New Cafeteria Food

Before COVID-19 hit the United States, Germantown Academy used the dining service, NexDine, to provide students and faculty cafeteria food throughout the day. However, due to COVID-19 cases, during the 2020-21 school year, the school cafeteria was closed for the entirety of the year. All students had to provide their own lunch during the unusual school year. 

Now that COVID-19 cases have dropped, the cafeteria has reopened, giving students the option to finally buy school meals again. Even though eating can be rather difficult in populated spaces, students are not discouraged to purchase food from the cafeteria during break, lunch, and free periods. 

However, the menu has had some changes since its original debut. These changes have brought students and faculty to develop new opinions on the current dining service, which range from positive to not-so-liked areas of the service provided.

Everyone is grateful for the return of the cafeteria. We personally buy lunch every day at the cafeteria and are enjoying the return of the cafeteria. Additionally, we love the various foods that are offered, such as the tacos and the curly fries. A student from the class of 2025 says, “I really enjoy the breakfast foods during break and the curly fries at lunch. At times I wish there was a wider rotation of food. For example, there is the flatbread which is there every week. Overall, I enjoy the cafeteria experience because I get a good meal every time I buy.”  

Another student says, “I really love the nachos and the wings.” Obviously, both students enjoy the cafeteria food, specifically the fries, breakfast, nachos, and wings. However, one could agree that the cafeteria could improve upon the wider rotation of food. 

On the topic of change and improvement, Student Government Association (SGA) and NexDine are working to integrate student recommendations into the cafeteria menu and setup. An SGA representative that is working on the project says, “We are working to get the student voice to the ears of the NexDine chefs. Some of the ideas we are working on are bringing back custom sandwiches, like the sandwich bar, bringing back popcorn chicken and chicken tenders, and also finding a balance between speed and quality.” 

It is clear that NexDine and SGA are working hard to make the students, school, and parents happy. They are finding the optimal way to balance speed, quality, and cost. Overall, we are very pleased with the dining service, as are always satisfied with our lunch.