Access the School Lunch Menu Template You’ve Been Looking For!
It’s our mission to help schools choose different types of school lunch menu templates based on their needs. Weekly planners help plan school meals for each day of the week, while monthly calendars provide an overview for the whole month. There are also year-long Excel and Google Sheets formats.
To ensure you have the school lunch menu template you’re looking for, our team has built a comprehensive list of menus. Simply click the images in the following sections to access free lunch menu templates!
Weekly School Lunch Menu Template
Suitable for any grade level, this template helps you plan meals and communicate that plan to students and parents each week.
Monthly Templates
For elementary and middle school lunch menus, it helps to make them more visually appealing to attract younger kids’ attention. These calendars, one for each month, work well for students.
Excel School Lunch Menu Calendar Template
These sheets cover several years and are easy to edit, allowing you to use the templates to display and send several months' worth of meals quickly.
Looking for More Free School Lunch Templates and Tools?
Running a school lunch program shouldn’t feel like a never-ending to-do list. The School Lunch Success Kit is your one-stop resource, giving you everything you need to keep things organized, safe, and engaging.
What’s Inside:
- Inventory Templates – Easy-to-use Excel and Google Sheets.
- Food Safety Checklists – Editable to suit your needs.
- Weekly & Monthly Menus – PDF, Word, and Google Sheets.
- Calendars Through 2028 – Plan years ahead.
- Evaluation Surveys – Gather feedback to improve.
- Lunchroom Rules Posters – Post and reinforce essential rules.
- Guide to Boosting Participation – 33 practical tips to get students excited.
Why School Lunch Menu Templates Are Essential
Having a structured lunch menu – the sort that helps you create a school lunch menu template – means you can manage dietary needs, reduce food waste and communicate clearly with parents and students. This is important for schools because planning menus and organizing them is time-consuming, making it a challenge for schools with limited staff and resources. A school lunch menu template speeds up the process, allowing programs to focus on their key mission of providing healthy meals to students.
This is especially critical considering schools play a significant role in ensuring students’ food security. According to the USDA, school meals help reduce food insecurity by 3.8% among children, highlighting the importance of healthy, accessible meals (Food Research & Action Center).
Distributing Menus for Classroom Display or Sharing Digitally with Parents
Using these templates, you can print lunch menus for classroom display or share them digitally with parents. Printable menus can be posted in the cafeteria and classrooms so students can easily see what's for lunch each day. Schools can also share digital versions of the menus through email or school websites, making it easy for parents to stay informed and plan ahead. Spreadsheet versions work particularly well for sharing online, as schools can control the access to the file while sharing an easily accessible link.
Tips for Making School Lunch Menus More Effective
Highlight Nutritional Benefits
To make menus more effective, it's helpful to highlight nutritional benefits of school meals. For example, use icons or labels to show healthy options like vegetarian, dairy-free or gluten-free meals. This makes it easier for students and parents to understand the nutritional value of each meal. Research shows that students who eat both school breakfast and lunch have significantly better overall diet quality (School Nutrition Association). Yet parents may not know or understand the value of a school lunch, so it is important to highlight these nutritional benefits.
Engage Parents and Students
You can also use school lunch menus to engage both parents and students. They can encourage parents to discuss healthy eating habits at home based on the meals provided at school. This helps reinforce the importance of balanced nutrition and encourages students to make healthy food choices.
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Free Resources
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