On the first day of school, while many students were trying to get back into the rhythm of school, they might have noticed one small change: that lunch break had been pushed up a period. On top of a changed schedule, the start of this year also brought with it a modified lunch menu as well as the end of the free lunch program which ran through the majority of the 2021-2022 school year.

While these changes might seem minor, they were done to improve the quality of life while students are at school. The change in the lunch time is a result of the new schedule, which has only four classes in the morning as opposed to five. This schedule also extended the time between classes by a minute for more flexibility in crowded hallways with the tradeoff being a reduced morning break.

“The idea behind the schedule change was to provide a more predictable schedule for the entire year. In a collection of surveys we gave [to staff and students], there were repeat comments about [fewer] schedule changes,” said PHS Principal Frank Chmiel.

The timing of lunch, according to Chmiel, was not one of the reasons behind the schedule change. Instead, it was focused more on benefiting PHS students who take classes at Princeton University as well as those who attend the Mercer County Technical School.

While this may not be a drastic change, the earlier lunch has had a positive effect on some students.

“I like the new lunch because it splits up the day evenly between the eight classes. It took a second to get used to having four classes after lunch, but I think it works well because I always tend to be hungry by fourth period,” said Rowan Gilmore ’23.

Not all of the changes to lunch were positive though. The school lunches, which were free during the pandemic, now require students to pay for them. While the intention of the free school lunch was to help food-insecure families provide for their children under the stresses of COVID-19, they are no longer available, and students have to pay for their school lunches individually.

“I think it would be great if lunch could be free again,” said Gilmore. “It’s hard for a lot of students to bring their own lunch or buy it at school.”

One upside of the change however, has been that it has allowed the school to introduce a number of new options to the lunch menu. For example, previously popular lunch options such as different types of fries are now back in the cafeteria. Thankfully, this has allowed the new changes to the school lunch to go over well with students.

“The new lunch is great! I love the options it has created for us as opposed to last year’s lunch. It isn’t free [anymore], so that is obviously a downside, but it sure keeps us fueled for the afternoon classes,” said Jaiden Jain-Edwards ’25.