Sejin Park ’20

Justin Chen ’20

Currently, the outside of the cafeteria is under construction, signalling a momentous change to come. Planning for the new cafeteria started about a year ago around the time EA was planning on its transition to SAGE dining services. Last summer, EA attempted to reconstruct the new cafeteria before the school year began. However, not much progress was made due to construction cost issues. The construction resumed late in the school year, bringing erratic eruptions of noise during lunch and during Activity, when students come in and out for snacks. This occasionally brings stares towards the direction of the construction; however, the routine of students seems mostly unchanged and many have learned to ignore the noise.

One of the managers of this expansion is Mark Notaro, director of operations at EA. Notaro elaborated upon some of the more specific details of the construction and what EA hopes can be achieved through this renovation. Notaro states that approximately three weeks ago, the construction was approved by the township, which is when preparation began. He further states that more of the “real construction” will begin on Monday, February 11th, and be aimed at finishing by the start of next school year.

EA has promoted their planned changes to the cafeteria for nearly a year, yet construction has been delayed until now. When Notaro was asked why this had occurred, he revealed that much of the delay was due to cost concerns. At the time, the expansion was presented to multiple potential construction companies, but prices were extremely high, and would require an much more money compared to EA’s divided budget for the project. Notaro stresses that EA wanted to stay responsible and had  “.. never intended to go over our budget”, so EA waited for the construction market to become more competitive with lower prices and reconsidered some of the desired design choices. Due to these design changes and accompanied by the EA community’s issues with the current system, the goal of this expansion has also been altered. Originally, the construction was purely intended for adding additional seating for students. This would greatly assist with some of the cafeteria’s line issues, as the general serving area would become less congested. However, Notaro affirms that EA designers further looked at the current layout of the dining hall to make much-needed adjustments to the cafeteria’s entire layout. He reveals that this expansion will increase the square footage in which SAGE is allowed to operate, giving them more serving areas to not only decrease congestion, but also allow more types of food to be served. Furthermore, massive structural changes are being planned as well. For example, Notaro states that the salad bar that currently occupies a large amount of space in the center of the serving area will be moved into the seating area itself, further decreasing the congestion in the serving spaces.

The cafeteria staff have been very positive and are looking forward to the renovation. As stated by Katy Vigna, SAGE’s director, it “is going to bring many benefits to the cafeteria, including more space, a third line to get kids out faster, and more equipment… EA has been asking for our input on how they could improve the cafeteria.” The staff have been told there will be a new entrance, and a new line, allowing students to get food faster and giving more space for the staff to walk through in order to get more food out. More equipment will include more ovens, friers, etc. in order to keep up with the high demand and speed needed to obtain high satisfaction, especially when the lunch has student favorites such as curly fries. There will also be more space for the students, reducing the crowding that tends to occur during the peak of lunch time. “The numerous benefits”, concludes Katy Vigna, “are making the staff and me very excited for the new cafeteria.”

The construction will be occurring for the seven months until the beginning of next school year, and hopefully, the expansion will address the issues both the student body and faculty have expressed with the current system. With the information communicated by both dining staff and Notaro, the expansion provides an optimistic plan for the future of EA’s cafeteria system. Ultimately, by the start of next year, EA’s community will hopefully reap the rewards of this expansion.