Programs:

Moss & Heart offers nutritionally balanced snacks and lunch each day—at no additional cost to families—designed to nourish both body and mind. Our current recipes are ovo-vegetarian, and menus are planned with care and sensitivity to the cohort’s food values, allergies, and dietary needs.

Amy’s family prepares South Indian cuisine at home, and occasionally these recipes—gently adapted for young palates—are shared with the class. This offers children meaningful exposure to global flavors in an accessible and joyful way.

Meals are prepared in partnership with our school’s Culinary Collaborator, who supports whole-food preparation, recipe development, and seasonal menu planning. This collaboration ensures that food is both deeply nourishing and thoughtfully crafted, while expanding children’s experiences of taste, texture, and variety.

Each meal is thoughtfully composed with fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and protein to promote steady energy, healthy development, and a positive relationship with food. When sweetness is offered, it comes from whole foods or is paired with fiber to support balanced absorption.

We gently encourage children to explore new foods—and to revisit familiar ones—as taste preferences naturally evolve with time and repeated exposure. Children are supported in keeping food on their plates and treating the shared meal with respect.

Conversations about food are woven into daily life. Guides speak with children about how different colors and food groups nourish the body, and how balanced meals support growth, energy, focus, and overall well-being.

Whenever possible, food is served family-style in alignment with Montessori principles of independence and community. Children are invited to serve themselves and others, pour water, clear their dishes, and at times assist with simple food preparation. These simple, meaningful acts cultivate confidence, coordination, practical life skills, and a genuine sense of contribution to the classroom community.

This spirit of autonomy is also reflected on the classroom shelves, where children may freely choose to prepare a simple snack or brew tea, often inviting a friend or two to join them. In these peer-led gatherings, they practice conversation, take turns offering and receiving food, sing together—sometimes guided by a confident solo leader—and experience the quiet patience of waiting.