2024.8.30 – Saxe Weekly – The Saxe weekly

August 30, 2024

Dear Saxe MS Family,

Welcome back! It may have only been two school days, but it has been a great start to the 2024-25 school year! Each week, we will be sharing some highlights and snapshots that take place throughout the building for you to witness some of the learning, experiences, and fun that our students and staff have each week. Thank you for taking a moment to scan, enjoy, and gain some insight as to what really makes Saxe Middle School the special learning community that it is!

This week in the Saxe Weekly, we take a look at our kickoff to the school year, phone free schools, our new staff members, a note from our SRO, some Saxe Spirit, team building, professional learning, Hawk’s Court, “believing”, a shout out to our custodial and maintenance crews, and much more. Enjoy and have a wonderful long weekend!

Be Well,

Dave Gusitsch

Principal, Saxe Middle School

Upcoming Noteworthy Dates:

9/2 – Labor Day (Have a great long weekend!)

9/4 – New to New Canaan Saxe Parent Coffee – 9:30 am @ Outdoor Learning Center

*Quotes that resonated with us this week:

“Always believe that something wonderful is about to happen” – Dr. Sukhraj Dhillon

“I believe in hope. I believe in believe.” ~ Ted Lasso

Labor Day

Enjoy the long weekend!

Phone Free Schools

As we prepare for the full roll-out of our Phone Free Schools (lockable pouches), we have begun our school year with clear expectations that phones and digital communication devices (smart watches, wireless headphones, etc.) need to be “off and away”. This is not a change to our past practices, just a reminder to our students and staff. Please continue to power these devices down and put them “away for the day” before walking into the building (if it is easier, please feel free to leave them home) :). While we will still be using school-approved technology as part of the learning process, we look forward to helping students disconnect from unnecessary distractions, to connect with those around them during our time together! We will be communicating additional information to support our Phone Free Schools in the coming weeks. If you have any questions, please contact your School Counselor or Ms. Benware.

2024-25 Kickoff

Want to check out a quick snapshot of the first day of the school year at Saxe Middle School, including a fun video? Check out the “Welcome Back” post from yesterday, here!

Welcome New Teachers!

Safety Reminder from SRO Blank

Please make sure to adhere to the Saxe dismissal procedures. It is important to pick students up at the front of the building and not on the cross streets away from the school. We want to help keep our students safe!

Saxe Spirit

As part of their art class last year, students were asked to design plastic stadium cups for school. If chosen, the cups would be printed and given out to staff members as part of their welcome-back gift. Anca Jordan, Ryann Wolfgruber, and Solomia Lencyk were three of our winners! Each of them below is holding their winning designs! Congratulations to each of them and we thank them for sharing their unique talents with us!

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

Departure on “Day 1” at Saxe – it was a good day, all around!

Our Saxe students & staff made the most out the first day of school, including a rock, paper, scissor team championship! Making memories (click to see the video) & forging relationships…

Saxe Recess has a little something for everyone, especially with the newly opened Hawk’s Court – students loved it!

Saxe Science classes were right back at it with our students brainstorming, problem-solving, & team building right out of the gate on Day 1. Nice work by all!

“Non-traditional” Day 1 activities?! Yes, please! Why wait to get right into incorporating movement into the Saxe Math classroom?!

Love seeing our Saxe students connect with former staff members… What better way to start the first day of a the school year than with a familiar, friendly face. Thanks for greeting them (&, many others) Ms. Collins!

Our “one word” this year at Saxe MS is Believe… Despite what Ted Lasso fans may think, it came about organically & is a perfect fit & focus for us. However, if that helps us build momentum, we’re “all in” – love seeing the signs pop up around the building!

Thank you to our Saxe MS Custodial & Maintenance crews who had our entire school/campus in tip-top shape to welcome our students back this week!

And we’re off & running with the 2024-25 school year at Saxe MS! It’s great to see our students again & see the classrooms, hallways, & campus “come back to life”… Happy “Day 1” to everyone in our school community!

Excited for the beginning of a new chapter and school year at Saxe MS! Best wishes to all of our kids and colleagues!!

Words can not express the gratitude toward everyone involved in bringing the Hawk’s Court project to fruition! It turned out amazing & will serve our @SaxeMS students (&, NC community) for many years to come! Thank you to, ALL!

Special shoutout to our #SaxeHawk for helping open the court in style!

What a crowd to see the “first-ever” Knock-Out Champ on Hawk’s Court! WH outlasted peers, & teachers (&, maybe admin 😂), to take home the crown! Congrats! Click here, to check out the final “championship shots”!

Grateful for our @SaxeMS staff and all the amazing effort they put into Professional Learning (PL) over the last few days – it has been a terrific start to the year, already!

And, our @SaxeMS staff had some fun along with their PL

Congrats to our “RPS” finalists, Mr. White & Ms. Orlando – it was an epic battle!

Welcome to the newest members of the “Saxe Family”! We are proud to have you join our team!

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)