Lunch Meal Patterns
School Year 2025-26 (July 1, 2025, through June 30, 2026)
The lunch meal patterns for grades K-12 include three required grade groups (K-5, 6-8, and 9-12) and require daily and weekly amounts of five meal components: meats/meat alternates, grains, vegetables, fruits, and milk. Lunches averaged over the week for each grade group must also meet the USDA's dietary specifications. The CSDE's Menu Planning Checklists for Lunch for Grades K-12 assist menu planners with meeting the lunch meal pattern requirements.
Required Grade Groups | Optional Grade Group | Shorter or Longer Weeks
Required Grade Groups: K-5, 6-8, and 9-12
5-day Meal Patterns
7-day Meal Patterns
Optional Grade Group for K-8
The USDA permits an alternate lunch menu planning option that allows school food authorities to use the same meal pattern for grades K-5 and grades 6-8. This option is useful for schools and institutions with grade configurations that prevent students from being separated into these two required grade groups. Examples include schools with grades K-8 or grades 5-8, where students from different grade groups eat together during the same lunch period.
The meal pattern for grades K-8 requires a narrower calorie range and more restrictive sodium limit than the individual meal patterns for grades K-5 and 6-8. Menu planners must be careful to meet these more restrictive dietary specifications when using this optional lunch meal pattern.
Shorter or Longer Weeks
The lunch meal patterns are based on a five-day week. When a school week regularly operates on a shorter or longer cycle, menu planners must increase or decrease the weekly requirements by 20 percent for each day that deviates from the standard five-day week. Meal patterns for three-day, four-day, and six-day weeks are available in Appendix 2C in the USDA’s Menu Planner for School Meals.