June 7, 2024
Dear Saxe Family,
As we wrap the last full week of the 2023-24 school year, we have so much to be grateful for, and, so much still to look forward to! This week in the Saxe Weekly, we take a look at all of our upcoming events for the final week of school, the latest 1Second Everyday, Walk/Ride to School Day, a new episode of Saxe News, Math, Robotics, Empower your Lunch Hour, Grade 8 Brownstone Trip, Fun Day, some positive reflections, outdoor learning, elementary school visits, ELA, tons of Music & Art, a Saxe birthday, Dogs of Saxe, and SO much more. Enjoy and have a wonderful weekend!
Be Well,
Dave Gusitsch
Principal, Saxe Middle School
Upcoming Noteworthy Dates:
6/10 8th Grade Bagel Breakfast/Yearbook Distribution (8:00/9:20)
6/10 8th Grade Farewell Bash (5:30 pm)
6/10 NCHS Graduation Walk
6/11 Saxe Walk/Ride to School Day
6/11 Grade 7 Yearbook Distribution
6/11 8th Grade Class Picnic
6/12 Grade 7 Field Trip to Camp Kiwi
6/12 Grade 5 & 6 Yearbook Distribution
6/13 8th Grade Promotion Ceremony Rehearsal
6/14 Gr. 8 Promotion Ceremony @ NCHS (9:45am)
6/14 Parent Portal Open for Final Report Cards (All grade levels)
6/14 Last day of school (1/2 Day) – Happy Summer ‘24!
*Quotes that resonated with us this week:
“Permit yourself to change your mind when something is no longer working for you.” – Nedra Glover Tawwab
“Don’t worry. Be happy.”-Bobby McFerrin
“Happiness held is the seed; happiness shared is the flower.”-John Harrigan
“Your talent determines what you can do. Your motivation determines how much you’re willing to do. “Your attitude determines how well you do it.” — Lou Holtz
“Success is Where Preparation & Opportunity Meet.”-Unknown
Saxe Jokes:
What time of year do people get injured the most? In the fall!
What did the spider make online? A website!
What kind of tree does a math teacher climb? Geometry
What kind of shoes do all spies wear? Sneak-ers
What do librarians take with them when they go fishing? Bookworms!
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).
South/Saxe Walk to School Day
Get your walking shoes, scooters, or bikes ready! We are pleased to announce that we will hold Walk to School Day on Tuesday, June 11th (the weather looks favorable!). A big thank you to Tiger Mann, Director of the Department of Public Works, his crew, and the volunteers from the New Canaan Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) for their willingness to help us out with crossing families safely at the many intersections along the walking routes to school on this day.
Saxe News
Linked below is the latest episode of Saxe News. This week, students discuss spring sports and activities they are taking part in. Enjoy!
Math
Students in Ms. Hubbard’s Math 7 class are exploring areas of the parallelogram, triangle, trapezoid, and circle. Each exploration requires deconstructing the shape and relating its area to that of another shape and ultimately discovering the formula for area! [Mr. Fox joined a group in celebration of “Stuffed Animal Day” on S day (ABC countdown.]
The mathematicians in Ms. Lupo’s class have been busy communicating, collaborating, and problem-solving in their final units of study. Math 5 students used models to represent decimal division, supporting their numerical reasoning. Compacted Math 5 students work together to use tables, graphs, expressions, and equations to model situations with unknown quantities.
Robotics
This week, our 8th-grade Robotics workshop had visitors from ASML come and give a panel discussion about education and career pathways in engineering. Students listened to the panelists describe their educational backgrounds in both high school and college and how their educational experiences shaped their careers. They also introduced students to the variety of engineering careers and departments at ASML including representatives from the robotics division, software division, and research and development division. Students then had a chance to ask the panelists questions and listen to more about their day-to-day responsibilities, what inspires them, and what they like most about their career. The students and panelists had lively and inspiring discussions!
Empower Your Lunch Hour
As the year comes to a close our 8th grade Empower Your Lunch Hour is finishing up some long-term projects. First, Ms. Saab came to us with a challenge: fix her broken solar lights.
Students began tackling the problem by investigating the broken part and brainstorming solutions. After some discussion, students decided to 3D design and print the part.
After many failed attempts and redesigns, our students created the perfect piece that fit the part and was durable enough to withstand the elements.
Our second project involved a year-long collaboration with Ms. Needle at East Elementary School. Ms. Needle’s class needed a multipurpose storefront for their social studies unit. Students in both Ms. Needle’s class and EYLH used the Design Thinking process to collaboratively create a custom design that could be easily stored and multifunctional. Our 8th graders used TinkerCad and SketchUp to create multiple designs to present to the elementary students. After receiving feedback and iterating the design, students built a prototype out of foam-core. We then tested the prototype in the space and received some more feedback from the elementary students regarding size and design. Afterward, students researched materials and methods for building, including sourcing appropriate wood types and sizes. Students are now in the process of cutting and building the final product. We hope to present it to Ms. Needle at the end of next week for use by next year’s students!
7th grade Empower Your Lunch Hour students utilized a marble run/Rube Goldberg to engineer a continuous loop system. This hands-on activity encouraged them to apply principles of physics, such as gravity, momentum, and energy transfer. By experimenting with different configurations and troubleshooting challenges, the students developed critical thinking and problem-solving skills. Their collaborative efforts not only fostered a deeper understanding of mechanical systems and design but also highlighted the real-world application of scientific concepts in an engaging and interactive manner.
