2022.8.26 – Saxe Weekly – The Saxe weekly

August 26, 2022

Dear Saxe Students and Parents,

As we look forward to warmly welcoming our 1,300+ students on Monday morning, we would also like to welcome our parents to the 2022-23 school year as well! Every stakeholder plays a role in making our learning community the special one that it is. Below are some important details, live links, and helpful resources as we prepare for our first day…

The School Day

Upper Division (Grades 7, 8) will start at 8:00 am and end at 2:30 pm. (Periods U1-U8)
Lower Division (Grades 5, 6) will start at 9:15 am and end at 3:45 pm. (Periods L1-L8)

It is always helpful for your child to bring a printed copy of their schedule on the first day. Because there are some situations that require some last-minute finetuning, please print a fresh copy on Sunday evening. You may find the link to PowerSchool, here, and if necessary, instructions to access your child’s schedule, here.

When your child arrives at school on Monday, they should report as follows:

Grade 8 Students – Report to their Period U1, “A” Day World Language or Special Area class
Grade 7 Students – Report to their Period U1, “A” Day Core class
Grade 6 Students – Report to their Period L1, “A” Day Core class
Grade 5 Students – Report to the basketball court blacktop (recess/playground area). Students will be greeted by teachers, counselors, administrators, and support staff to be welcomed & guided to their first class of the day. In the event of inclement weather, an update will be sent out early Monday morning.

In the event of an absence on any given day, please email your child’s Division Office (G5/G6: brenda.carmichael@ncps-k12.org; G7/G8: lin.benware@ncps-k12.org) or call 594-4500.

Arrival and Departure

Thanks for following these simple rules to keep our students safe. Dropping off or picking up students on the street is unsafe. The passing of a school bus with its stop sign extended/lights flashing, is illegal & will be reported by the bus driver. Please review the arrival/departure locations and procedures here.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

We have been compiling a list of FAQs as we lead up to the opening of the school year. These include topics from backpacks to what to bring on Day 1, chromebooks, lockers to lunches, and everything in between. You are welcome to view these questions and the accompanying responses, here.

General Reminders

To minimize the constant distractions from personal technology, cell phones are not permitted & must be put on “silent” mode, or powered down, during the day. Smartwatches may be worn, but should not be used to communicate or access apps
There is no better way to start the day than with a hearty, healthy breakfast. Please remember to prepare each day by eating well in the morning.
To maintain the cleanest, and most respectful, environment possible, chewing gum and hats are not permitted in our classrooms or offices
Guidance for appropriate school attire, along with other important student information, is available in our handbook, here. All students and parents are encouraged to access and review this useful information
Our division secretaries, school counselors, and teachers are always happy to answer any additional/specific questions that you may have. Please feel free to reach out!

Saxe PTC

Finally, we invite all parents to be active members of our school community. As a member of the Saxe Parent Teacher Council (PTC) you may participate in a variety of efforts that are all designed to have a positive impact on the entire educational experience for your child. We are so grateful for our amazing PTC and the wonderful partnership that exists with our school! Please visit the Saxe PTC site, here.

Parting Thoughts

In our recent Saxe “Welcome Back Letter”, we offered an opportunity for students and parents to reflect on our focus of “Connection” for this new school year. I encourage you to have a conversation with your child(ren) around this topic, discuss the number of trusted adults that are here at Saxe to advocate for your child, and invite you to share how you would like to “connect” within our school community in the new year through this quick google form.

In addition to the above information, we will continue celebrating our Saxe students, staff, activities, and community through our weekly newsletter (saxems.com), our newly updated website, and our Twitter handle, @SaxeMS. I look forward to connecting, or reconnecting, with each of you soon!

Wishing everyone a great weekend and a restful night’s sleep on the eve of our new school year. We look forward to seeing our entire 2022-23 Saxe community come together for the first time on Monday!

Be well,

Dave Gusitsch

Principal, Saxe Middle School

Upcoming Noteworthy Dates:

8/29 – Welcome Back for the 2022-23 school year!

*Quotes that resonated with us this week:

“Teaching is more than imparting knowledge; it is inspiring change. Learning is more than absorbing facts; it is acquiring understanding.” – William Arthur Ward

“The duties of a teacher are neither few nor small, but they elevate the mind and give energy to the character.” – Dorothea Dix

“The aim of education should be to teach us rather how to think, than what to think – rather to improve our minds, so as to enable us to think for ourselves, than to load the memory with thoughts of other men.” – Bill Beattie

Here are some fun pictures that show some of the action that took place around Saxe over the summer. Enjoy!

Social Studies staff putting the pieces together and planning around differentiation and connectedness… Relationships & meeting our students where they are in their learning journey is the foundation of our most important work!

Special Education staff training on Executive Function and how to best meet the needs of all of our learners/students! Great PL all around…

The Math department has been diving into department time, with many great conversations and planning, all-around!

Science teachers warmed up department time with some content-specific Pictionary! Honestly, it was impressive and fun to watch!

Saxe staff putting their knowledge into practice in grade-level and special area breakout groups as they plan for the return of our students on Monday!

Nice to have our Saxe staff together for the official “Welcome Back” kickoff to the 2022-23 school year! We will be focusing on getting/staying “connected” to students, families, staff, community, all year. Thanks to our Saxe PTC for the sweet staff packs!

We can’t wait for our Meet & Greet today at 11! Our classrooms and teachers are excited to meet our new students and families! Welcome Class if 2026!

Great to see Saxe MS come “back to life” with our first students & families for the 2022-23 school year! Thanks to Mr. Bedard, administrators, counselors, secretaries, custodians, Saxe PTC & most importantly, our mentor students, for coordinating a terrific New to New Canaan Orientation!

What’s a sign of a great start to the 2022-23 school year at Saxe? An amazing bunch of new staff members having fun on their new teacher orientation scavenger hunt!

Such an amazing honor to have one of our Saxe alumni choose to give back to our learning community by doing his Eagle Scout project to enrich our outdoor learning spaces! The 300+ hours into his project will benefit thousands of students each year!

There are A LOT of improvements in the final stages as we look forward to welcoming our students back on Monday! Can’t wait to see everything ready for prime time as we kick off the 2022-23 school year! Thanks to all involved in this important work. We are grateful!