Dining Services
The Episcopal Academy offers an all-inclusive dining plan for Middle and Upper School students. Lower School students purchase lunch items from an a la carte menu.
Our dining partner, SAGE Dining Services, is the leading food service provider for independent schools and colleges throughout North America. SAGE's unparalleled expertise in nutrition, sustainability, and culinary trends produces exceptional dining experiences that delight the senses and foster community.
Students enjoy fresh-made menu items, including a salad and deli bar; a healthy main dish with fresh sides; creative fare; authentic international dishes; and display cooking and themed do-it-yourself stations. Every dish is served with only the best ingredients:
- Fresh fruits and vegetables
- Fresh salads, house-made dressings, and hummus
- Whole-grain breads, bagels, and rolls
- House-roasted and nitrate-free sourced meats
- Trans fat-free oils and MSG-free seasonings
- Antibiotic- and hormone-free milk
- Antibiotic-free chicken
- Cage-free, Certified Humane eggs
- Expanded vegetarian- and vegan-friendly options
- Benefits of All-Inclusive Dining
- Scratch and Batch Cooking
- Locally-Sourced Ingredients
- Allergy Management
- Registered Dietitians
- Nutrition Education
- Touch of SAGE App
Benefits of All-Inclusive Dining
All-inclusive dining at EA presents many benefits:
- Healthier options are more easily made available when food service providers are not incentivized to stock popular, unhealthy options in an effort to drive revenue.
- More allergy-friendly, gluten-free, vegetarian, and vegan menu options will be available.
- Students will be encouraged to step outside of their comfort zone and try new, healthy foods.
- Students will have more time to eat lunch, socialize with friends, and attend club meetings without waiting in long payment lines.
- For the majority of families, all-inclusive dining is more cost effective. The annual fee is lower than what most families spend in an a la carte model.
Scratch and Batch Cooking
Chefs prepare all meals from scratch and in small batches, so that the last student who arrives in the Dining Hall experiences the same level of quality as the first student. By preparing food in batches, the chefs only prepare what is needed, reducing waste and minimizing leftovers.
We offer real ingredients with no artificial flavors or preservatives, including roasted deli meats, freshest local produce, cage-free, Certified Humane® eggs, antibiotic- and hormone-free milk, and trans fat-free oils and MSG-free seasonings.
Locally-Sourced Ingredients
We purchase as much as possible from local, sustainable providers, including using food grown in our own school garden. For the 2016-2017 school year, 37% of the products SAGE purchased were manufactured, produced, or grown within a 150-mile radius of each school.
To support local purchasing efforts, SAGE’s Purchasing Department collaborates with the director and chefs at each school to identify potential partners and suppliers. SAGE Purchasing Representatives visit each local purveyor to ensure that each manufacturer, farmer, or supplier is using Good Agricultural Practices and Good Manufacturing Practices, or is Third-Party Certified.
SAGE emphasizes the importance of sustainable sourcing through on-site signage highlighting organic items, sustainability programs, local farmers whose food is featured, and produce grown both on campus and within 150 miles of campus.
Learn more about SAGE’s approach to local sourcing.
Allergy Management
In order to keep all students safe in the dining hall, all dining team members are extensively trained in food allergy awareness, and menus provide complete ingredient lists - and something for everyone! Additionally, parents are always welcome to inquire about ingredients or preparation method.
Since peanut allergies are the most common and severe, our dining team does not serve peanut or tree nut products, or any products with a warning label for potential cross-contamination with peanuts or tree nuts. This policy reduces the possibility of potentially fatal allergic reactions—but as a precaution, all managers are trained to recognize anaphylaxis and use an EpiPen®.
An expert team of five registered dietitians reviews every ingredient used in recipes, and tags them with the 12 main allergens recognized in the U.S. and Canada. During service, all menu items in the dining hall that contain the 12 main allergens are labeled so that students and faculty can identify allergen-free items easily, and vessels and utensils are chosen carefully to prevent cross-contact at food bars.
Learn more about SAGE’s approach to food safety and allergy management.
Registered Dietitians
The backbone of our nutrition program, the team of registered dietitians create educational materials, review each menu, and work closely with our school's dining team to ensure balance across the board. They analyze recipes for nutritional content, and assign color-coded Spotlight dots based on that data. SAGE dietitians also work closely with school nurses regarding food allergies.
Nutrition Education
Students can make informed decisions about what to eat using the Spotlight Program®, a color-coded system that shows the nutritional value of each item offered. Students are encouraged to “build their plates” with a variety of green-dot foods every day, to balance their plates with yellow-dot foods most days, and to consume red-dot foods in moderation.
Spotlight colors are assigned based on the amount of saturated fat, added sugars, and sodium a food item contains. In response to the most recent USDA Dietary Guidelines, SAGE is updating the criteria to evaluate nutrient density and the relative healthfulness of a food, rather than evaluating for negative nutrients alone.
In addition to learning about healthy, balanced eating habits, students will be exposed to historical, cultural, and culinary topics each month through the SAGE Educational Seasonings program. Through informational guides, creative displays, taste-testing, and hands-on preparation, SAGE will present a variety of topics next academic year, including: Moroccan Cuisine, Thanksgiving in the Early 1900's, All About Gluten, and Waste Not, Want Not.
Learn more about SAGE’s approach to nutrition education.Touch of SAGE App
Parents and students can use the Touch of Sage app via their mobile devices to get information they need, whenever and wherever they need it. The app allows users to view menus and nutritional details, access the allergen filter and build a custom allergen profile, and view information on upcoming events.
Students can also submit ongoing feedback on menu items they like or dislike. This feedback is then used by chefs to build future menus that appeal to EA students.
Learn more about the Touch of SAGE App.
Hours of Operation
7:00 - 9:45 a.m.
Lower School Dining Hall
(1st through 5th grades)
11 a.m. - 1 p.m.
Tierney Dining Hall
(Middle and Upper School students)
10:55 a.m. - 1:15 p.m.
Canteen (located in Dixon Athletic Center and operated by EA)
3 - 5:30 p.m
Students may purchase breakfast, LS lunch, and Canteen items using pre-loaded funds in their student PaySchools account.
Menus
Utilize the dropdown field in the top left to toggle between the LS and MS/US menus.