2021.9.17 – Saxe Weekly – The Saxe weekly

September 17, 2021

Dear Saxe Family,

With the day off yesterday, today felt like both a Monday and a Friday. We may have had another “short week”, but there is a lot of exciting news to share. This week in the Saxe Weekly, we take a look at the latest 1-Second Everyday, the PTC Welcome Back Coffee, Science in the greenhouse, Math Team, our new Dean of Students, Saxe building tour(s), t-shirts of Saxe, recess, Dogs of Saxe, and much more!

Enjoy and have a wonderful weekend.

Be Well,

Dave Gusitsch

Principal, Saxe Middle School

Upcoming Noteworthy Dates:

9/23 Saxe Parent Tour, #1 of several (by appointment only, more info below)

9/24 Spirit Day

9/27 G5/G6 Open House (virtual)

9/29 G7/G8 Open House (virtual)

*Quotes that resonated with us this week:

“Hey, I know it’s Monday. But it’s also a new day and a new week. And in that lies a new opportunity for something special to happen.” -Michael Ely

“The way I see it, if you want the rainbow, you gotta put up with the rain.” – Dolly Parton

“It’s always too soon to quit.” – Norman Vincent Peale

“Preservation of one’s own culture does not require contempt or disrespect for other cultures.” -Cesar Chavez

One Second Everyday

Back again for this week – the latest Saxe Middle School 1-Second Everyday! “Life is made of seconds.” Showcasing so much of what makes Saxe Middle School great! This will be a recurring, bi-weekly feature. At the end of the year, we will have a full version that includes every single day of the 2021-22 school year. Enjoy! (pro tip: to enjoy the video at a slower pace, change your viewing option to .75 speed).

PTC Welcome Back Coffee

Thank you to everyone who came out to the Saxe PTC Welcome Back Coffee on Wednesday. It was a beautiful morning, the venue was stunning, and the attendance was amazing. Of course, a special thank you to our PTC volunteers who planned and coordinated the event! Below you will find a few photos from the event and the slide deck that includes the talking points from those who spoke.

PTC Welcome Back Coffee slide deck

Thanks to Dr. Correnty for joining from Central Office and kicking off the meeting!

Since we have had many questions about lockers lately, we announced at the PTC Coffee that we plan on having them available for students within the next couple of weeks. Stay tuned for more information next week…

Science in Action

Mr. Ekstrom’s 8th-grade Science class is growing Brassica Rapa plants. Through the process, students are learning about plant biology and genetic crosses. Students are gathering data to compare the growth of the seeds they planted under the light rack in the classroom to those that were planted outside in our Saxe greenhouse*. Keep an eye out for the student-designed informational posters that will be going up next week!

* Our Saxe greenhouse is on campus thanks to our awesome PTC and the generous donations from previous Celebrate Saxe campaigns!

Saxe Math Team

The Saxe Math Team is looking for members this year! We participate in the AMC8 and Mathcounts competitions. This team is open to all students in Grades 5-8. If you are interested in joining, please complete the Saxe Math Team Registration Google Form by Thursday, September 30th. If you have any questions, please contact the K-8 Math Coordinator, Nicole Graham (nicole.graham@ncps-k12.org).

Saxe Middle School Dean of Students

This week, we were pleased to announce Mr. Jonathan Adams as our new Saxe Middle School Dean of Students. Mr. Adams will be integral in supporting our ongoing work on our positive school climate/culture, advancing our social emotional learning and emotional intelligence work, student advocacy, acting as a community liaison, and so much more! Please check out the official press release from earlier this week and stay tuned on how this important role will continue to contribute to our ongoing goals and work…

Saxe Building Tours

Wow! Beautiful building, but what’s inside? We recognize many of our families have not had a chance to see the inside of Saxe Middle School due to covid restrictions that have been in place the past year+. We will be sending information out early next week, for families who have not had a chance to see Saxe from the inside, to sign up for a tour.

Saxe Spirit

Whether it is positive vibes, “beeing” kind, or some cool science concept, we see some pretty neat t-shirts walk through our doors each day. Here are just a few:

Tweet Street

I am grateful for our greater Saxe Community, particularly parent partners, who suggest tools to help our students. Our school psychologists, social workers, some SE teachers and Ms. Visners are reading this book to better understand and support our students. Such a helpful book!

Seen around Saxe! Bringing our Charter to life!

Fifth grade is “all in” with the mood meter. Great messaging, an effective tool to understand each other, & a nice way to build relationships with classmates and teachers.

This youngster is looking good for picture day and has one the best #MasksOfSaxe that I have seen!

Some recess action shots from this week! A great way to get out and recharge (or relax) between classes.

We enjoyed visiting some EI lessons in 7th & 8th grade this week! Great messaging and a nice way to build relationships with classmates and teachers.

These raised gardens at Saxe have produced very well! (I may have tried one to make sure they were “safe” for others) 🙂

Now that is a crew arriving for school this week!

Picture Day

Students eagerly await their turn to smile for the camera!

Dogs of Saxe

Our four-legged friends continue to brighten our day each morning as they see their humans off to school!

Please note, we capture as many dogs as we can. If you would like your favorite friend to make it into the Saxe Weekly, please roll down your window and give a honk or a holler and we will snap a pic of your pooch…

Have a great week!

* A special thanks to Lauren Sherwood for the continuous stream of positive, optimistic quotes!

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