Gone are the days of the old, uninspiring cafeterias, where rickety tables with static seating arrangements saturate the space. AmTab is ushering in a new era of modern, popular, and fun dining spaces where kids are motivated to eat their meals in diverse seating that fosters their social and emotional development. If a hungry stomach by second period was not enough to entice a student to start their day with a nutritious meal, then an updated cafeteria environment that is conducive to interacting with friends and building community will be.
Before Dining Space Improvement
Before King Middle School commissioned the revamping of their dining space, they struggled with both an uninspiring eating area and low breakfast and lunch turnout. But now, with the help of AmTab, they have a bright room that is instrumental in distributing daily nutritious meals. Their school beautification journey began with their decision to team up with AmTab and invest in an updated cafeteria. Now, not only will the current students at King Middle School benefit from the new dining area, but all future generations of students will enjoy the new aesthetic space.
The King Middle School team wanted to create a space that allowed them to increase the number of daily distributed nutritious meals and the amount of happy students coming to receive those meals. In order to do this, they needed to inspire the kids to get in the door in the morning.
Rebuilding Process
AmTab worked with King Middle School from start to finish, designing a unique and enjoyable dining environment that inspired both school spirit and community. From tables with school logos to walls displaying custom-made designs, King Middle School received a tailored experience designed specifically to meet their needs.
Environment and healthy eating work in tandem. An investment in a school’s dining space is an investment in each student’s daily health.
The designing phase was the first and most crucial step to ensuring a blueprint that would fit both the physical space itself and the requirements of the school. Direct collaboration between AmTab’s design team and the Child Nutrition Director enabled an optimal experience. At the core of their design, King Middle School wanted a space that would facilitate creativity, inspire socialization, and leave a lasting impression. The design team at AmTab kept these core ideas front and center as they created a personalized plan.
Seating Arrangements
With the goal of healthy socialization in mind, a diverse mix-and-match furniture concept was the route. King Middle School picked from the abundance of seating arrangements that AmTab offers, to allow their students multiple choices of seating concepts. From open round tables to more private booths to high top bar tables, students are allowed the daily decision of whether they want to socialize with large or small groups, join private or open groups, or even sit alone. AmTab also provides the option for ADA accommodated tables on request to include everyone in the breakfast and lunch dining experience.
Signage Graphics Decor
With the overall design of the room and seating arrangements taken care of, the next step was to decorate the room with Signage Graphics Decor that would enhance the overall mood of the school. The existing windows that allowed for plenty of natural lighting were a great starting point to highlight the school colors in the decor. The school logos paired with the vibrant school colors help students to start the day with a dose of school pride. Adorning the walls with motivational graphics and the school motto also contributed to enhancing the school mood and identity.
The AmTab Effect
After the installation of their new school cafeteria, King Middle School saw a transformative increase in student meal participation. For breakfast meals, the dining commons tallied a remarkable 111% rise in students who started their day with a nutritious breakfast; they went from a scant 159 students to 336 students receiving morning meals. Lunchtime meals also saw a significant 30% increase going from 412 students to 536 students, meaning that 82% of the students in the school were now receiving at least one healthy meal each day.
If the nutritious meals and positive social emotional benefits of an updated school environment were not enough of a return on investment, King Middle School also receives $19,800 each month in school meal reimbursements. Chris Minor, the Food Service Director of Mercer County Schools praised AmTab saying, “The new food court redesign at King Middle School has been an all-around win-win for Mercer County Schools!”
A proper environment where social-emotional development is nurtured is equally as important for K-12 learning as any classroom. AmTab installed various seating concepts for King Middle School that allowed for multiple types of socialization.Allowing students diverse freedoms from food variety to seating type choice to seat mates helps them to fine toon their decision-making abilities in the small everyday choices.
Environment and healthy eating work in tandem. An investment in a school’s dining space is an investment in each student’s daily health.