Communal Lunch a Success in Berkeley Heights Schools

At its meeting that Thursday, the Berkeley Heights Board of Education heard positive news about a plan to restructure how lunch is served during the school day, the Alternative Press reported. The board discussed the results of a two-day experiment recently held at Columbia Middle School to test its plan to hold a large communal lunch period instead of multiple, staggered lunch sections during the new school year. The news delivered Thursday: Communal lunch works.

Principal Frank Geiger told the governing body that they found that having to wait in line does not lead to people missing out on the noonday meal and that food supplies did not run short. He said they also learned that moving a food cart into a gymnasium room allowed plenty of room for diners to sit. And by reducing the number of classes from eight to six, all students and faculty members are able to be served while more work was accomplished during class time, the article said.