April 7, 2022
Dear Saxe Family,
As we approach our April break, it is nice to reflect on all that we have to be grateful for. The days are getting longer, the weather is getting warmer (hopefully, soon), and the natural reinvigoration that spring brings is right around the corner. It is my hope that over this break, you are able to enjoy a change of pace, relax, rejuvenate, spend time with those that you care about most, and hopefully return prepared for the “home stretch”. The final quarter of our school year is filled with events, celebrations, and experiences that bring the learning that has taken place over the course of the year, all together. It truly is a fabulous time of year.
We may have only had four days, but that does not take away from the action that took place at Saxe this week! In the latest Saxe Weekly, we take a look at the latest One Second Everyday, Saxe News, some educational celebrations, ELA, Wordle, Matilda, Band, STEM, and much more. Enjoy and have a wonderful April break!
Be Well,
Dave Gusitsch
Principal, Saxe Middle School
Upcoming Noteworthy Dates:
4/7 – Portal Open for Grade 6 – 8 Report Cards
4/8-4/17 – Have a great April Break!
4/18 – Welcome back!
*Quotes that resonated with us this week:
“Every day may not be good, but there’s something good in every day.” -Alice Morse Earle
“The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity. The optimist sees opportunity in every difficulty.” -Winston Churchill
“Happiness is not something you postpone for the future; it is something you design for the present.” – Jim Rohn
“While we may come from different places and speak in different tongues, our hearts beat as one.” – Albus Dumbledore
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).
Saxe News
Catch the latest episode of Saxe News! This episode’s topic is the new start times for next year. The episode runs just a little over 5 minutes. Enjoy!
Educational Celebrations
This week on the national educational celebration calendar, we recognized our Assistant Principals, Paraprofessionals, and Librarians. We are grateful for their professionalism and the role that each plays in supporting our students and helping create the best environment possible for our entire learning community. Thank you and we salute you!
English Language Arts (ELA) – Grade 5
Students in Mrs. Dobransky’s class created Sketch-notes during the nonfiction unit to show their understanding of the topics that were researched in class. Inquiry based research was done in writing class that led to exciting presentations and new learning about topics. A final digital presentation was created to showcase student learning. Here are some of the sketchnotes and students sharing their digital presentations with their peers.
Fifth grade students are now synthesizing their information text into their new learning of historical time periods. Here, Mrs. Adrian’s students are working together to learn about different time periods through partnerships and picture books to prepare for book clubs. They are also using their sketchnoting skills to make their thinking visible and hold onto the big ideas about the time period, characters, conflicts and settings in their books.
ELA – Grade 6
Sixth grade ELA classes completed information research- based websites. In these sites, you will find interesting and important topics from tortoises to The Titanic, D-Day to dolphins, Muhammad Ali to Michael Jordan, sandwiches to sea turtles and MORE!!!
ELA – Grade 8
April is National Poetry Month! One way that students have showcased their narrative skills in 8th grade is through the form of blackout poems. Earlier this year, students in Ms. Tomasio’s classes wrote personal narratives, and then they adapted their stories into the form of blackout poetry to showcase their symbols and powerful words. Educator and researcher Elana Aguilar states, “We need poetry… Poetry promotes literacy, builds community, and fosters emotional resilience” (Edutopia, 2013). Here are some examples of black-out poems in 8th grade where students were able to express their ideas in creative ways.
Join the Wordle CRAZE!
Calling all Wordlers out there, Saxe is about to join the world-wide Wordle craze! Our very own 6th grade student, Thomas Sullivan, would like to create the Saxe Wordle Challenge. To get our Saxe community ready to participate, Thomas has created a google form (click here) to see who would be interested in playing along. We are hoping to get the whole Saxe Community involved! If you are not familiar with Wordle, (click here) to learn all about it and then head to the form and solve the puzzle! A special thanks to Thomas, and, Happy Wordling!
Tweet Street
Below are photos and phrases that were included on our Saxe middle school Twitter page (@SaxeMS) this week. Enjoy!
So nice to see so many people at Saxe this evening for opening night of Matilda! Unbelievable talent on display!
Bravo! Amazing performance! Congrats to everyone involved in the latest Saxe musical, Matilda!
The Saxe auditorium was packed! (click on the “amazing performance” link to watch the final bow)…
Supporting our amazing Saxe 7 & 8 students! Break a leg to the entire cast and crew!!
Another Saxe birthday moment caught at drop off… Hope it was a great day, Lindsay – Happy Birthday!
To our amazing team of Saxe Assistant Principals – thank you! This week is a celebration of all that you do for our students, staff, and community ALL year! You are appreciated!
Our team of Saxe teachers and admin continue the ongoing work of planning for our shift in school start times for the 2022-23 school year. Thank you to everyone for their expertise and contributions!
To all of our Saxe Paraprofessionals – thank you for your dedication and commitment to our students! We are so fortunate and grateful to have an amazing team…
Thank you Saxe Teaching Assistants! We appreciate you!
A few of our amazing band members helped celebrate a birthday in the main lobby today. Thanks to all involved! Click here to watch the action…
Some of our students “took the show on the road” to perform for our elementary students this week… This is a great way to showcase, entertain, and inspire our future #SaxeMusic students! Click here to watch the performance in action.
Some impressive structures being built in Vivian Birdsall’s STEM lab! Thank you for providing these opportunities for our students.
A snapshot of the creativity, innovation, and design thinking on display in the STEM lab this afternoon. Thanks to Vivian Birdsall (&, team) for providing these opportunities for our Saxe students!
Try to watch this without smiling… The elasticity is amazing & the laughter at the end is priceless! Our students never cease to amaze me… (click here to watch the video in action).
Can’t disagree with this one…
Thanks to Ms. Russell for sharing this amazing display of art, creativity, nurturing, & positive messaging from her students! Congrats & thanks to all involved!
Have a great April break, see you on April 18th!
Thank you to all of our Saxe Weekly contributors! Each weekly edition is an example of collaboration in action. A special thanks to Lauren Sherwood for the continuous stream of positive, optimistic quotes!
Saxe Resources (live links)
Website: https://www.ncps-k12.org/saxe
The Saxe weekly 