Westbury high schoolers looking for dinner can now head to the school’s cafeteria after classes, clubs and sports practices.
The Westbury School District implemented a program to offer free dinner to all high school students in late April. Students can find a rotating menu of hot, nutritious meals similar to the lunch menu in the cafeteria after classes end every day, Superintendent Tahira DuPree Chase said.
DuPree said the district has wanted to offer dinner for years to support district families and ensure students who are in the building after classes end for club meetings and sports practices are fed. Westbury is one of the only districts on Long Island to offer students dinner. It will be funded by state and federal funds, similar to the district’s free breakfast and lunch program.
“It’s always been a vision for our school district to be one where we nurture the whole child,” Chase said. “We recognize that at any given time, on any day in the evening, there are children in our buildings. We already offer a nutritious breakfast and a nutritious lunch. Why not offer dinner during after-school activities?”
“We believe offering a dinner program really supports our hard-working families,” Chase continued. “We also provide homework help for our scholars. We thought, ‘Wouldn’t it be nice for parents, when they come home from work, to know that their child has already had a nutritious dinner and all their homework done?’”
Chase added that the school’s culinary arts students help prepare and serve the dinner, something which supports their education and provides them with work experience.
The district plans to expand the program to the middle school in the fall, according to Mary O’Neil, the district’s acting superintendent for finance and operations. She said the district was not currently looking to expand to elementary schools, as students don’t typically remain in those buildings after school hours.
“We’re really in a pilot right now,” O’Neil said. “By starting in the spring, we can learn from the successes, make any redirections for improvement and go full swing in September.”
Chase said that so far, around 20 to 30 students are getting dinner at the school each day. However, she said the district is equipped to provide dinner to all who want it, and she expects more students to take advantage of the program as awareness grows.
“We believe that as the scholars learn more about it and they catch on, it will expand and continue to grow,” Chase said.
“School today means more than just educating children academically, but also taking care of them socially, emotionally and nourishing their lives,” he added. “This just furthers our partnership with our supportive families in the school district.”
