Kelley School Cafeteria Gets Cool Makeover

  The Kelley School cafeteria has new look and feel as well as a new name. New tables, in varying shapes, sizes and colors _ configured in three sections in the “Red Fox Café” to give students more space and a choice about who and how many other students they will sit with during lunch _ is bringing lots of smiles and great comments from kids at the grades 3-5 school. The biggest positive, many say, is not having to sit at long rows of tables, like in a dated, military mess hall, with just their class members. Felicity Brey enthusiastically echoed the upbeat sentiments of several other fifth graders during their lunch break May 8th. “I like it that you can sit at different tables with friends from different classes,” Brey said. “Lunch is a lot more fun.” “I like the style and better conditions,” Alana Bedell said. Holland Shutter said the new tables are “cool.” “They’re different shapes and you don’t have assigned seats,’’ she said. “I love it,’’ Colin Trueblood said of the cafeteria makeover. “It’s really great.”

Much of the cafeteria transformation took place during spring break in April but planning began months earlier. Principal Jeff Hamelinck and Assistant Principal Kerri Levine decided early this school year they wanted to find a way to make lunch break more conducive to social interaction by students. The tired, regimented feel of the cafeteria inhibited that. So they both began seeking input last fall, during the three lunch periods, from students on how they’d like to see the cafeteria transformed. They also later sought input on the style of cafeteria tables by showing students picture from catalogs provided by Newark Central School District Food Service Manager Warren Bushart who helped facilitate new design plans. Finally three different proposed cafeteria layouts were shown to students and the one most students wanted was implemented. The walls also got a fresh coat of paint. The new tables include eight booths that are adjacent to the west wall. That area is called the VIP section and is assigned for use for one month by classes that win the most PAWS points for exemplary behavior for a month. Fifth grader Dominic Palmer said he felt “really important” when he and other members of Alicia Nardozzi’s class qualified to sit in the VIP section. “It was really cool,’’ he raved.

The cafeteria makeover included repurposing the acoustic panels on the walls which now are also being used as bulletin boards and murals with the help of Kelley School cafeteria monitors and school staff members. Some painting to the upper portion of the walls in the room will be done by custodial staff this summer. Other plans for next year may include having a section where students, who have finished eating their lunch, can create things from common, everyday items and also a reading area. Both Hamelinck and Levine think the cafeteria makeover has boosted school spirit. “The students really love going to lunch now,’’ Hamelinck said. “It has given them a much more relaxed atmosphere in which they can eat and talk with their friends.” “It gives the students a sense of some freedom and some independence in a structured setting,’’ Levine added.