Lunch Program

Imagine students dining in a formal setting, beneath the magical N.C. Wyeth painting, The Giant, in the dining room of Westtown’s Main Building. Tables are graced with flower arrangements and covered with white linen, and around them sit an assigned mix of sixth, seventh, and eighth graders plus a faculty member.

Conversation is always polite, and sometimes positively scintillating! Food is served family style, with a salad bar and vegetarian selections always an option. In this setting, mealtime nourishes the spirit as well as the body.

Middle School students wait tables, clean up, and reset the dining room as part of the school’s organized Work Program, in which every child rotates through jobs such as “serve,” “set,” “wash” and “janitorial.” In accordance with Quaker values, the Work Program reaffirms the goodness of service to others and the dignity of all work. Older students can become “Work Captains,” supervising a work rotation and gaining valuable leadership skills.

Visitors are frequently amazed that lunchtime for middle schoolers can be this civilized, and parents often cite the lunch program with its informal interactions between students and teachers as one of the things they value most about Westtown.

But the inclusiveness, acceptance, and sense of community so evident in the dining room are also present throughout the Middle School. No one is ever left out, and students are always encouraged to share their opinions.