As we begin the 2018-2019 school year, we find ourselves adjusting to new routines, while still meeting the needs of our families and juggling our busy lives. These new schedules require making some adjustments to our daily routines including preparing healthy and nutritious food for our children to eat during the school day.

The importance of a healthy diet for our children cannot be underestimated. Research shows that students learn better when they are well nourished. Healthy eating has been linked to better grades, stronger memory and alertness, faster processing of information, and overall improved health leading to better school attendance.

On that note, we are noticing that some of our students appear to have very little left in their lunch boxes when lunchtime finally comes around. Either the children are particularly hungry during morning snack and eat all their food or not enough is packed in their lunch box to satisfy them for the day. Please ask your son or daughter if what they have in their lunch box is sufficient to sustain them for the school day. Encourage them to bring home the food that they do not eat in their lunchbox, so you can see for yourself what they are and are not eating.

The District’s Fun Lunch program, which is hosted by Good Earth and run by KSPTA begins on Monday, September 17th. Good Earth is a locally owned quality organic grocery leader that serves over 1,200 lunches each week to local schools. They work closely with schools, including Bacich, to minimize lunch waste. Good Earth avoids individual packaging, and this year we are working in partnership with them and Marin Waste Management to pilot reusable bamboo silverware with our third and fourth graders.

Zero waste is our goal!

• The deadline to sign-up for the Fun Lunch program is Sunday, September 16th. If you are interested, go to www.kspta.org.

The Health, Wellness and Nutrition section of the Bacich School District website offers suggestions for healthy snacks for families to pack. For most of our young children, bite size snacks and simple food ideas are best. Snack and lunch can be social times in an elementary school, so ease in grabbing small sandwiches, crackers, cut-up fruit, pieces of cheese, or small vegetable pieces are good ideas for keeping your child well-fed and ready to learn.

Welcome to a new year! I hope all of your little ones are adjusting to their new routines, and happily recounting their days to you upon their return from school.

Do not be concerned however, if your child isn’t dishing up quite as many details as you’d like. Kids are often quiet these first few weeks by the time their school day ends, when their mental energy is sapped from learning new rules and processes, navigating novel social situations, and academic terrain. Not to mention acclimating to the early morning wake-up call (ouch).

One of my own children just started Kindergarten this year at Bacich. While he is very reticent to share information about his day, by the time we sit down to dinner together, I can see that he is slowly getting more comfortable and having fun during the day. Try not to assume that no news is bad news, as that is most often not the case!