Handbook » Food, Nutrition & Allergies

Food, Nutrition & Allergies

Elementary School Breakfast/ Lunch/ Snack Menus  can be located on the district Food Service webpage, click here. 

* Families with limited income may be eligible for free or reduced meals.  Applications are available from our school nurse or on the district webpage via this link.

 

Breakfast and Lunch

  • Breakfast is available for purchase each morning from 8:15- 8:40 a.m. 
  • Lunch is available for purchase each day during the student lunch periods.
  • Monthly menus are posted on the district Food Service web site.
  • Students place the lunch orders at the beginning of the day with their teacher. 

 

Refillable Water Stations

  • Students are encouraged to bring reusable water bottles with them to school.
  • Hydration stations in the hallways and cafeteria offer filtered water for students to refill their water bottles. 
 

Meal Cards and Payments

Children can either bring in cash to buy breakfast and/or lunch or can use meal cards. For more information on MySchoolBucks, click here. 

 

Lunch Balances

  • The District notifies all parents whose children have low balances or negative balances via email.
  • Student who do not have money for a meal will still receive a meal, but it will be a modified meal.  Repayment of the cost of lunch is expected on the following day.
  • Balances are carried over to Weber and Schreiber.

 

Classroom Snack

  • Each classroom in every grade has a snack time. 
  • At Open House, teachers will inform the parents when their snack time is and what sorts of food are acceptable in regards to specific classroom allergies.
  • Snack may be outdoors or in the classroom. Snack may also be implemented as a “working” snack.
  • Healthy snacks are encouraged by the Port Washington Nutrition Policy.

 

Allergy Protocols
  • If your child has an allergy, the teacher and school nurse must be made aware of the allergy.
  • Click here for more information. 
 
Birthday Parties
  • At Sousa, we have worked together to find meaningful and special ways to celebrate birthdays which do not include food.
 

Goodie/ Treat Bags

  • Students, parents, and community guests (special readers, student teachers, etc…) are not permitted to provide students with a goodie or treat bag. While this is a nice gesture, there are many health and safety hazards to consider with these types of bags. The assigned teachers for the students may provide them with a small gift (non-food related) during the holidays and/ or at the end of the academic year which may be wrapped in a bag.

 

Cooking Lab/ Classroom Curriculum/ Cultural Celebration Requests

  • To help ensure the health and safety of our students, a food request form will be completed no less than 3 weeks prior to the anticipated lesson. The form will be submitted to the principal for approval who will then provide it to the nurse for final approval. The nurse will review for any allergy/ dietary concerns and notify families if necessary. Once approved, the nurse will notify the classroom teacher.

 

Classroom Celebrations

  • Each grade level is permitted to have one end of year celebration which includes food. A Food Request Form must be submitted for approval to help ensure the health and safety of our students. The form will be approved barring any concerns by the nurse. An example of a Classroom Celebration would be if the 5th grade went to Manorhaven Park and enjoyed pizza while there as an end of year celebration or Kindergarten has a party after their Moving Up celebration and enjoys approved food at the celebration.  

 

Field Trips

  • When there are trips off school grounds requiring a bagged lunch, the teacher will send a reminder to the entire class to bring only allergy-free food. The teacher will ensure that all students have lunch with them prior to leaving for the field trip. If a student does not have lunch, they will be sent to the cafeteria to purchase a bagged lunch to bring with them.

 

Mints/ Lifesavers

  • Our school nurse may provide students with a mint or lifesaver to help ease a sore throat of a student when necessary. In addition, our teachers may elect to provide students with a Mint/ Lifesaver during a testing period such as the NWEA or NYS testing periods. We have found that mint in addition to hard candy often helps ease student test anxiety and increase focus for our students. If a teacher would like to provide a mint/ lifesaver to their students, the appropriate form must be completed for approval by the principal and nurse to ensure there are no allergies to the brand being purchased. Important note- Mints/ Lifesavers are only to be offered by teachers to students and for the approved classroom. Mints/ lifesavers are not to be shared by teachers with visiting students nor to be brought in by students for their classmates. Mints/ lifesavers are not to be utilized as a reward within the learning environment unless indicated on the students 504 or IEP.