Superintendent’s Corner

A Superintendent’s Easy, Creative, and Fun Teacher Lunch Ideas

Superintendent Provides Easy, Creative, Fun, and Unique Teacher (or School Staff) Lunch Ideas / Solutions / Options

Teacher lunch ideas: Organizing potlucks with staff, Instacart deliveries to the school, meal preparation services that deliver, purchasing school lunches, keeping frozen meals on campus, and stockpiling meals that only need hot water to cook.

Teachers are usually limited to a thirty (30) minute lunch that begins and ends with a bell. This is often the same for other staff on campus as well. Thirty minutes is not long to pull off eating, taking care of last minute tasks, using the restroom, and getting back to your students by the bell. As a superintendent / principal in the same boat, we have pulled off some pretty creative ways to make the lunch time work. These ideas do not include recipes rather it provides systems that can be put into place to improve the lunch experience at schools. Hopefully this teacher lunch (staff lunch) idea list inspires you to try something new.

Easy teacher (staff) lunch idea #1: Potluck

Later in the week, buddy up with some staff members on campus and all plan to bring one item on the next Monday or Tuesday. Decide on a theme – use the closest holiday if the timing is right. We have done so many of these – Italian, Mexican, Thanksgiving, Christmas, St. Patrick’s Day, etc… Discuss as a group to share the leftovers prior to doing the potluck. It is always best to do potlucks at the beginning of the week because if there are leftovers, they can be put into the staff refrigerator for the next upcoming days. This should get you through at minimum one to two more school days. By doing a regular potluck, there will likely be food in the refrigerator for days and only one meal had to be prepared.

Easy teacher (staff) lunch idea #2: Instacart

There have been countless times that I have shown up to school with zero food and school lunch does not sound good. So many schools are not located near food – existing in a food desert. I’ve worked almost exclusively at food desert schools. One option in these situations is Instacart.

Before the first recess, add a few items to Instacart and have a shopper deliver your groceries to the school. Just let the school office know and maybe they’ll be super nice and put it in the refrigerator for you. Maybe get the office staff something nice for doing that in the delivery 🙂

Why Instacart and not other services like GrubHub, UberEats, etc…?

Instacart shoppers are willing to drive farther where hot food services require the school to be within a certain radius of the restaurant. Also, Instacart is getting groceries where other services deliver a prepared meal. Getting an Instacart delivered at the beginning of the week to the school could help you eat all week long. Lastly, buddy up with others that also do not have food for the day and split the Instacart cost. One of our favorite picks if doing this option is build-your-own sandwiches. It’s usually cost effective and accommodates everyone. Asking around and partnering up is one way to get the cost down and share the wealth with others. If you haven’t tried this service, get a free $15 to try it out by clicking here.

Easy teacher (staff) lunch idea #3: Meal Prep Service

In our area, we have a service that does meal prep with a delivery option. They are hyper healthy and delicious meals that are prepared on Sundays and delivered on Sundays or Mondays. They have a website showing the seven (7) or eight (8) meal options for the week. Our staff gets together to submit one big order to reduce the delivery fees. This happens the week before and it is in the refrigerator and ready to eat for the school week. Expect to pay about $8-$10 per meal. This option is great for anyone health conscious, attempting to lose weight, and does not want fast food. Meal prep services taste like food made at home instead of food prepared from a grocery deli or restaurant.

Easy teacher (staff) lunch idea #4: School Lunch

Buying a school lunch is probably the easiest idea but has drawbacks. First, it will cost money each day. The federal school lunch program requires a fee for adult school lunches. This cost can be over $4! However, this idea requires no preparation and is ready each day right when needed. There have been many times and years that I ate school lunch almost exclusively. A warning to this plan is that school lunches can be highly caloric and designed for student nutrition – not adult nutritional needs. From my experience, It is pretty easy to gain weight eating school lunches if not careful.

