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Previous Lunch Menus
• May 2012 School Lunch Menu
• April 2012 School Lunch Menu
• March 2012 School Lunch Menu
• February 2012 School Lunch Menu
• January 2012 School Lunch Menu
• December 2011 PS11 School Lunch Menu
• November 2011 PS11 School Lunch Menu
• October 2011 PS11 School Lunch Menu
March Letter from Chef Cynthia and the WITS team
Dear PS 11 Families:
I hope you are enjoying this amazing weather we are having.
It was nice to see many of you this past Wednesday evening at parent teacher conferences. I hope you enjoyed the great vegetarian chili Les Dames Escoffier cooked up! Here are some photos as a souvenir. This delicious chili recipe is a staple on our menu and is served every Wednesday.
WITS Lab’s are back in session starting on March 27th. Your children will learn how to make roasted potatoes with our partnering chef Philip Gutensohn from the International Culinary Center. I encourage you to participate in these Labs with your children. They are educational, fun, and a fantastic way for me to get to continue to get to know your children and to help create healthy relationships to food and what they eat. Please see the enclosed brochure for this hearty roasted potato recipe and more.
As the weather continues to get warmer the gardening committee will be harvesting greens from the gardens. Ask your children to look out for them in sandwiches and in the salad bar on a regular basis.
Thank you for your continued support.
All the best,
Chef Cynthia
WITS Residence Chef at PS11
PS11 and WITS are in the news!
PS11 is fortunate to partner with Wellness in the Schools (WITS), a program which inspires healthy eating, environmental awareness and fitness as a way of life for kids in New York City’s public schools. Through meaningful public/private partnerships with school leadership, teachers, chefs, coaches, parents and kids, Wellness in the Schools creates hands-on programs such as Cook for Kids, Green for Kids and Coach for Kids.
School Lunch News and FAQs
Thank you, parents, for filling out PS11's school lunch survey.
Here are answers to some of your common questions:
t says "school lunch menu" on the right hand side of the homepage. View March's menu here.
• Children have a CHOICE of what to eat each day; a cold sandwich option is always available as an alternative to the hot lunch and the salad bar is a daily feature.
• Our school kitchen is entirely NUT-FREE, and we ask parents who send their children to school with a lunch from home to respect this, too.
• There is NO FISH on the hot lunch menu.
• Other than as a choice as part of Deli Bar Tuesdays (salami and ham), there is NO PORK on the lunch menu.
• The new menu offers only ingredients that are UNPROCESSED or MINIMALLY PROCESSED. The chicken is whole chicken parts only, not processed nuggets, and there is no ground beef or other red meat in the daily hot lunch.
• PAYMENT: The easiest way to pay for school lunch is for parents to write a check to "PS11 School Lunch Fund" for the coming month and put it in your child's homework folder. Simply multiply the number of school days (or the number of days your child eats lunch) in the month by the amount your child pays for lunch. For full-fare students eating lunch every day for the month of March, this is $33.
• Some parents asked about HELP for their child at lunch: For the younger grades (K-1), there are lunch leaders--4th and 5th graders--who help the students with their lunches, including opening milk containers. We've also been having parent volunteers at the salad bar every day. They do everything from help younger students know what is available that day to keep the salad bar line moving relatively quickly.
• We voiced your concerns about the SPEED of the lunch line to SchoolFood, a department of the NYC Board of Education; as a result, the kitchen staff schedules were tweaked so that we now have two people serving (instead of one person) to help remedy this situation.
• Wellness in the Schools works with SchoolFood to offer healthier choices for lunch. This does not mean that the kitchen can prepare whatever it would like, however. All recipes have to be tested and pre-approved by SchoolFood to meet government mandated standards.
• Finally, please help us show SUPPORT for the new program. If your child does not eat school lunch, please look at the menu with him and encourage him to try it--at least a couple of times a week. The more our participation increases, the more we show SchoolFood that this is a viable program for our school and for others across the city. We are part of a growing trend towards improving school lunch. Read more about this.
