School lunch questions that show what families want on the menu
Ask parents and guardians how school lunch works for their child, from taste and portions to time to eat. Each question below comes with when to ask it and what the answer tells you.
What school lunch survey questions tell you
School lunch survey questions ask parents how lunch works for their child: the taste, the portions, whether there is always something their child will eat, how long the line is and what it costs the family each week. Parents hear about lunch every afternoon, and their answers show the kitchen and the school what to change on the menu.
Ask a few weeks into a new menu, or once a term, and keep it to five or six questions. Send the link by email or in the school newsletter, and put a QR code on the bulletin board at pickup. The survey goes to parents and guardians, who can talk lunch over with their child before they answer.
Each written answer is read as it arrives and given a theme and a sentiment, so requests for more vegetarian dishes or warmer food group together for the kitchen. Give each response an owner in the inbox, and add the menu requests to the catering team's Google Sheet.
- Questions
- 14
- Best asked
- A few weeks into a new menu
- Industry
- Education
- Where to find them
- From library in the Usertick survey editor, on every plan
The 14 school meals questions, with when to ask each
Grouped by what they tell you. Use them as they are or change the wording.
How lunch tastes and fills
One rating and the grid behind it, with portions and how well lunch lasts the afternoon.
- 01Emoji
How was lunch at school today?
A row of faces for lunch on a given day. Send it to parents on the afternoon of a new dish, so they can ask their child at pickup; Results shows the share for each face.
- 02Stars
How would you rate the food in the lunch hall?
A star rating for the food in the lunch hall. Results shows the average and the share who rated 4 or higher, compared with the period before, which shows whether a menu change landed.
- 05Matrix
Rate the lunch on each
Rates taste, variety, freshness and portion size in one grid. The heat map shows which row the kitchen should look at first, and row averages give each a number to track.
- 03Multiple choice
How much food is served at lunch?
Three options on portion size. Ask it after a change to serving sizes, and read it with the taste and variety rows of the grid.
- 11Big scale
How well does lunch keep your child going through the afternoon?
How well lunch keeps the child going through the afternoon, from 1 to 10. Results shows the average and a column per step; low scores with Too little on portions point at the portion size.
Choice and the menu
What the menu should offer more of and what matters most to families, for the next menu plan.
- 04Yes / No
Is there always something your child will eat?
Whether there is always something the child will eat. A No here matters for children with narrow tastes or a family diet; select it in Results to see which menu options those families asked for.
- 06Multiple choice
Which options should the menu have more of? Pick up to three.
Lets parents pick the options the menu should offer more of, from vegetarian meals to fruit. Results shows bars with each share and count, a direct input for the next menu.
- 13Ranking
Rank what matters most in a school meal
Parents put taste, healthy food, choice, price and speed of service in order. Results shows the average place per item, which tells the kitchen what to protect when the budget is tight.
- 14Text
What is your child's favorite meal at school?
Asks for the child's favorite school meal. The themes across answers show which dishes to keep on the menu, and it makes a friendly last question.
- 08Text
What should we change about the school menu?
An open question on what to change about the menu. Each answer gets a theme and a sentiment, so repeated requests stand out and a complaint about one dish doesn't get lost.
Time and the lunch line
How long children wait and whether they finish, which can explain a low rating for good food.
- 09Ruler
How many minutes does your child wait in the lunch line?
Minutes in the lunch line, as the parent hears it. Results shows the median and the middle half; a long wait can explain a low rating for food that is fine.
- 12Yes / No
Does your child have enough time to finish lunch?
Whether the child has enough time to finish lunch. Results shows the share that said yes; a No here is a schedule question for the school more than a menu question for the kitchen.
How families use school lunch
How the child gets lunch and what it costs, so you can filter the other answers to the families who eat it every day.
- 07Dropdown
How does your child usually get lunch?
How the child usually gets lunch. Select School lunch every day in Results to filter the page to the families who eat it most, whose ratings say the most about the menu.
- 10Number
How much do you spend on school lunches in a week?
What the family spends on school lunches in a week. Results shows the median and the middle half, which helps when you review prices.
Tips for asking about school meals
Small choices that get honest, useful answers.
- 01
Ask after a menu change
Send the survey three or four weeks after a new menu starts, once children have eaten each dish more than once.
- 02
Ask parents to check with their child
Send the survey to parents and guardians, and suggest in the invitation that they ask their child about lunch before answering.
- 03
Separate the food from the clock
Ask about the line and the time to finish next to the food ratings. A low score can come from the wait as much as from the kitchen.
- 04
Share the menu changes
Tell families which requests made it onto the next menu, in the newsletter or on the school website.
Add these questions to a survey
From the library to the first answers.
- 1
Open the library
In the Usertick survey editor, choose From library, filter by industry and topic, and add several questions at once.
- 2
Or paste your own list
Paste questions reads up to 10 questions from any text on Free, 100 on Starter and 200 on Pro and above, keeps your wording and picks an answer type for each.
- 3
Choose where it runs
Show the survey on your website, send it by email, share its link and QR code, or switch it to a conversation.
- 4
Read the answers
Results counts every score and choice, and Usertick reads each written answer and files it by topic, on every plan.
Templates and more questions about school meals
Full surveys that ask about the same things, and neighboring topics in the library.
Templates
Browse all templatesFrequently asked questions
Three or four weeks after a new menu starts, or once a term. Keep the same rating and grid each time, so Results compares each round with the one before.
Parents and guardians, who can talk it over with their child first. Send the link by email or in the school newsletter, or put a QR code on the bulletin board at pickup.
Five or six. Start with the rating, add portions, the menu options and time to eat, and end with the open question.
Yes. On every plan, a workflow can add each response to a Google Sheet the catering team uses, or post it to Slack or Microsoft Teams.
Yes. The question library comes with every plan, the free plan included, and the free plan covers 150 responses a month across your surveys.
Yes. Once a question is in your survey, reword it, change its options or its answer type, and add logic to skip it for some answers.
Yes. The library is translated into Usertick's built-in languages, and in any other language it shows in English for you to translate.
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