Cafeteria

Hickory Ridge Elementary School will provide opportunities for all students to have breakfast  Upon arrival, students may come to the cafeteria to retrieve their breakfast.  Students are encouraged to buy the school lunch, as it is a well-balanced meal. To help you plan, a menu is posted monthly online.  Students are allowed to bring boxed or bag lunches to the cafeteria; however, glass bottles are not permitted and soft drinks are not permitted.  Students are not permitted to use the microwave or bring in personal heating devices (crock pots, plug in warmers, etc...) to warm lunches from home.

• Milk is offered with all meals. Juices, extra milk, and bottled water are for sale. “Smart Snacks” (a la carte approved snacks that meet nutritional guidelines) do not come with the daily lunch; however, they may be purchased daily.

• Students that require meal substitutions must have a current Diet Order Form on file with the School Nutrition Program.  The forms must be completed and signed by a licensed physician and parent. The form can be obtained from the Student Nutrition Program by accessing the Cabarrus County School District website. A new diet order will be required when there is a change in your student’s needs.  SNP will only document a meal substitution, food allergy, or dietary restriction in the account of a student.

All students must pay for their meals when received, unless the student qualifies for free meals.  You may pay for lunches daily, weekly, monthly or by the semester. Each student has an account in the cafeteria to record all purchases. You may send a check or cash to the cafeteria to be deposited in that account. You may also add money to their account online via LINQ Connect.  When sending a check, be sure to write your child’s name, grade level and telephone number on the check. Free and reduced-priced lunches are available for families who qualify. A new lunch application must be completed every school year to determine if a student qualifies for meal benefits. Benefits are activated from the day the application is approved. Benefits are not retroactive. For more information, please contact the cafeteria manager. A free and reduced-lunch form is available on the Cabarrus County website or click on the following link https://linqconnect.com/. 

Students will not be allowed to charge meals in the cafeteria beyond a $5.00 deficit in their account.  Students who have a deficit in their account will not be allowed to purchase “smart snacks”.  Negative balance reminders will be sent via email from the cafeteria exceeding the $5.00 limit. If a parent does not provide an email, the letters will be placed in the teacher’s mailbox. The letters will be sent home with the student. Parents will be notified once every 2 weeks through ConnectEd if their child’s account exceeds $5.00.

Lunch Visitors:

We are excited to welcome parents back into the building to visit during lunch. This year we will be utilizing a weekly visitor rotation to allow for enough room for students and visitors. The rotation also helps us maintain our safety procedures.  If you plan to visit your child, you will need to sign in at the office. Due to limited seating you may only visit during your child’s assigned lunch time.   At the assigned lunch time, we ask that you meet your child in the cafeteria.  Parents are asked to take only their child to the designated area for lunch (high top tables In the back of the cafeteria or high top counter on the side of the cafeteria.  When lunch is over, we ask that you say goodbye in the cafeteria and head directly to the office to sign out. We ask that you do not head to your child's classroom. The students have a very busy day and instruction will begin as soon as they return. Again, this helps us maintain our safety procedures. If you plan to bring lunch for your child, we ask that you refrain from bringing fast food. Please see the schedule below for your lunch visit day.

Lunch Rotation Based On The First Letter of Your Child's Last Name

Week One: Last Names A-G

Week Two: Last Names H-N

Week Three:  Last Names O-S

Week Four: Last Names T-Z

**Due to limited space - we will not have visitors on our Principal Award Lunch days.  The schedule for these days can be found on our school calendar on our website.