Snack Policy

DCSD Early Childhood Snack Policy

Last Revised: 5/21/2020

Snack time is an important component of the preschool day. Families will be asked to send a nutritional snack for their child. If your child has any food allergies, please contact the teaching staff prior to the first day of school, so they may inform the nurse covering your school. Please write your child’s name on the container/package containing the snack.

All ECE sites require that children place their snacks in reusable containers. We discourage the use of any and all plastic, ZIPLOC type bags in the classrooms. Children must also have access to water throughout the day. Please make sure that your child comes to school with a water bottle, labeled with your child’s name, daily.

This means that in classrooms that have students with life threatening food allergies, we will have to turn away any snacks containing those food products for the safety of our students. Therefore, please only pack snacks that are free of the allergen that would threaten our children.

While in preschool, we are often practicing our sharing; however, snack time is not the time to do so at school. This is essential for all of our students to learn in preparation for elementary school and beyond, where this is also the policy.

Snack time is an important social component of the preschool day. Families are to send a nutritional snack for their child each day. Per USDA guidelines, and in accordance with high quality programming, families should provide at least one (1) item from each of two (2) of the following areas:

For example a child could bring

➔ A cheese stick and whole grain goldfish

➔ Apple Slices with Sunbutter

➔ Carrot Sticks and Hummus

For more information regarding Healthy Snacks for your child, please feel free to contact the Healthy Schools & Wellness team via the district website.

Birthdays and Other Holidays

ECE programs often encourage the celebration of birthdays and other holidays in classrooms as learning experiences. If you would like to send something special on your child’s birthday, please communicate with the ECE staff first. Many classrooms have individuals with life threatening food allergies. We would like all children and adults to be able to participate, while staying safe. Birthday and special occasion snacks are often welcome for all children. However, they will likely need to be store bought with ingredients clearly labeled. We are also happy to serve plain, fresh fruit and vegetable snacks, as well as non-food options (i.e. bubbles, stickers, small treat bags, etc.).