to layout. The classroom teachers helped more than usual last year because the day was shortened so their planning time was after school.
Anonymous
Post 08/18/2021 15:25     Subject: Which districts/schools are having outdoor lunch?
So I have an obvious question. Does it really take that much more staff to have lunch outside? I assume that someone watched the kids in the cafeteria and at lunch recess. These people can't watch the kids outside?

Our APS school is continuing outdoor lunch without the use of parent volunteers. We have a few picnic tables, but otherwise set up chairs for kids to use. The lunch monitors and custodians would load the chairs into large wheeled/bin cart to take out to the playground and they were stored in a nearby closet that has a door to the outside.

There were also wagons by the kichen that staff would use to load up the school lunches to make it easy to bring the meals outside. I THINK during spring. The specials and Sped teachers would ask grab lunch orders at the beginning of the day. Kitchen would prepare. Then Specials/Sped teachers would bring them outside to the classes eating outside and the lunches would be distributed.

I mean this does use some more staff or staff in different ways, but it wasn't undoable. Just takes flexibility.
Anonymous
Post 08/18/2021 15:04     Subject: Re:Which districts/schools are having outdoor lunch?
I want outdoor lunch to happen as much as anyone but no, it can't be on parent volunteers.
Anonymous
Post 08/18/2021 15:00     Subject: Which districts/schools are having outdoor lunch?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
I’m sure the parents of Arlington would be very chill if their kids weren’t the ones lucky enough to eat outside


Then the parents of Arlington can sign up for the lunch supervision pool, understanding that they may not be doing it at their kids' school because all schools need to be treated equally


It is incredible to me that you all think this is logistically feasible. The amount of time, effort and coordination would be immense, and again, I do not believe it would be sustainable.
Not to mention there are probably a huge number of rules and regulations that would make this not legal.
And... after all this effort, there would be SO. MANY. DAYS. that it wouldn't happen due to weather.


It would end up like all other volunteer situations -- the same 5 parents showing up all the time, no one else volunteering past the first week. It would fall apart within a month.


Exactly. We can’t get parents to volunteer a case of La Croix for a staff appreciation lunch.
Anonymous
Post 08/18/2021 14:23     Subject: Which districts/schools are having outdoor lunch?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
I’m sure the parents of Arlington would be very chill if their kids weren’t the ones lucky enough to eat outside


Then the parents of Arlington can sign up for the lunch supervision pool, understanding that they may not be doing it at their kids' school because all schools need to be treated equally


It is incredible to me that you all think this is logistically feasible. The amount of time, effort and coordination would be immense, and again, I do not believe it would be sustainable.
Not to mention there are probably a huge number of rules and regulations that would make this not legal.
And... after all this effort, there would be SO. MANY. DAYS. that it wouldn't happen due to weather.


It would end up like all other volunteer situations -- the same 5 parents showing up all the time, no one else volunteering past the first week. It would fall apart within a month.
Anonymous
Post 08/18/2021 14:18     Subject: Which districts/schools are having outdoor lunch?
Anonymous wrote:
It is incredible to me that you all think this is logistically feasible. The amount of time, effort and coordination would be immense, and again, I do not believe it would be sustainable.
Not to mention there are probably a huge number of rules and regulations that would make this not legal.
And... after all this effort, there would be SO. MANY. DAYS. that it wouldn't happen due to weather.


I don't have a dog in this fight -- my high schooler is vaxed and eats outside -- but when parent volunteers can't make this happen, maybe people will stop complaining about how everything was fine at private schools and there's not reason things at public schools can't be just the same.
Anonymous
Post 08/18/2021 14:10     Subject: Which districts/schools are having outdoor lunch?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
I’m sure the parents of Arlington would be very chill if their kids weren’t the ones lucky enough to eat outside


Then the parents of Arlington can sign up for the lunch supervision pool, understanding that they may not be doing it at their kids' school because all schools need to be treated equally


It is incredible to me that you all think this is logistically feasible. The amount of time, effort and coordination would be immense, and again, I do not believe it would be sustainable.
Not to mention there are probably a huge number of rules and regulations that would make this not legal.
And... after all this effort, there would be SO. MANY. DAYS. that it wouldn't happen due to weather.
Anonymous
Post 08/18/2021 14:07     Subject: Which districts/schools are having outdoor lunch?
Anonymous wrote:
I’m sure the parents of Arlington would be very chill if their kids weren’t the ones lucky enough to eat outside


Then the parents of Arlington can sign up for the lunch supervision pool, understanding that they may not be doing it at their kids' school because all schools need to be treated equally