NHS Students Hungry

For More Space

By Bridie Rubino and

Laurie Borst

The aroma of french fries and buffalo chicken wraps permeates Newtown High School as the lunch period nears. Stomachs growl as students count down the seconds until their 20-minute lunch wave. The only problem for those high school students planning on buying lunch is that they may return to class with an empty stomach.

With the long lines at the NHS cafeteria, students can often have trouble getting in and buying their lunch before the wave is over. “We can’t eat in classrooms and it’s hard to buy lunch with enough time to eat. I just wait until I get back home to have any lunch,” said Kaley Kruger, freshman. 

Some students prefer to bring a lunch rather than face the crowded cafeteria. “It’s too difficult to waste my lunch period and my only social time standing in line. I would much rather bring a healthy bagged lunch to school than even consider waiting in those lines,” said Hannah Tenenbaum, junior at Newtown High School.

The high school’s overcrowding issue lies in the heart of the cafeteria, hallways, classrooms, and parking lot. Although it may not be apparent from the outside of the school building, the daily experience of the students shows that Newtown High School clearly has an overcrowding problem. According to an informal random survey of 150 students at the high school conducted for this story, 94 percent believed there is a serious overcrowding problem. 

An option favored by some students for addressing the crowded conditions is to have an “open campus,” where juniors and seniors are allowed to leave school grounds for lunch and during free periods. Newtown High School’s Principal Arlene Gottesman responded, “We have explored this option, but I’m not comfortable with it. It is not only a liability issue, but it is too risky for students to get into car accidents during the time they are out. I have never supported that idea.”

Students also encounter trouble with overcrowding in the hallways. Through the survey, 83 percent of the students said that the hallways were a main overcrowded area. Junior Will Mahoney  said, “Sometimes I’m even late for class because I have to walk through so many people in the hallway. I can’t stand how many people just stand and talk to their friends, as if it’s not hard enough getting to class on time anyway.”

Although the hallways seem to be an issue, there is no solution found as of yet to solve this problem.  The cafeteria, on the other hand, has improved greatly since last year, according to Ms Gottesman. “With the portables, sophomores were able to go there during their free periods instead of being in the cafeteria. Also, seniors are using the tables in the lobby much more, which we just added this year,” said Ms Gottesman.

As for eating in the classrooms, it is favored among 59 percent of the surveyed students, but it is simply not an option. “We have thought about eating in classrooms, but it is too difficult. We can’t designate certain classrooms for the people with allergies. It’s just too risky to work around,” stated Ms Gottesman.

Even though many seniors take the attitude, “Whatever, I’m leaving in a year,” as one anonymous student wrote on the survey, underclassmen feel that they are being hit hard with the overcrowding issue. Sixty-seven percent of the surveyed students believed that in order to fix the overcrowding issue, there must be an addition built onto the school.

The school and town have both recognized these issues and as of now, created a $47 million plan for high school expansion, known as Option F. Option F is an addition to Newtown High School that the Board of Education is hoping will be funded and constructed. Final decisions and authorizations on the project are not due until this summer.

For now, most Newtown High School students are waiting for immediate changes to ease the congestion of the school temporarily.

Jill Patterson, registered dietician for Chartwells Educational Dining Services, which provides food service at Newtown’s schools, states, “We are well aware of the overcrowding issue. Of course, we’d like a bigger cafeteria.”

But, as a new or expanded cafeteria will not be in service anytime soon, Chartwells has made several changes to speed up the food delivery process for hungry students. A snack bar window is new this year. Students can get french fries and other “quick” foods without going into the main service area.

A third server, and a third ordering line, has been added at Sandwich Central. Outtakes is a grab-and-go station offering prepackaged meals for purchase outside the main service area.

A point of service (POS) computer system has been implemented at the high school. Students can set up an account with funds for lunch. They utilize a debit card that they swipe at the register to pay for their lunches. This helps speed up the lines.

An informal survey of a dozen teachers suggested that while teachers are a little frustrated with how long it takes to get lunch, the educators are more concerned about students skipping lunch entirely. The lunch periods are each 20 minutes. Students can spend most of that time in line waiting to purchase food, which leaves little time to eat.

As some students board the bus at 6:30 am, waiting until after 2 pm to eat lunch can lead to intense hunger pangs. Several studies have shown the importance of a healthy breakfast on student performance. The need to fuel one’s brain is critical to peak functioning. The Connecticut State Department of Education has links to nutrition facts on its website, www.sde.ct.gov.

Some of the teachers have always brought their own lunch. Others have adopted the practice as the wait time has become unworkable. But far and away, their biggest concern was their students going hungry for the whole school day.

(Bridie Rubino is a junior at Newtown High School. She is completing a ten-week internship at The Newtown Bee as part of the Career Center’s Internship Program, which allows students to gain firsthand experience in a field of interest.)