At MICDS Upper School, lunch periods are divided  into three categories: first, split, and third lunch.  However, opinions regarding the efficacy of this  scheduling are divided.  

When asked about how third lunch impacts her  classroom experience, senior Aishani Chakraborty  shares, “I feel like I’m concentrating more on trying  to suppress my grumbling stomach or watching the  clock rather than what we are actually learning.”  

Unfortunately, these feelings can interfere with  students’ concentration and in-class learning. As Olivia Rickers, also a senior at MICDS, points out,  “When I am hungry no work will get done whatsoever. I never retain anything from classes that  I have during third lunch days.”  

However, teachers are well informed of these difficulties. When asked about the teachers’ perspective on student concentration during the  third lunch, AP Psychology teacher Diane Gioia  shares, “We can see the fatigue. Late lunches for some students might be really challenging, especially those who had back to back classes or tests before.”  

These arguments are often made in support of  reversing the recent transition to three lunch periods. At its core, however, this transition was implemented  to facilitate the transition from trimesters to  semesters. Specifically, administrators aimed to decrease the heavy cafeteria congestion and extensive lines for hot-lunch and the panini station by distributing the student flow into three periods, as opposed to two.

As Dean Gioia points out, the lunchroom “can’t handle the traffic of 600 students in two lunches” with its current configuration.

While some high schools operate on two lunch schedules, they structure them so students sit by advisory and self-serve themselves from platters on their tables. Conversely, MICDS strives to offer students more choice in choosing their meals, providing options like hot lunch, the salad and panini stations, ice-cream machine, and more.

In return, MICDS staggers the lunch periods to alleviate pressure on the staff and avoid long student  lines. While third lunch periods currently have complex impacts on the student body, the Upper  School community can look forward to increased lunchroom capacity in the long-term future, as administrators are considering renovations to the cafeteria.