2019.11.22 – Saxe Weekly – The Saxe weekly

November 22, 2019

Dear Saxe Family,

As we approach the holiday of Thanksgiving, we all have much to be grateful for. I am grateful to be part of this tremendous community we call Saxe Middle School in the wonderful town of New Canaan. While life is not all roses, “good things” do happen every day and we try our best to share out as many as possible. This week in the Saxe Weekly, we take a look at November: A Month of Causes, the latest Saxe News, World Language, gratitude, the Book Fair, Frozen Junior, a note from our Nurses, Dogs of Saxe, and more…

Enjoy and have a great weekend!

Dave Gusitsch

Principal, Saxe Middle School

Upcoming Noteworthy Dates:

11/27: Half-day – Happy Thanksgiving!

Want to check out the “Saxe Weekly” from last week? You’re one click away, here.

*Quotes that resonated with us this week:

“Don’t call it a dream, call it a plan.”

“You enter a new world every time you open a book.”

“Reading gives us someplace to go when we have to stay where we are.”

“Good habits are just as hard to break as bad ones.”

“Every accomplishment starts with the decision to try.” ~ John F. Kennedy

Saxe News

Check out the latest edition of Saxe News as they highlight our terrific Design Lab. Thanks to all involved in producing this informative episode showcasing one of our many unique, collaborative spaces at Saxe!

November: A Month of Causes

In the spirit of Thanksgiving and being grateful, our thoughtful staff proposed, planned, and has been participating in a “Month of Causes” to spread awareness and support those who have been impacted by causes that are near and dear to them. Below are just a few examples that showcase some of the causes… Oh yeah, and you may have noticed a few more beards than normal growing on some staff member’s faces – more on that too!

Caring Community in Action

Saxe’s Ugly Beard Fundraiser is for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society! Week three is well underway! With over $600 plus change collected at lunch, we are getting closer to our $2020 goal. Mr. White and Mr. Tiscia are the early leaders. Please consider “voting” at the Saxe LLS website, linked here.

World Language

This week in Grade 6 Spanish students were learning how to describe their families. Can you use your language to describe this family tree?

¿Quién es Lucia?

Students in Grade 8 Mandarin are beginning to prepare for the AAPPL assessment. This assessment benchmarks a student’s speaking and writing proficiency. This student is doing great! What do you think? (check out the video below…)

Classroom Gratitude Project

Ms. Calabrese worked with Ms. DeRobertis’s students to create this fun visual that includes feathers that represent all that our students are grateful for!

Book Fair

Thank you to everyone who made the 2019 Book Fair such a huge success! This is a great way to promote the importance and nurture the love, of reading. There were selections from all genres and students seemed to have a fun time perusing and purchasing their favorites. And, of course, the ever-popular duck pond was back and was a huge hit. Thank you to our PTC parent-volunteers who made this all possible and to our Physical Education teachers who demonstrated what it means to live our charter in supporting our school community!

Frozen Jr.

Another unbelievable Saxe VPA performance! After much hype and anticipation around the production of Frozen Junior, the cast, crew, and directors definitely did not disappoint last weekend! Another group that did not disappoint were the parent volunteers. It is not too much of a stretch to say the lobby actually felt like Arendelle… Thank you and congrats to all involved!

A Note From our Nurses

Parents, please note: if your child is not feeling well, please follow the appropriate procedure for communication and pickup. If your child is not feeling well, please remind them they must see the nurse who will evaluate and be a direct line of communication between school and home. Students should not contact parents directly for pickup. Thank you for your cooperation and understanding.

Mascot Update

Many people have been wondering, what is the latest on the mascot? While the votes have been cast, the committees have met, and the decision has been made, we have been coordinating efforts to finalize a design and a memorable plan for the big reveal. We are hoping to be able to have a plan in place in the next couple of weeks to share out. Thanks for your patience, it will be worth the wait!

Save the Date

Dogs of Saxe

This is just one of many of our canine friends that make the rounds through the daily drop-off line. They are an important part of our Saxe family, too! Who wouldn’t love to see this every day?