- Hi all! I know that there has been a lot of confusion about snacks and drinks at school lately with the new district policy. I wanted to be sure that the expectations were clear, and that you know where I am coming from when it comes to our mid morning brain snack!
Morning Brain Snack
Each morning after specials, our students either grab a second chance breakfast, a snack from the cafeteria, or a snack from their locker/lunch. I can't do much about the snack and breakfast offered by the school, but I do request that this snack be low in refined sugar and high in protein (if possible). This is because we are feeding our brains for morning learning! I want students to experience a consistent energy, and not a spike and drop in blood sugar. This has been an expectation of mine for all of my years of teaching, and not in reaction to the new policy. Now, these are YOUR kids and they can eat what YOU want them to! I will totally support your snack decisions for your student, but if that decision starts to affect their learning, or the learning of others around them, I may contact you to talk about a compromise! My intent is not to regulate your child's diet. I just want to give them the best chance at learning!
Here are some examples of great snack choices to feed our brains!
-whole fruit
- raw vegetables
- cheese
- yogurt
- snack crackers (cheese its, wheat thins, etc.)
- Jerky, a beef stick, or lunch meat (full of preservatives, I know - but better than a danish!)
- granola bar/protein bar
- trail mix/granola
Some examples of poor choices might be
- anything frosted or covered in chocolate or powdered sugar
- chips
- cookies
- sugar cereal
- fruit roll ups/fruit snacks (I know that these are sort of debatable - but even when claiming to be 100% fruit, they tend to have refined sugars and lots of icky stuff - so, I will leave it up to you!)
Birthday Treats
Edible birthday treats to share with classmates are no longer a possibility. However, kiddos are having a lot of fun being creative with class birthday "treats". We have seen pencils, highlighters, and pens! Some other suggestions could be small toys, bookmarks, joke cards, or erasers. If you chose to bring something as a gift, have fun with it! :)
Party Treats:
Again, shareable party treats are no longer permitted. But, students may bring a snack of their own (and we won't police it!) Beverages from home will not be permitted either. I will most likely provide a bottled water again for those who need something to drink!
For AR and AM parties, we may say that a snack can be brought - OR we might provide popcorn.
Thank you for being the BEST parents ever, and for going with the flow on these new policies. I know they can sometimes be a bummer!