The Board of Education recognizes the important connection between a healthy diet and a student’s ability to learn effectively and achieve high standards in school.

BREAKFAST

Berkeley offers free breakfast to all students. 

All students may eat a free nutritious breakfast every day as part of the Universal Breakfast Program. Teachers do begin instruction during breakfast time, so regardless of whether or not your child chooses to eat Universal Breakfast, it is important that your child arrive to school on time at 8:10 a.m. Breakfast items include fresh fruit, yogurt, cereal, and a muffin or bread.

LUNCH

Students may bring lunch from home, or buy school lunch for $4.00 daily. The BUSD Elementary School Lunch menu is posted every year on the BUSD website. You can prepay online at EZSchoolPay.com or by bring a check to the school office to set up an account. Children may also pay with cash.

Berkeley Unified has a School Lunch Initiative (SLI), which has two goals: to serve more nutritious and delicious, freshly prepared meals using locally grown food to all of our students, and to educate children in kitchen, garden and academic classrooms about their food choices and the impact those choices have on their health, the community and the environment.

Families will receive an Elementary School Menu at the beginning of the school year that shows the breakfasts and lunches for the entire school year. More information about the BUSD Nutrition Services is contained in this annual menu.

The price of a hot lunch is $4.00 per day. Free and reduced price lunches are available to those who qualify. MX asks all families to apply for free/reduced price lunch online at https://secure.ezmealapp.com, regardless of income. Even if you don’t intend to use the free lunch program, every qualified application brings funding to our schools. For help, call the Office of Family Equity and Engagement at 644-8991.

Lunch Payment

You can prepay online at EZSchoolPay.com or bring a check to the school office to set up an account. Children may also pay with cash. Money and checks should be given to the classroom teacher on Monday mornings. Checks should be made payable to: Berkeley Unified School District (or BUSD). All checks must include your telephone number and driver’s license along with your address.

Lunch from home

If your child brings a lunch from home, please pack nutritious foods in a lunch box or sturdy bag—strive for a zero-waste lunch with reusable, recyclable, or compost degradable packaging. Please also pack a reusable water bottle, if you have one. Backpacks are not allowed in the cafeteria or out on the playground during lunchtime.

We want to encourage all students to develop healthy eating habits. As part of our schoolwide rules and BUSD nutrition guidelines candy, chips, soda, and gum are not allowed at school.

Green Waste

MX has green waste bins and recycling set up in the cafeteria so that students can separate their trash and food waste when they are finished eating. Students learn how to separate their trash and can volunteer to help with recycling. By “going green” we aim to reduce the amount of cafeteria waste that once ended up in landfills.  You can help too - when sending lunch from home, strive for a zero-waste lunch with reusable, recyclable, or compost degradable packaging.