April 26, 2024
Dear Saxe Family,
It seems hard to believe that we were on break just last week. We hit the ground running this week and have a ton of fun learning experiences to share with you! This week in the Saxe Weekly, we take a look at Spring Daytime Open Houses, “Tech & Teens”, Math, Arbor Day, Science, PE, Special Education, Lego Robotics, Scenes around Saxe, our Saxe SRO, a new globe in the Saxe Library, Chess Club, outdoor learning, Hawk’s Valley, a group sonnet, celebrating our Administrative Assistants, Earth Day, a dyslexia learning session, Pets of Saxe (Staff), Dogs of Saxe, and much more. Enjoy and have a wonderful weekend!
Be Well,
Dave Gusitsch
Principal, Saxe Middle School
Upcoming Noteworthy Dates:
4/29 – Saxe Daytime Open House (info below)
4/30 – Saxe Daytime Open House (info below)
5/2 – CT State Latin Day Trip – Holiday Hill
5/2 – Incoming Grade 5 Parent Orientation
5/3 – Saxe/South Walk to School Day
5/3 – School Lunch Hero Day
*Quotes that resonated with us this week:
“Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.” —Albert Einstein
“Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around.” —Leo Buscaglia
“If you want to lift yourself up, lift up someone else” —Booker T. Washington
“Do your little bits of good where you are; it’s those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world.” —Desmond Tutu
- “You cannot do a kindness too soon, for you never know how soon it will be too late.” ― Ralph Waldo Emerson
Spring Daytime Open House
To all Grade 6, 7, & 8 parents, you are invited to attend our 2024 Spring Daytime Open House during the week of April 29th – May 7th, 2024! The schedule below depicts the specific day, date, and time for each respective grade/team. Similar to the Winter Daytime Open House, Grade 6-8 teams will host their program within their respective team classroom area. For parents who are unable to attend during the scheduled time, information will be made available to show the content that was covered.
The Spring Daytime Open House series will differ from the Winter one as they will be less about specific content covered and more about a celebration of learning from this year! Student work samples (either physically or digitally) will be on display from respective content areas and you will have an opportunity to see the product of the learning that your children have been experiencing this school year.
Due to limited parking on campus, the Lower Division Circle will be available to park for the 10:10 and 11:20 sessions. There may also be a few spots open in the Lower Parking Lot by the playground or a few spots at the front of the school.
If you have any further questions regarding our Winter Daytime Open House program, please feel free to contact your child’s counselor or grade-level administrator.
Tech & Teens/Tweens
This week, the Saxe PTC, in conjunction with NC Cares, kept the important conversation of “Tech and Teens/Tweens” going with a parent meeting on Thursday. New Canaan parent and Psychologist, Dr. Kelly Tuller, shared information, ideas, and resources on developmentally critical components for middle level students. These included: Executive functioning, self-esteem, sleep, and more. Thank you to Dr. Tuller, our Saxe PTC, NC Cares, and all who attended! If you are interested in viewing the presentation, you are welcome to access it, below. Feel free to scroll down to see more images from the presentation in the “X” section of the Weekly!
Also, here are a few links that might be helpful to families.
Cellphones and Devices: A Guide for Parents and Caregivers | Common Sense Media
Parenting, Media, and Everything in Between | Common Sense Media
Finally, here are a few helpful pointers from our previous speaker on social media, Max Stossel, in case you missed them:
(More info & live links in the Google Doc above)…
Administrative Assistant/Professionals Day
Thank you to our Saxe Administrative Assistants! We are blessed with some of the best around & grateful for all that they do! Thank you, Lin, Brenda, Ashley, Melissa D, Melissa G, Lisa J, Roseann M, & Sue R!
And, thanks to our awesome Saxe PTC for helping each Administrative Assistant “feel the love”!
Math
Students in Ms. Lanna’s fifth-grade math classes are learning to multiply and divide fractions. They are collaborating, grappling, and problem-solving. Students are also using what they know about modeling multiplication of fractions and mixed numbers to understand and represent the division of unit fractions by whole numbers using area models, tape diagrams, and tiles. Watch a video of two of her students here:
Science
Happy Arbor Day!
*there were at least 15 that were identified, with many more around campus to investigate!
