2020.3.13 – Saxe Weekly – The Saxe weekly

March 13, 2020

Dear Saxe Family,

Well, this is a first. Sending the Saxe Weekly while we are in session, remotely. As we all transition and navigate this historical moment on the local, national, and global level, we have so much to be proud of and grateful for. So much can change in such a short amount of time, as it did in the past week. We went from being in school back to some normalcy following the recent February break, to hearing about something on the other side of the world that may find its way here, to enacting a full-scale e-learning plan that was created with all hands on deck and deployed in an incredibly short window of time. Wow… I was really proud of our school and district staff before today. After experiencing the first day of our e-learning program and receiving the amount of positive feedback from families and staff that we did, the level of gratitude, inspiration, and pride is off the charts. I will share a few of the responses that we received below.

Also below, you will find some pictures that families chose to share today as we all begin to adjust to our new normal for the next couple of weeks. This was such a wonderful treat to see our students at work in their new e-learning environment. Thank you to all who took the time to share, each one put a smile on our face (and I am sure they will on yours too)! Please feel free to send/share any other pictures of your children participating in your e-learning environment. We hope to continue to update everyone, share ideas, and celebrate the collaborative effort that has gotten us off to such a successful start.

In addition to some e-learning action, this week in the Saxe Weekly, we take a look at helpful resources, Saxe Math Team, Synchro Skating, Wellness tips, Physical Education, Tech support, positive messages, nonfiction presentations, Saxe spirit, and most importantly, students in action!

Wishing each of you and your families well during this unique time. Enjoy and be well!

Dave Gusitsch

Principal, Saxe Middle School

Here is a quick video from Day 1

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

*Quotes that resonated with us this week:

“One kind word can change someone’s entire day.”

“Believe in yourself and you’ll be unstoppable.”

“Be Well and Purell…” (ok, how great is this one?!)

As we continue to monitor the COVID-19 situation, please follow all of the NCPS communications posted on our district website.

Here are some useful resources for your reference:

How to Talk to Tweens about Coronavirus

Coronavirus Comic for Kids

NASP- Talking to Children about Coronavirus

NASP – Talking to Children about Coronavirus Spanish

We are working to keep our website continually updated, especially with the recent uptick in necessary communications. Please feel free to access previously sent messages, here. We will also update the daily slideshow on the website so you can follow the A-F letter days and any other relevant announcements.

E-Learning at Saxe has Launched

What does e-learning look like? Please find some pictures and messages that were shared this morning as the inaugural e-learning day kicked off. Thank you to everyone who shared with us, these success stories of showing learning in action during this unprecedented time are so inspiring!

Darragh is hard at work in Mr. Hearty’s e-learning Latin class!

Addie at work at her home e-learning station…

The Valente family started their day with the pledge of allegiance (awesome!). Jake even dressed for the occasion with a tie during his e-learning!

An early a.m. message from one of our teachers. Great way to start the day!

And, yet another Saxe student diligently working…

Ms. Beatman has her home learning environment all set!

Mrs. Thompson’s exit ticker from her “e-math class” today!

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1RZuX2ojvgh2Jr93AiwXlTmRiyAe_G7wT/view

Video of Ms. Nelson instructing her students how to annotate a PDF with the Google Extension Kami! (click on the image above to see the video)

Physical Education: Families as Fitness Partners Calendar:

Hello students and families: As we embark on this E-learning journey we want to continue to encourage movement throughout your day. The Saxe Physical Education team has developed an additional physical education resource for families to participate in with your children encouraging staying active, movement throughout the day, and sharing a fun moment together. We hope you stay active and healthy throughout this time. Families as Fitness Partners Calendar

Check out the first Saxe Wellness Tip of the Day!

Tech Reminder

Our NCPS tech department is second to none and prepared to assist with any/all of your tech needs during this e-learning experience. A direct link to the resource page may be found, here.

Checklist for Learning

Thanks to Ms. Ferraro who shared the following resource that she created as a “Elearning Checklist” to help keep her kids organized! Just as importantly, thanks for sharing for all to use…

E-Learning – Day 1 Responses

Here are some “anonymous” messages that we received today. While there are many more and these were randomly selected, we appreciate every message that came in today. Thank you!

I have 4 e-learning students working hard and enjoying it at home! You guys are the gold standard.

Just a quick note. Excellent job to you and the team on all the communications & resources that Saxe has quickly put into action!

So grateful our schools are on top of it…and we have great staff to help guide everyone through this unprecedented time.

Day 1 is going so smoothly here. Stay well!

Excellent work!

Thanks for all the hard work it has taken to put this together!

The kids have received several very nice and thoughtful notes from their teachers and they are off and running this morning!!!

Stay well!

Tremendous effort. I am very impressed with the team. Good luck!

Nonfiction Presentations

Here are some pictures of nonfiction presentations in Ms. Dobransky’s class. The students did a fabulous job! Parents really enjoyed visiting and seeing all the impressive presentations.

Saxe Math Team

The Saxe Mathletes had a great showing at States on Saturday, 3/7. The team of Luke Huang, Cormac Kilkenny, Daryl Lavin, and Alex Yuan finished in 3rd place out of 18 teams competing! Saxe has never placed higher than 12th place before. Luke Huang won Second Place in the Countdown Round competition and 5th place overall (out of 126 competing) in the state, missing Nationals by one spot. While this was a disappointment, Luke handled the near-miss with exceptional maturity and grace. Overall, it was a great day for our kids! Congratulations to Math Team coach, Ms. Wolff, and all of our Saxe Mathletes. You make us all proud!

Saxe Spirit Day

Clone Day is alive and well today as Jacob Kozar sets up in Dad’s office at New Canaan Bicycle today!

Practicing Google Meet in the event we needed to work remotely (good thing we practiced!)

Here is your Saxe Admin team creating the first e-learning welcome video…

Communication comes in many forms. Whether it is Google Meet, email, conference call, facetime, text, voxer, or any other medium, the planning has taken to many effective formats. Grateful to have such a wonderful team of colleagues to navigate this challenge!

Saxe Student Successes

The Skyliners Synchronized Skating Juvenile Team won a Silver medal at the 2020 U.S. National Synchronized Skating Championships in Providence, Rhode Island, Feb. 27 ~ 29th. Saxe 7th-grader, Keira Zheng and Fifi, “played for the team”. Congrats to all!

It’s not the same seeing the hallways empty during the week. Happy to see e-learning have such a successful launch though!

Since pictures from home were shared… While it is not an official e-learning day in Bethel, I received a picture today of Nicholas Gusitsch working on some math problems. Tommy the dog is checking for progress…