October 13-17, 2025

Mark your calendar for National School Lunch Week, October 13-17, 2025! The #NSLW25 theme is “Taste the World: Your School Lunch Passport.” NSLW is designed to help students and school nutrition professionals connect and share what each loves most about school lunch with parents, school officials, the media and the general public. Start planning your celebration today—get started with the help of our resources.

Why participate in NSLW?

Recognizing NSLW in your district or your cafeteria helps you:

Increase student participation
Spread the message to parents that you’re serving healthy, delicious lunch at school
Earn media coverage from local papers, TV stations, and bloggers
Connect with teachers and administrators at your school or in your district to spread the word that school meals are healthy and delicious

What if the timing doesn’t work for us?

NSLW 2025 is scheduled for October 13-17 by an act of Congress, but if you have a student holiday or teacher work day during that week you can celebrate anytime! The week before, or the week after—it’s up to you!

Visit the SNA website for #NSLW25 resources!

Celebration Ideas

Make the cafeteria feel special with signs, banners, balloons, or music.
Provide free samples on the lunch line.
Work with teachers to make MyPlate, Let’s Move and healthy eating part of the curriculum.
Send a letter or email home to parents about NSLW and contact the PTA.
Host a special challenge, presentation, or event in the cafeteria.
Use special menus during NSLW to highlight all of the healthy options.
Rename your menu staples for the week of NSLW to make them more fun.
Decorate the cafeteria with photo-themed decorations.
Invite local athletes (high school or college) to attend lunch in uniform and eat with the kids!
Invite parents to come to the cafeteria for lunch!

Invite Parents to Lunch

Want to convince parents that school lunch has changed since they were in school? Invite them to come experience it themselves!

KIWI has partnered with the School Nutrition Association and created a handy checklist to help make Lunch Day a success in your community. Click here to download our tips.

Share Your Celebration

Send SNA your stories and photos after your NSLW celebration is complete and you could be featured in School Nutrition magazine! Email your best photos and a short summary of your celebration to snmagazine@schoolnutrition.org.

And be sure to use the hashtag #NSLW25 to join in on the conversation and a chance to be featured on SNA of Kansas social media accounts!