Physical Education
Miss Goodman’s PE classes have been continuing to have fun throughout the month of April. Students started the month doing some wiffleball where students learned how to bat and play the field positions as well as be supportive teammates. After break, we transitioned to Project Adventure. This week 5th graders traversed the rock wall while grades 6-8 learned how to put on harnesses and be part of the team belay. Up next: all the climbing elements… climb away!
Mrs. Hendry’s PE classes just finished their Project Adventure unit where students in 5th grade participated in the Flying Squirrel, 6th grade climbed the rock wall, 7th grade rock climbed and did the Leap of Faith, and students in 8th grade climbed the Centipede and the Dangle Duo. All activities involved working together, trusting peers, communicating effectively, and branching out of our comfort zone to try taking safe risks; which are all important skills to use throughout life! One lucky class of 5th graders got to give Mrs. Granite her very first Flying Squirrel experience and Mrs. Hendry even got a turn too!
Special Education
We have had a busy week in the Access room! We’ve been reading Charlotte’s Web and understanding the setting by making a beautiful barn with Ms. Turner. We also visited the New Canaan Library and celebrated Earth Week with our peer buddies!
Lego Robotics Club
Students are having fun while exploring the exciting world of robotics using our new Lego Spike kits. They are designing, building, and programming their own robots and inventions, while making new friends and preparing for possible future competitions. The to Ms. Pacelli for providing this opportunity for our students!
Twitter/X
Below are photos and phrases that were included on our Saxe Middle School page (@SaxeMS) this week. Enjoy!
Ecosystems, probability, Earth Day, addressing formal letters, executive functioning, equations, research, & of course, relationship building, were just a few examples of the learning experiences on our first day back from April break at @SaxeMS. It was a great day!
Good morning & welcome back from April break, @SaxeMS! It’s nice to see everyone back in the building & we look forward to a great week!
Saxe Science classes taking note while observing inverted images through a magnifying glass – fascinating!
The inverted image, as seen through the magnifying glass:
The actual image, as we see it:
Not just here to keep us safe! Our Saxe SRO discusses ecosystems with one of our Science classes – thanks, Officer Blank!
Thanks to @newcanaancares, our @SaxePTC, & Dr. Tuller for continuing to bring attention to the important topic of “Tech & Teens/Tweens”. Such an important conversation to keep going!
Thanks to @newcanaancares, our @SaxePTC, & Dr. Tuller for continuing to bring attention to the important topic of “Tech & Teens/Tweens”. Executive functioning, self-esteem, & sleep are three critical components for middle level students!
Welcome to the newest addition to the Saxe Library – we are excited to see our students learn from/with this new tool!
The globe has already been a big hit! Lots of students have seen it from the hallway and come in to take a look, and many students and teachers visiting the library have taken time to take a closer look, as well…
Saxe Chess club was back at it challenging each other this week. It’s a great group of students who regularly challenge each other while having fun!
Mr. Ekstrom took advantage of the nice weather to get his class out for a lesson in the #SaxeHawksValley outdoor learning space. We are so fortunate to have such unique, dynamic learning environments!
Students in Ms. Pabon’s class performed a group sonnet & brought their “A-game” with these outfits – nice work!
Students in Ms. Bohlmann’s class were all smiles to be outside for a probability activity! (&, they got it all in right before the rain arrived!)…
Happy Earth Day from @SaxeMS! Thanks to those who help keep our campus beautiful & for our dedicated staff & students who made a “trash pick up” round in honor of Earth Day! They came back with a couple of bags of recyclables & trash. Way to think globally & act locally!
Thanks to Ms. Genuario for coming over to @SaxeMS to share some insight & resources on the topic of dyslexia. It was a great presentation & we are grateful for your time – thank you!
Pets of Saxe (staff)
For the past couple of months, we have been featuring the pets who reside at the homes of some of our staff members. Thanks to Mr. Gillan who coordinated this effort to provide this opportunity to get to know each other a little better and further unite our school community! Thanks to all who have contributed as well… If you are a staff member and would still like to participate, you are welcome to access the slideshow and enter your pets (the slide deck continues to grow each week!). Enjoy!
Ms. Giorno – Main Office
Ms. Smith – Grade 7 Science
Ms. Graham – LD Nurse
Ms. Nelson – Grade 6 Social Studies
Dogs of Saxe
Nice weather is bringing out more & more #DogsOfSaxe! Great way to start the day!
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