Easy teacher (staff) lunch idea #5: Frozen Meals

Take a trip to Costco (or other wholesale warehouse store) and check out meals in their frozen or refrigerated sections. Costco really attempts to provide healthy and organic options even in their prepared or frozen foods section. Whether it be a box of organic bean and cheese burritos or a box of frozen vegetables with noodles, just bring the whole box and place it in the freezer at school. The drawback to this solution is eating the same food over and over. The best part? This is the ultimate food backup plan for a teacher lunch. Also, this food can stay in the freezer for a while so marathoning this frozen food every day is not required.

Easy teacher (staff) lunch idea #6: Hot Water

There are a lot of lunch ideas that only require adding hot water. Simple ideas include any type of Cup-of-Noodles or asian bowls are popular among educators. Another idea is to have oatmeal or other hot cereals ready to make. Note that many schools have mice. It’s better to store these types of dry items in a plastic container.

There are usually multiple ways to get hot water on campus. If the school provides bottled water in a cooler, there is usually a hot water option available. Other options include purchasing a kettle or using a microwave. We have purchased a BPA free electric kettle and it works really well. Also, having the LED lights tell the temperature from afar is super helpful. A quick glance and you’ll know it is time to grub.

Please note that the links above are affiliate links that help to support this resource for educators.

Making lunch-time fun and memorable for staff in schools.

As a superintendent / principal / teacher for 20+ years, we mix up all of the above. Some of the best lunch ideas for teachers (and staff) include: organizing potlucks, having Instacart delivered to campus, using meal prep services, paying for school lunch, keeping some frozen food in the staff freezer, and maintaining a stash of dry foods that only need hot water. Hopefully, this list inspires you to try a new idea to “spice up” your 30-minute duty-free lunch 🙂

Josh Peete M. Ed. Admin

Superintendent / Principal Manages Campus from a Mobile Standing Desk

Purchasing a high quality adjustable mobile standing desk has helped me take the show on the road. By show I mean work on a laptop, and by road I mean classrooms. In other words, I leave my office with the computer and some basic office supplies then move around the campus with my adjustable mobile rolling desk ready for anything.

There are so many tasks to complete as a principal. My position is superintendent and principal – so double the tasks. Most of the work takes place on a laptop to accomplish items before a deadline. However, while tasks need to be completed – there are many people on campus during the day. People oftentimes need help and students need to know that there is a figure of authority observing learning and productivity. Also, students are just far less likely to be off-task and behave poorly when the principal is close.

Taking a mobile standing desk out of the office and into classrooms allows the principal to observe learning, classroom behaviors, gauge productivity, and do other important tasks behind the scenes.

The rolling desk moves into the first classroom where I stand and observe. This would be the time where I might send a quick email to the teacher for some feedback or other quick walk-through observations. While the lesson is happening, I can accomplish part of a task with a deadline attached while listening and looking up from time-to-time. After all seems good in the classroom, it’s time to move to the next classroom. I attempt to do this until I see all of the classrooms or at least a good portion of them were observed during a window of time. I attempt this process at least three times per week and more during the beginning of the school year.

Mobile standing desks help administrators be in two places at once.

The whole campus knows which mobile standing desk is the superintendent / principal’s. From time-to-time, I like for students to know I’m VERY present. The principal’s presence helps the site run smoothly. I will wheel the desk – laptop and all – into the back of a classroom. I’ll stand at it for a few minutes but then leave. I’ll leave my laptop on top of my standing desk. Then, I’ll go to another classroom without the desk. I’ll stand or take a seat in the next classroom. When I’m gone from my adjustable desk, students in the first classroom think I’ll be right back. They won’t get off task or behave poorly because the principal won’t leave his desk / laptop and not return. He’s returning and soon. So the desk acts as a superintendent / principal stand-in.

Another way I like to do this is during recess. I’ll put my laptop and desk in a very visible spot, usually in-front of a school security camera. I stand at the rolling adjustable desk for a while, talk to the kids and staff, and then leave. People know that I’m coming right back. How could I not? My desk and laptop are right there. The principal must be just around the corner…

Small Rocks and Larger Concrete / Blacktop Cracks are the Enemy

I attempted to buy the best standing desk with bigger wheels. There are cheaper ones but the wheels are smaller. I thought they would be mostly good for inside a classroom without leaving. The desk I needed had to withstand campus obstacles and hazards.

