October 27, 2023
Dear Saxe Family,
I hope your week was as nice as the weather outside has been! This week in the Saxe Weekly, we take a look at Halloween, a team Town Hall, Physical Education, Adapted PE, Automation & Robotics, Science, Art, Celebrating Celebrate Saxe, picture retakes, Sustainability Club, Peer Buddies, Library, ELA, outdoor learning, a grade 5 brainstorm, scenes around Saxe, Math, Saxe Spirit, a “flocking”, Dogs of Saxe, and much more. Enjoy and have a wonderful weekend (finally, a sunny Saturday is in the forecast)!
Be Well,
Dave Gusitsch
Principal, Saxe Middle School
PS – A quick message for students: it was brought to my attention (thank you, A!), that our school issued devices were not allowing you to see pictures that were posted in the Saxe Weekly. This defeats the purpose of the spirit of the Weekly and the situation should be corrected as of today. My apologies for the many previous editions of the Weekly that you may not have been able to fully see, but you are now welcome to go back and check them out – enjoy!
Upcoming Noteworthy Dates:
10/27 9:30am Joint PTC/PFA Cares Meeting – Wagner Room
10/31 Halloween No Homework (Be safe & have fun!)
11/2 7:00pm NC PTC/PFA Joint Speaker – Marc Brackett
11/3 Quarter 1 Ends (Grade 6-8)
11/3 Photo Retake Day
*Quotes that resonated with us this week:
“The question isn’t who is going to let me: it’s who is going to stop me.”-Ayn Rand
“The big lesson in life, baby, is never be scared of anyone or anything.”– Frank Sinatra
“By being yourself, you put something wonderful in the world that was not there before.”—Edwin Elliot
“I believe we are here on the planet Earth to live, grow up and do what we can to make this world a
better place for all people to enjoy freedom.” — Rosa Parks
“Life isn’t about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself.”― George Bernard Shaw
2023 Halloween Guidance
Halloween is a fun time of year for our middle school students. While we do not plan anything formal as a school, many students choose to “get in the spirit” by dressing up. For those choosing to wear a costume to school on Tuesday (10/31), please be sure to follow the guidelines below:
- Appropriate school dress protocols still apply as outlined in the “Personal Appearance” section of our student handbook, found on page 13.
- Please arrive at school dressed in costume. Students will not be permitted to change or apply makeup or hair products in school.
- Costumes are not permitted to include anything that would be considered a weapon (or toys representing weapons).
- Costumes should not include handheld props, noisemakers, restrict movement or vision, consist of anything that would prevent students from full participation in any/all classes.
- Costumes should not be distracting to classmates or teachers or be overly graphic, suggestive, or depict violence, blood, or gore.
- Costumes should not be overly graphic, suggestive, or depict violence, blood, or gore.
- If costumes do not follow the above guidance, are considered inappropriate, or compromise safety in any manner, students will be asked to contact home for a change of clothes.
We look forward to enjoying the spirit that Halloween brings for many and appreciate you helping us follow our charter when planning for a fun day!
Comfortable. Happy. Included. Respected. Safe.
Here’s a “throwback pic” from last year!
Team Town Hall
Every month 7Blue has a monthly celebration where we recognize students for outstanding work as it connects to our weekly character traits and whole school charter. Students also recognize the great work from each other. The celebration ends with a fun team building activity!
Physical Education
October was a busy month in Miss Goodman’s PE classes. We spent most of the month working on teamwork, communication, and collaboration during football. 5th and 6th graders got to have fun with their teams as they began to learn the rules for the game. 7th and 8th graders had the opportunity to step up as leaders and created a playbook to use throughout their scrimmages. We finished the month enjoying the beautiful weather and practicing aerobic endurance during the fall mile walk/run. If it doesn’t challenge you, it won’t change you!
Adapted PE
Students in Ms. DeRobertis’ class got to do their adapted PE today at Rising Star barn in Wilton. Students were able to help groom and care for Rolo the horse. One lucky student even got to take him for a walk back to his stall. A great time was had by all, thanks to Rolo for being such a good sport!
Automation and Robotics
Eighth graders enrolled in Automation and Robotics used the design process to create a Res-Q-Bot: a robot that moves in a specified pattern with the touch of a button. Students first mastered the Vex robotics hardware and then learned block coding. They then had to apply that knowledge and use ingenuity and collaboration to problem solve through the many obstacles they encountered while designing their robots. Next up: using their skills to design an automated mechanism that responds to the environment. Stay tuned for some amazing innovations!
Mystery Science
In Ms. DeRobertis’ class, they used mystery science to analysis the bones in our body! Students learned they have 27 bones in their hand! And they made their own X-Ray to show them all!
Art
The eighth graders in Ms. Duncan’s classes are working on pencil portraits using the grid method. New York Artist, Chuck Close is the inspiration for these drawings. His technique includes breaking down the composition of the face into smaller “bite sized” pieces in order to better focus. The drawings are looking fantastic so far!!
Working Hard
Students are experiencing the season and different environments within the school during physical therapy sessions.
