2020.9.17 – Saxe Weekly – The Saxe weekly

September 17, 2020

Dear Saxe Family,

As we move through another week, we continue to be grateful for the opportunity to feel some sense of normalcy by being back in school. While none of this is, or has been easy, the efforts are so worth it! We are proud of our students as they have done a terrific job of following and abiding by our safety guidelines and mitigation strategies. The reward is seeing our classes operate, effectively, in this new educational landscape. It is not perfect, but we continue to improve everyday.

We look forward to monitoring the return of our NCPS elementary students next week. This will help us continue to plan for the transition in welcoming all of our students back into the building as one in the coming weeks. Worth noting, we have recognized that bus ridership continues to rise. This has been helpful in managing the traffic flow (cars) during arrival and dismissal and will become even more important as we look to returning to 100% capacity.

As we learn more and more each week, we are reminded that staying vigilant in wearing a mask is one the most effective ways of staying healthy (along with washing/sanitizing hands often and keeping appropriate distancing, where possible). While the age-old adage of “kids will be kids” may creep in at times, we ask that you continue to reinforce these important practices when your children are out and about in the community as well (thank you for your continued support!).

This week in the Saxe Weekly, we take a look at our Saxe PTC Welcome Back Coffee, Art, Executive Functioning, outdoor learning, Saxe in the News, twinning, our Saxe SRO, the cafe, Dogs (and, eels?) of Saxe, and more! Enjoy and have a wonderful long weekend.

Dave Gusitsch

Principal, Saxe Middle School

Upcoming Noteworthy Dates:

9/21- Cohort X in school, Cohort Y remote

9/22 – Cohort X in school, Cohort Y remote

9/23 – Cohort X in school, Cohort Y remote (½ Day)

9/24 – Chort Y in school, Cohort X remote

9/25 – Chort Y in school, Cohort X remote; Saxe Spirit Day!

*Quotes that resonated with us this week:

“Instead of worrying about what you cannot control, shift your energy to what you can create.”-Roy T. Bennett

“The greatest mistake you can make in life is to be continually fearing you will make one.” -Elbert Hubbard

“Pursue what catches your heart, not what catches your eyes.” –Roy T. Bennett

“Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.” –Benjamin Franklin

As noted above, a picture is worth a thousand words…

Saxe PTC Welcome Back Coffee:

Did you miss the Saxe PTC Welcome Back Coffee this week? Don’t worry, we recorded it for you! Please use the link below to access it!

Saxe Art

On Wednesday during PL, Art teachers curated an exhibit of student work now displayed in the gym hallway, and the upper division office hallway. Represented are students from all grades, and work was created during the 2019-2020 school year. There is a variety of artwork displayed from collages to acrylic and watercolor paintings to detailed pencil drawings.

In the Classroom

In Grade 7, teachers are combining in person and remote learning environments so the whole class can see one another simultaneously. Our teachers are constantly finding new ways of teaching that support all students!

6th-Grade Executive Function

6th-graders are working on their organizational skills to set them up for success this year!

Saxe Spirit

Saxe students are working hard whether they are learning remotely or in person. Here are the photos to prove it!

Saxe Outdoors

This week was a nice one to spend time learning outside. It’s also nice to get some mask breaks and fresh air…

8th-grade students intrigued by a “troop” of ants doing their ant business along the way…

Students in Grade 7 took advantage of the nice weather and went outside to do their assignments! They are also utilizing the plastic dividers for partner work inside the classroom!

Thank you to our wonderful PTC for helping us continue to expand and improve upon our outdoor learning spaces! Here are a few of the popup tents that popped up around campus this week…

The Grade 6 Green team students are starting to initiate and organize their own “games” and play at recess. Here are some green team boys who did a great job of involving everyone that looked interested!

Saxe in the News

Thank you, Mr. Butterworth, and New Canaanite, for this wonderful article!

https://newcanaanite.com/op-ed-our-schools-deserve-a-thousand-thanks-3431637

Saxe Community

I could not be more proud of our Saxe Faculty-Senate as today they demonstrated why we believe in our 5 Cs and why “Community” is our focus for this year! The meeting today consisted of many examples of how helping each other will make our Saxe community better for everyone, personally and collectively.

“Twinning” Masks

Ms. Anderson and her student, Raina, with their awesome masks!

Mr. Gusitsch found another student who “Choos(es) to be Happy” – nice mask!

Saxe SRO

Not only does Saxe SRO, Officer Deak, keep our campus safe, he connects with our students and is an important part of our learning community!

Saxe Cafe

We are grateful for our wonderful food service staff! Even through the challenges of a global pandemic, they have quality products available for our students. Definitely not how I remember middle school lunch when I was a kid…

Coming soon! Saxe cafe kiosks to help facilitate the food service process during lunch waves. Stay tuned for more updates…

Masks of Saxe

Here are a couple of favorites from this week…

It was also this Michael O’Malley’s 12th birthday today (9.17) – Happy Birthday, Michael! (below)

Eels of Saxe(?!).

Not quite as cute as our Dogs of Saxe, but our 6th-grade students in Ms. Barnum’s Science class will learn a lot observing and studying this fresh water eel that we welcomed this week.