We are a K-5 with almost 490 students. The lunches run in a similar pattern as yours with grades flowing out and in throughout the 1 1/2 hour serving period. Aides and teachers wander through helping and keeping control, and some parents join them.
I would hate to see the kids silenced, but I feel that being in a loud situation for an extended period tends to agitate kids. They get very wound up and have difficulty quieting down.
Maybe we need to have Miss Manners and dinner conversation lessons as part of the curriculum!!!!!
I will check on the cost, but I'm sure it wasn't that much. They're basically 4x3 foot panels that look like they're covered in carpeting - but apparently made a special way that only super sonic sound dudes understand. They are placed close to the ceiling, about three feet apart, and surround the lunch room. They blend in with the wall and you really don't even notice they are there. It helps to keep the roar to a rumble instead of having that echo that makes it sound like a high school basketball game. I did not see the panels before they were installed, but i would guess that it's just foam inside of a wooden frame, and covered with material. You need to make sure though that anything you get meets the fire code.
We did have 25 minutes but a couple of weeks ago it was cut down to 20 minutes because that was causing our school too many hours per year. :confused: Didn't go to that meeting so I really can't explain it. The 5 minutes help some, not much.
I am a sub aide and often work for our lunchroom monitor. There are 30 min of 2 hours she is not in there, another aide comes in during this time. But when I sub I stay in there the whole 2 hours and her regular replacement comes in there too. We also have 1 custodian in there who also helps get the kids things they need.
I think things would go better if the rules were talked about more before lunch, for instance during the morning news. I take names of the ones really acting up, no one wants to get their card flipped when they get back to class. Turning off the lights does not work anymore, neither does a whistle, besides that it hurts my ears and the tender ears around me. Sometimes they enforce the NO TALKING rule. I hate that. I feel like that lunch should be a little bit of a social time, but it doesn't need to get so noisey that the kids can't enjoy their meal and the aides can't hear the kids that need something. I think incentives should be used a little, such as a class chart with the rooms that are quietest and neatest(they are getting extremely messy too) would get a sticker...so many stickers mean they could eat lunch outside or in the room, something different than they are used too. I would love to have one of those frequency level traffic lights in there. I showed it to my principal once but that is as far as it went.
LCC- Can you explain more about those baffles? How big are they? Where are they placed? How much do they cost?
Our kids have 10 minutes of morning recess and 10 minutes of afternoon recess, I think some teachers add and take away minutes for behavior quiet alot too. That is always what we had but we didn't have all the "special classes" that are offered to my kids.
[ 09-23-2003, 10:51 PM: Message edited by: C. Brooks ]
we have a paid staff member eat with each classroom. plus, parents are regularly encouraged to eat with their child's class. this helps greatly in reducing the noise level. the pto also paid to install sound baffles to help reduce the "reverb". the panels work wonderfully.
CoPREZ and LUVMYKIDS: Thanks for your input!
A few questions, if you don't mind:
1. Is the school K-5?
2. How many lunches do you have?
3. How many kids are in the school?
Our school is K-5.
We have 3 lunches with 2 grades per lunch: 5th and 2nd, 1st and 3rd and K and 4th. (The K and 4th have a "Lunch Buddy Program" where a 4th grader is teamed up with a Kindergartener for the year. The 4th grader walks the Kindergartener into the Caf, helps them get a hot lunch or milk if needed and sits with them for lunch (10 to a table - (5) Kindergarteners and (5) 4th graders. The 4th grader helps the Kindergartener learn the ropes and they often become good friends!)
3. We have 400 - 450 kids in the school.
If anyone else has input, suggestions, etc. I'd appreciate it! Thanks in advance ~ you guys are great!
We tried the "recess before lunch" program last year. It didn't go well, so this year we are back to lunch and then recess. The cafeteria supervisors try to make sure the kids are eating a reasonable amount before they head out to recess. The kids get so wound up when they all get together, it's sometimes difficult to keep them quiet. We do use a reward system for kids that are quiet-maybe you could develop something like that. Give kids a little goody, or a ticket that they can redeem for a prize when they collect so many.