Ms. Miller’s Class
Ms. Miller’s period 7 class practiced reading and writing skills with the use of popits and hand motions in flexible seating.
Celebrate Saxe Pizza Party Winners
We are excited to announce the winners of the “Pizza with the Principal” drawing (all students on the team with the highest participation in their grade were entered to win). Mr. Gusitsch will host a lunchtime pizza party for each of our lucky winners and three of their friends:
- 5th (green team): Owen Coyle
- 6th (red team): Claire Amundsen
- 7th (purple team): Zachary Weiss
- 8th: (purple team): Molly Monohan
Here is a fun video of Mr. Gusitsch pulling the names of the winners!
Picture Day Retakes
A reminder that next Friday, November 3rd is Photo Retake Day! If your child hasn’t had their photo taken, please have them do so for the Saxe Yearbook! If they had their picture taken and you would like a retake, please have them bring their unwanted photos to retake day so that the photographers know which package was ordered.
Sustainability Club & Peer Buddies
The sustainability club visited the Peer Buddies class to gather ideas about how they can help us utilize the outdoor space better (e.g. greenhouse) and projects that could be accomplished together (e.g. plant native species, butterfly garden, a few ideas that were generated).
Sustainability Club
Students in Lower Division Sustainability Club are perfecting their planting skills by planting peppers and herb seeds for the greenhouse and repotting Jade plants. Next week, they will apply those skills to planting seedlings in rockwool for the hydroponic garden. Check back to see what we grow!
Grade 7 Reminder
Just a reminder that 7th grade students should start their day with a good breakfast! Many students have been requesting to purchase snacks throughout the day…
Twitter/X
Below are photos and phrases that were included on our Saxe Middle School page (@SaxeMS) this week. Enjoy!
Saxe 8 Green chose a perfect representation of middle school to celebrate this Halloween season – each is interesting, colorful, & unique!
Saxe 8 Red is also getting into the Halloween spirit!
Sweet treat delivery from my ACCESS friends today! Highlights from their visit today: using eye gaze to communicate, hearing a student’s “big voice”, and two Halloween jokes.
Some of our Saxe students were fascinated by the surveillance equipment that was on campus this week. Thanks to the surveyors who kindly took the time to explain the process & equipment to them!
This Saxe project is picture worthy – nice work!
The “Sticker Art” in the Saxe Design Lab is coming along nicely. This is a great demonstration of teamwork, patience, & perseverance! Some brainstorming has begun on how to tie this in with teams &/or grade-levels as an act of “unity” – stay tuned!
Some cool options for Saxe students to creatively express, or challenge, themselves in the Saxe Library!
Thanks to Ms. Martocci & Ms. Stilwell for providing this engaging short story deep-read experience in the Saxe Library!
Ms. Lashendock got her Saxe Art classes out several times this week to explore different environments & expand the creative boundaries!
Ms. Granite covers some important topics in an interactive, engaging manner this week at
Saxe. Love to see the great student participation!
Grade 5 participated in an anti-bullying lesson and brainstormed ways to make others feel our charter (Comfortable, Happy, Respected, Included and Safe). Great work, grade 5!!
P.s. how awesome is this shirt!? Shine bright, student 😍
Celebrating the great weather this week with some outdoor time at Saxe!
Mr. Ekstrom has been using many different spaces with the Sustainability Club at Saxe. Love seeing the action in Hawks Valley!
Tables are in & ready for use in the Saxe Hawks Valley courtyard! Thanks to our Saxe PTC for their ongoing support!
6th-graders participate in a little kinesthetic learning while making their “thinking visible” as they work together in #SaxeMath. Nice collaboration!
Saxe Spirit! Love to see it!
Thanks to Ms. Hendry for capturing a few moments of having some fun with our students at recess!
Thank you to our fabulous Hospitality Committee for putting on one of the best events that takes place here – TGIF breakfast! It was a great way to start the day & we are grateful… 🍳
The bike racks were packed today! Love seeing it… For those wondering, we have some more racks ready to install, soon – stay tuned!
Saxe got “flocked” today! 🦩 🦩
Great message on display during morning drop off at Saxe!
Thank you to NC Cares, NCHS PFA, Saxe PTC, & Dr. Harrison for a wonderful, informative session on “Lifestyle Medicine”… Our daily practices shape who we are & we can help each other be our best selves (setting goals, accountability, & hugs 🙂 )…
Thanks to our Saxe staff who take the time to share some seasonal views from around our campus – it’s a beautiful time of year in CT!
Thanks to Ms. Nelson for bringing her class outside on this gorgeous day at Saxe!
Nice weather this week has lots of Dogs Of Saxe wishing their humans a great day at school!
Sunny, seasonal scenes from around Saxe this week!
Have a great week, see you next Friday!
Thank you to all of our Saxe Weekly contributors! Each weekly edition is an example of collaboration in action. A special thanks to Melissa DiMeglio for the continuous stream of positive, optimistic quotes!
Saxe Resources (live links)
Website: https://www.ncps-k12.org/saxe
Saxe Middle School
Celebrating Our Learning Community Through Caring, Communication, & Commitment
