Snacks

We do not serve snacks during our kindergarten day. Please see that your child eats a nutritious breakfast before coming to school. Children who come to school hungry lose focus in their school work and often complain about a “belly ache.”

Our scheduled lunch time is 11:34 – 12:04. Please pack a nutritious lunch that your child can consume within 20 minutes, as some lunch minutes are lost due to unwrapping food items and socializing.

Should your child choose to purchase a school lunch, he or she will punch a PIN (Personal Identification Number) onto a PIN pad to “pay” for the meal. The kindergarten team will provide cafeteria PIN clips as a visual reminder to help the children punch the correct numbers. Parents can deposit money into students’ accounts to prepay for the lunches. We ask that the kindergarteners refrain from buying snack items until cafeteria procedures have become familiar.

The following tips were provided by the Harford County Public Schools Food and Nutrition Department to help your child enjoy a pleasant cafeteria experience:

PINs will be mailed during the summer. Have your child practice punching his or her PIN on your paper PIN pad prior to the start of school.
Lunch buyers will make their food selections during their morning classroom routine, and will be lined up according to their selections before entering the cafeteria. This helps to keep the lunch line moving along in a timely fashion. Please review the school menu with your child; circle and reread the food items that your child wishes to purchase on a given day. This will help your child remember the items that he or she will request during the morning routine and in the serving line.
Have your child practice opening juice boxes, straw wrappers, and plastic packages prior to entering kindergarten. Even though ample cafeteria assistance is available, your child will have more time to eat if he or she can open food and beverage packages independently.
Identify the food items that are of most importance (most nutritious) to your child. These items should be consumed before snack items.
Inform the teacher and school nurse immediately if your child has a food allergy. It may be recommended that children with severe food allergies sit at a designated table during lunch time.
Visit http://www.hcps.org/departments/businessservices/foodandnutrition.aspx for school meal prices and additional information.

Some of our classroom celebrations throughout the year include refreshments. Keep in mind that all food and beverage donations must be commercially produced and wrapped or sealed in the original packaging when brought to school. Due to a Harford County Public Schools directive, homemade refreshments are no longer permitted for classroom celebrations. Thank you for your support in these matters.

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