Even though the wheels are bigger on the model I chose, small rocks do stop the desk in its path. Also, larger concrete or blacktop cracks will do the same.

Users MUST hold onto anything valuable while traversing campus or it will fly off. Items on top of the desk fell off time after time because I was not holding onto it while moving around then I hit a rock. The rock stops the desk in its tracks and the item continues forward onto the ground.

This image below shows cracks that are fine to cross without the wheels catching. You can see my webcam wrapped around the hook provided.

This image shows an example of a crack that catches the wheels of a mobile standing desk. Hold onto everything!

The Mobile Standing Desk Model I Use

Using a mobile standing desk has been a game changer when managing staff and students while there is a need to complete tasks on a laptop. I’m linking the desk that I purchased here. I bought it off amazon. Super easy to assemble and did buy one with durability for movement around the whole campus. This model has a version for tall people and shorter people. Please note that the link to this particular mobile standing desk is an affiliate link that supports this site. I’m partial to this desk because I use it every day with great results.

Superintendent Gives Email Marketing Tips to Businesses and Startups Targeting Administrators in Education

I’m very passionate about improving the educational experience for students and staff. Oftentimes startups and established businesses have great products and services that could potentially help meet a need but their message gets lost in a massive sea of email. From personal experience as a school district superintendent, I can give you a few pointers to help in your email marketing campaign.

Here are a few examples of a typical inbox of a school district superintendent.

Since the superintendent’s email address is public knowledge, it ends up on practically every list and sold over and over again. It’s almost impossible to stay on top of real email from staff members, vendors, contractors, etc… with this much unsolicited spam email making its way into the inbox. Some of this ends up in the junk folder, but a lot of it does make it through to the actual inbox. The problem is that after years of serving as a superintendent and wading through unsolicited spam, it takes something special to get the attention of your target audience.

Stop Spamming and Get Personal: Consider sending an unpolished personalized email.

Be casual – Write like a friend or neighbor – No “Superintendent Peete” – etc…

Scan through public documents to find the goals of the district and how we plan to achieve them.

Do a small amount of research to find the focus of the superintendent or district. If targeting California, go on any district website and click on the Local Control Accountability Plan (LCAP). There you will see how the school plans to meet the state’s 8 priorities. Also, you will see special call-outs for deficient areas. My district, for example, needs to work on our chronic absenteeism rates. Lastly, schools in California enter what is called CSI or Comprehensive Support and Improvement when they are very deficient in a goal. It could be academics, suspension rate, chronic absenteeism, etc… Attempt to tie your product or service to the actual need of the district.

See where this is going? Switch your mindset from blanketed mass email to administrators to taking the steps to become a partner.

Quick tip: Superintendents typically know the superintendents in the neighboring districts. If you can use this in an informal way, it may help. Adding a reputational resource to the email in a casual way has the possibility of improving your conversion rate.

Here’s a short sample after looking at the LCAP, finding neighboring district superintendent names, and getting contact information. Your call to action should be getting a phone call – Do not expect much else… Once on the phone, the rest is up to you.

Hi Josh,

I’m working on a project to help districts in XYZ county fix their chronic absenteeism rates. Though your chronic absenteeism rate was 39%, some of the neighboring districts had double digit rates as well. I know you are addressing this in your LCAP this year. Hoping to ping a few ideas off you that could help. I’ve reached out to Joe and Jerry to see if a few of your neighboring districts are interested in collaborating. Call me when you have a moment – 916.555.1212

Your name

Use a generic email address – like gmail or other service. If not, then a .org email address sounds more service oriented. If your company or service name has a .com, we will likely make a snap judgment that you are just trying to make money and your email is less likely to convert.

A few notes about the sample above:

Notice how it sounds like a regular email with someone trying to help. It doesn’t seem super professionally polished, like you could send this out 1,000s of times with the click of a button like the images above show. Also, it comes across as wanting to help meet a need with a partner-seeking feel.

There are only about 1,000 school district superintendents in California. Less in other states… If administration is your target then target slowly, personally, and thoughtfully – mass just smells of spam and will be ignored even if it makes it into the inbox.