2024.5.17 – Saxe Weekly – The Saxe weekly

May 17, 2024

Dear Saxe Family,

Another week is “in the books” and students are excitedly counting down the days throughout the final month of the 2023-24 school year. While the countdown is on, we will still be focusing on our last month being filled with purposeful learning, meaningful experiences, and lots of laughs to make it the most memorable month of the year! We will continue to share snapshots with you through our weekly communications, but please continue to ask your child(ren) about their day or week – there is still a lot to look forward to!

This week in the Saxe Weekly, we take a look at Math, Art, School Counseling, Special Education, NCHS Service League of Boys, Saxe Spirit, elementary visits, 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:

5/22 Saxe Challenges in Art Exhibition (5:30 p.m.)

5/22 Saxe 5 -8 Orchestra Concert (7:00 p.m.)

*Quotes that resonated with us this week:

“Optimism is a happiness magnet. If you stay positive, good things and good people will be drawn to you.”-Mary Lou Retton

“Remember, you’re the one who can fill the world with sunshine.” ― Snow White, Snow White and the Seven Dwarves

“Those who are not looking for happiness are the most likely to find it, because those who are searching forget that the surest way to be happy is to seek happiness for others.” ― Martin Luther King Jr.

“The only thing that will make you happy is being happy with who you are.”— Goldie Hawn

Saxe Jokes:

Why did the load of laundry quit its job? Its career was all washed up.

How do aliens get clean? They take meteor showers!

Why did the cell phone get glasses?‍ Because she lost all her contacts.

What should you do when no one laughs at your science jokes? Keep trying till you get a reaction!

What do you get when you combine an elephant with a fish? Swimming trunks!

One Second Everyday

Back again 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 is a recurring, bi-weekly feature. At the end of the year, we will have a full version that includes every single day of the 2023-24 school year. Enjoy! (pro tip: to enjoy the video at a slower pace, change your viewing option to .75 speed).

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.

See more with the video here!

Art

7th-grade students are deep into their technology unit in art! The beauty of this unit is that it encourages hands-on fine motor art-making skills while also emphasizing the beauty of technology in art. After a week of storyboarding and communicating with partners, groups created their backgrounds and characters and began working with the stop motion app on the iPads to create short videos! A viewing premier day of all the videos will happen during the last week of school!

School Counseling

School Counselors Sarah Beltran, Brad Lepisto, and Tammy Nettleton taught 7th graders about how stress can actually be good for them, as it prepares them for a challenge. They also taught them specific strategies for managing stress productively by changing negative thought patterns. Great lesson to finish the year strong!

Special Education Parent Orientation

Our 5th grade Special Education team welcomed parents of students receiving special education services Friday, May 17th to provide an introduction to special education at Saxe. Thank you to all of the parents who attended and check your email for upcoming transition events!

NCHS SLOBs

For all boys attending New Canaan High School in the 2024-2025 academic year: Membership registration for the NCHS Service League of Boys for the 2024-2025 school year will open June 1st! All boys who attend NCHS are eligible to join this incredible service organization, the largest student club at the high school. Both first time and returning members need to register for the new membership year, which runs from June 1st through May 31st. Each student and parent/guardian member is expected to contribute a minimum number of service hours to remain a member in good standing. Many local philanthropies need our help over the summer months, so get a jump start on your volunteer hours and sign up now! Annual dues are $35. Click HERE to register or renew as of June 1st.

Twitter/X

Below are photos and phrases that were included on our Saxe Middle School page (@SaxeMS) this week. Enjoy!

Ready or not, the countdown is on! Teams across Saxe have put together A-Z countdowns to celebrate each day until the end of the 2023-24 school year. Whether it’s crazy hair, crazy hats, or decades day, our students are “bringing it” with the spirit!

Thank you to our School Counselors for delivering an excellent lesson on navigating different circumstances to our 7th-graders. It was informative to hear about the biological responses to situations & a great reminder that “mindset matters”!

This week we visited East and West to meet our incoming fifth grade class! Thank you to our fifth grade ambassadors for coming to share their experiences and thank you to our wonderful hosts at East and West! See you next week, South!

Cardboard creations are coming to life in Ms. Sailer’s room! Tons of talent on display, our students never cease to amaze…

Students were excited to share their artistic creations – nice work! 🎨

Some more watercolor action, including a “random configuration” portion, that looks like an amazingly realistic deep space image from the James Web telescope!

(Last photo stock space image from Google search)

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. Orlando – Health Education

Mr. McCrae – Building Manager

Ms. Rosen – Band/Music

Mr. Ellett – Teaching Assistant

The Pets of Saxe display is growing as our Saxe staff share their “animal family members”. Just another way to put the “unity in our community”!

Dogs of Saxe

Winnie may not “look” happy (total sweetheart) but brought tons of smiles to our Saxe staff at morning drop-off!

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)