The Wappingers Central School District participates in the government assisted National School Lunch and Breakfast Program. School Meals are nutritionally balanced and offered at low cost or free to eligible students.

School lunch is required to provide 1/3 of the RDA calorie requirements, which is roughly 660 calories for K-6 and 825 calories for 7-12. To reduce waste, the National School Lunch Act includes an Offer versus Serve (OVS) provision that allows student to decline up to two of the five components. A student's decision to decline food items or accept smaller portions does not affect the price of the meal. Students who choose less than the minimum OVS option are charged more than the meal price so as to encourage the meal purchase.

At the elementary schools, the cafeteria staff and the monitors remind and encourage students to take all the meal components however, under the OVS provision, they cannot force the students to do so.

Although the portion sizes are designed to provide 1/3 of the RDA, some students may wish to consume more food.  For these students extra servings of entrées and side dishes are offered as part of the day's meal and can be purchased for an additional cost.  A variety of snack items are also offered, such as cookies, ice cream, chips, pretzels, juices, bottled water and more. Snacks are intended to supplement and not replace meal choices. In order to purchase a snack, students in the elementary schools must purchase a meal or bring a lunch from home and there is a two-snack limit.  In the secondary schools, a wider variety of items are offered, which can be purchased without a meal.

The Food Service Director, Managers and Cooks develop the menu considering a variety of factors such as nutrition, cost, availability, equipment, food safety, student input and preference.

The menus for the various buildings are posted at the WCSD website. Simply go to www.wappingersschools.org, and click menus.  In the elementary schools, menus are also sent home with the students. Menus at the secondary schools are available in the main office.

Go to our menu web page and click “view nutrients" below the meal description.  School meals even if consumed daily for the entire school year only comprise a fraction of a student's yearly intake.  Therefore, please consider the nutritional content of the other meals during the day, week and over time consumed at home and out when planning a well balanced diet.

This optional system is an easy and convenient way to prepay for meals.  Once money is placed into an account, students can access it by entering their unique number on a pin pad by the register.  New students and those entering first grade are sent a letter home with that number and information about the system. If they forget their number the cashier can find it for them.  The account number including any balance follows the student through their entire school career.  Each account number is unique and should not be shared with anyone else.  Students can deposit money into their debit account during lunch through the cashier or early in the day to the kitchen staff.  Once entered  the account is updated immediately.   Please make your check payable to the Wappingers School Lunch Fund and include the students account number on the check. If the check is for more than one child please include a breakdown on the check or on a separate note.  Siblings are not permitted to use each other's accounts.  Only students who pay for meals with an account or who are eligible for free or reduced price meals must enter their number into the pin pad.  Student's paying with cash do not.  Students cannot access cash from the account.  Refunds must be requested in writing and take several weeks to process.  Cashiers notify students verbally and or through a note home when their account balance is less than $5.00.  Additionally, the office sends out low balance letters monthly.  Parents can restrict purchases and receive reports on account activity.  Please call the food service office at 298-5075 for more information on how this is done.

The food staff (cashiers, servers, and cooks) is part of the Food and Nutrition Services Department, which operates under a fund separate from that of the WCSD budgeting process (It is self-supporting and does not receive district funding for its operation.)  The lunch monitors report directly to the building principal. 

Applications are available in every school office for you or your student to pick up.  Send the completed application back with the student to his/her teacher or to the kitchen staff.  We can also mail you one if you call our office.  You will be notified in several days by mail of your student's status. Each year, applications are sent home with students on the first day of school. You must submit a new completed application before October 1st of every year or the student will automatically be taken off the roster.

No. The cash registers handle both eligible and paying accounts in the same way.

Breakfast is available at Sheafe Road, Evans Elementary and Van Wyck 6th grade.  A la Carte breakfast is available at John Jay and Roy C. Ketcham High schools.

The Food and Nutrition Services Office can be reached by calling 298-5075 or by mail

Wappingers Central School District
Food and Nutrition Services
Roy C. Ketcham High School Annex Building
99 Myers Corners Road
Wappingers Falls, NY 12590