Letter from Chef Cynthia
January 29, 2012
Dear PS 11 Families:
It is my pleasure to share with you the new February WITS menu. We have included the following healthy, nutritious and delicious items: Savory Green Beans, Healthy Tuna on a Roll, Chop’t Salad Veggie Wraps, Mac and Cheese, Roasted Veggie Sandwich and Green Beans with Vinaigrette. I hope you children enjoy eating them as much as I look forward to creating them.
During our next WITS Lab session will explore potatoes. The Labs will take place at the end of March. Parents, you are welcome to participate in these Labs with your children. Please let your child’s teacher know if you will be able to attend.
Wishing you a relaxing healthy and reenergizing mid winter break. As always thank you for your continued support and progress at PS 11.
All the best,
Cynthia Tomasini
WITS Residence Chef at PS11
. . . . . . .
HEALTHIER BODIES MAKE
HEALTHIER MINDS
Support our Wellness in the School Program (WITS)
and Healthy Eating Initiative!
Starting the week of December 19th, help show your support by increasing the number of times per week your child eats from the school’s lunch menu.
With each lunch that you purchase…
• you are continuing to support and provide our school community with healthier eating options
• you are demonstrating to the New York City Department of Education that there is a need for our children to have healthier choices
• you are promoting and instilling an awareness and habit of mind around food choices
. . . . . .
WITS CHILI MAKING COOKING SESSION
For Kindergarten and 4th Grade Students!
November 29th-December 2nd
Please join us next week in a Chili making cooking session with Chef Cynthia from Wellness in the School and special guest chefs Chef Alex Guarnaschelli of Iron Chef and Amanda Freitag of Chopped . ***Due to space limitations, we request that only one parent per student
attend the session.
. . . . . . .
WITS CAFE DAY
Monday October 24, 2011
Your child is invited to join us in the cafeteria for WITS Cafe Day on Monday October 24, 2011 to celebrate the launch of L’Ecole with Wellness in the Schools and SchoolFood. We'll make a school meal that puts the café back in cafeteria. The WITS in Residence Cook and the SchoolFood staff will cook a freshly prepared and inspired meal. On this day we promote and launch a menu item that will become part of the standard WITS menu: Pesto with Chickpeas + Whole Grain Pasta + Roasted Broccoli + SchoolFood Salad Bar!
. . . . . . .
Letter from Cynthia Tomasini, WITS in Residence Chef at PS11
September, 2011
Dear PS11 Partners:
Greetings for the 2011-2012 school year. My name is Cynthia Tomasini and I am the Wellness in the Schools Residence Chef at PS11. I am thrilled to be a part of PS11’s dedication to feeding children healthy food. I look forward to meeting staff members and parents and working with you all this year. Attached is the new Wellnes
s in the Schools menu that will debut on October 3, 2011. Please feel free to give me feedback on the menu and on your children’s favorite dishes.
Our restaurant partner is L’Ecole and Chef Philip Gutensohn. He will be visiting from time to time to work on projects at the school. I will keep you updated as we begin these projects with the children, informing you about what we are doing and ways that you can help.
Here is some information about my background and WITS:
I am a graduate of the French Culinary Institute. I have been work part time with various caterers in New York City. I have two children in the NYC public school system and understand not only on a professional level but on a personal one as well the importance of establishing healthy eating patterns at an early age.
Wellness in the Schools inspires healthy eating, environmental awareness and fitness as a way of life for kids in New York City’s public schools. Through meaningful public/private partnerships with school leadership, teachers, chefs, coaches, parents and kids, Wellness in the Schools creates hands-on programs such as Cook for Kids, Green for Kids and Coach for Kids.
I look forward to a productive, collaborative year.
All the best,
Cynthia Tomasini
WITS in Residence Chef