See a fun video of their work here!
Grade 8 Brownstone Trip
Saxe 8th-graders on their way to Brownstone Adventure Park to celebrate their final week of school – it’s a perfect day for it!
8th-graders had a perfect day for their trip to Brownstone! Sounds like it was a terrific trip!
8Green
Here’s the “scoop” on how our year went! One of 8 Green’s senior interns, Rachel, helped plan and facilitate an end-of-the-year bulletin board for the students to reflect on their year as an 8th grader. Students decorated these unique and colorful ice cream cones with their two favorite memories from 8th grade.
SLOBS Registration for 2024-2025 Opens June 1!
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.
Steve & Abby
VP and AVP of SLOBS Membership
New Canaan Dance Presents Cinderella
If you are interested in tickets, you can purchase them here. Best wishes to all the students at Saxe who are participating!
Twitter/X
Below are photos and phrases that were included on our Saxe Middle School page (@SaxeMS) this week. Enjoy!
Students in Mr. Devine’s Social Studies classes have been taking advantage of the outdoor learning spaces at Saxe to do the recording on their podcast projects. It was a perfect environment for inspiration & collaboration, all with a little Vitamin D mixed in!
A few more classes taking advantage of some outdoor learning opportunities around Saxe!
Thanks to Ms. Jordan for keeping our many planters around Saxe looking so great, all year long!
Thanks to Remzi (& the rest of our Saxe maintenance crew), we are looking ready/prepared to celebrate our 8th-graders!
Grade 5 Fun Day(Click to watch!) is underway on this beautiful day! Thank you to all of our parent volunteers (&, staff) who make this possible for our students!
Grade 5 Fun Day is in the books! Thank you to our amazing PTC for their support and to our incredible grade 5 parent volunteers!
Grade 6 Fun Day was another successful event… Fun was had by students & staff alike! Thanks to ALL involved!
What’s a great way to start the day at Saxe? Seeing the busses here & ready to roll for the 8th-grade trip to Brownstone, the inflatables ready for the 5th & 6th Fun Day events
This week we welcomed our wonderful West 4th graders to Saxe! Students enjoyed creating a sample schedule, going on a scavenger hunt around the school and playing a kahoot to help get to know fifth grade. Welcome to Saxe, fourth graders!
Great turnout for the incoming 5th-grade tours at Saxe! Thanks to the 80+ student leader/ambassadors who helped lead the groups around the building – nice work!
Thank you to all of our fourth graders, fifth graders tour guides, Saxe counselors, our incredible PTC and our wonderful families for making tonight’s Welcome to Saxe Night a huge success! We can’t wait to welcome the class of 2028 to Saxe in a few months!
Another successful visit with our East 4th graders today! We love welcoming our future fifth graders to
Saxe!
Ms. Martocci’s ELA classes have been collaborating on “author interviews” in the library… Great discussions & creativity on display!
Some of our Saxe Automation & Robotics students were lucky enough to hear from a panel of professionals from local organization ASML, on their career journeys & tips for a successful, enriching future!
Bravo to the Saxe 8th-grade Chorus on a terrific performance!
Saxe 7th-graders kick off the Spring Choral Concert with a terrific rendition of the Star Spangled Banned!
Saxe 7th-graders close out their set with a talented( Click to watch!) version of Viva La Viva!
C’mon! This is an 8th-grade Chorus singing Bohemian Rhapsody?! You’d never believe it – such impressive talent! Congrats to all of our Saxe (Click the link to watch!) students (Click to watch!) & teachers…(Click to watch!)
Saxe 5th graders closes with “Promised Land”(Click the link!) & 6th closes out with an awesome (Click the link to watch!)rendition of “Counting Stars”… Great show all around – Congrats to All!
Good luck to the Saxe 5th & 6th-grade Choral programs on their Spring Concert – great start with “The Star Spangled Banner!”
Congratulations to our Grade 5 and Grade 6 chorus ensembles! Beautiful singing and excellent song choices! What a way to close (Click the link!) out the concert (Click the link to watch!)series Saxe!
Timing could not have been more perfect for this trio of Saxe violinists practicing their craft near the main lobby… It was like a personal concert for our East School 4th-grade visitors!
Great turnout for the Photo Club Spring Exhibit… Congrats to all of our Saxe students who participated & thanks to all the families who attended!
Students in Ms. Sailer’s Saxe Art class have been working on some colorful creations & they are looking great!
Creativity & inspiration are just two of the positive byproducts that our Saxestudents experience in their Art classes… Amazing talent, imagination, & spirit are all on display!
Students in Ms. Sailer’s Saxe Art class have been working on some colorful creations & they are looking great! #SaxeArt
Neat to see some of the recent collaborative art projects finished & on display – great teamwork & impressive end products!
Thanks to our Saxe PTC volunteers who pitched in to help get the 8th-grade promotion certificates ready for the ceremony next week… They look great!
Started the day with a birthday celebration at Saxe- hope it was the best one yet!
Mr. Bedard takes the Saxe morning announcements seriously, but has fun doing it!
Love seeing the Saxe “grad signs” going up around town! #Saxe2024
Great message coming up East Ave in New Canaan – “Be Your Best You”… Excellent reminder, for all!
Dogs of Saxe
Rocky & Rocco visiting at drop-off! Tons of fun & celebrations on tap for today!
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
