September 27, 2024
Dear Saxe MS Family,
I hope your week went well. This week in the Saxe Weekly, please join in checking out information and pictures from the following: Walk/Ride to School Day, National Custodian Day ’24, more on our “phone free schools”, Open Houses, Special Education, ELA, Science, and “thanks” to our PTC, a Celebrate Saxe preview, morning announcements, Music Explorations, Math, plants & bees, Library, new staff, recess, picture day, a lost and found reminder, Dogs of Saxe, and much more. Enjoy and have a wonderful weekend!
Be Well,
Dave Gusitsch
Principal, Saxe Middle School
Upcoming Noteworthy Dates:
10/2 – National Custodian Day
10/3 – Rosh Hashanah (school is not in session)
10/4 – Walk/Ride to School Day
*Quotes that resonated with us this week:
“Focus on your goal. Don’t look in any direction but ahead.” -unknown
“Education makes a people easy to lead but difficult to drive; easy to govern, but impossible to enslave.” —Peter Brougham
“Success is not final; failure is not fatal: It is the courage to continue that counts.”— Winston S. Churchill
“I never dreamed about success. I worked for it.” —Estée Lauder
“I never dreamed about success. I worked for it.” —Estée Lauder
Jokes of Saxe:
“Where do cows go for entertainment? To the moo-vies!”
“Why did the dinosaur cross the road? Because the chicken wasn’t born yet.”
“Why was the broom late for class? It over-swept.”
“What kind of shoes do all spies wear? Sneak-ers.”
“What do you say when you can’t understand a ninja? I’m kung-fu-sed.”
Saxe Walk or Ride to School Day
Saxe is teaming up with South Elementary and the Town of New Canaan to encourage students and families to walk or bike to school. For anyone wanting to participate who may live outside of “walking distance” from campus, the Center School Lot (South, Maple, Main) has been designated as a drop-off area. We hope students will wake up a few minutes earlier, have a hearty breakfast, and join in the fun with friends or families on the morning of Friday, October 4th (Walking Window: 7:30-7:55 am).
Here’s what we’ll have in place to help make it a fun and safe event:
- Staff members and town personnel will be present along the streets surrounding Saxe to greet walkers and direct them to safe places to cross.
- “Walk to School Day” signs will be posted on the neighboring streets to encourage motorists to drive slowly.
- Additional personnel from the police department and town will be stationed on the streets and at intersections.
- “Fill the Racks!” We have four bike rack areas, two outside the lower division entrance and two outside the main entrance, let’s fill them all up! Bicycle riding to school is not only permitted but encouraged. Bicyclists should walk their bikes across the street at appropriate crosswalks, and, please wear your helmets!
- Safety personnel will be stationed on the streets at dismissal time for those students who will also walk/ride home.
We hope to see you out and about next Friday (10/4) morning!
National Custodian Day – October 2nd
We are truly grateful to have one of the best custodial teams, anywhere! As we look ahead to National Custodian Day next week, we salute our “champions of Saxe”! Thank you, Tim, Darryl, Martin, Ted, Martha, Jonathan, Paul, James, Bob, Pete, and Wayne!
With gentle hands, you clear the way,
Turning night into bright day.
In every classroom, every hall,
Your silent strength supports us all.
You mend our spaces, make them bright,
A warm embrace in morning light.
So here’s a cheer, both loud and true,
Our awesome custodians, we’re grateful for you!
Phone Free Schools
Design Thinking continues for our Phone Free Schools Rollout. This week, the Design Thinking process advanced to the ideate and prototype phases, with our students and staff coming together to share ideas, gather input, and develop a prototype to present to Yondr. This was a true team effort, and our students, as always, played a crucial role in thinking through every detail, big and small.
After a successful ideate meeting on Tuesday afternoon, all 7th—and 8th-grade students were abuzz with wonder and inquiry as they got their hands on sample Yondr pouches during their lunch periods. It was a welcomed opportunity to hear their point of view on everything from the placement of unlocking keys to how they wanted to learn more about the initiative and how they were feeling about the system. Students also recorded quantitative data for the process, which our design team used on Wednesday and Thursday to prototype a model to present to the representative from the pouch company, Yondr, on Friday.
Once again, this incredible effort would not have been possible without leaders Ms Meyer, Ms. Nicholas, Mr. McCrae, Mr. Salvestrini, Ms. Kleis, and teachers/staff Mr. Ekstrom, Mr. Petrakopoulous, Ms. Smith, Ms. Orlando, Dr. Chadli, Ms. Jarosik, and Ms. Schneider.
Stay tuned… the rollout is coming!!
One of the best parts of the implementation of “tech pouches” at SaxeMS as part of our Phone Free Schools, has been the student & staff feedback sessions to figure out the most important considerations. Thanks to all involved, it has been an impressive process, so far!
In addition, Ms. Campbell’s workshop class, students had an additional opportunity to provide input into the Phone Free Schools Initiative by participating in a Socratic Seminar facilitated by their teacher. Ms. Campbell scripted student dialogue which included discourse on the rationale for the YONDR pouches, as well as questions and concerns. Additionally, students’ honesty in identifying possible “workarounds” provided valuable insight to help plan for a successful implementation, all while learning important life skills! We are grateful for our student and staff contributions as we move closer to the implementation date.
Open House
Thank you to everyone who came out for our grade 7 and 8 Open Houses this week! It was great to see our hallways packed with parents and experiencing the spaces that their children in “live in” from 8-2:30 each day! If you would like to check out the slide deck that was shared with parents to kick off each evening where they heard from our admin team, special area, and world language departments, you are invited to do so, below.
Thanks to Ms. Vavrika, Ms. Mykytenko, & Ms. Chadli for representing our Saxe World Language
program during the 7th-grade Open House… Our students are fortunate to be able to choose from Spanish, French, Latin, or Mandarin while at Saxe MS!
Thanks to Ms. Beatman & Ms. Lashendock for representing Saxe Art during the 7th-grade Open House… We are proud of the wide range of experiences our Saxe MS students get, &, equally as amazed by the terrific pieces that get produced!
Thanks to Ms. Orlando & Mr. Hautau for representing Saxe Health during the 7th-grade Open House… Our students are fortunate to learn such important life skills throughout their #healthed experience at SaxeMS!
Thanks to Mr. Arcamone for representing Saxe PE during the 7th-grade Open House… Our students are fortunate to get the Physical Education experiences they do, throughout their time at SaxeMS
Thanks to all of our Saxe MS families who came out for our 7th-grade Open House!
A very special thank you to “Open House Extraordinaire”, Ms. Benware… Without her passion for this evening, it just wouldn’t be the same!
Thanks to Ms. McMahon & Mr. Hearty for representing the Spanish & Latin programs, respectively, at our Saxe MS 8th-grade Open House. It was a great turnout & we appreciate all who joined us!
Thanks to Ms. Warren, Ms. Grainsky, & Mr. Zeiser for representing PE, Art, & Music, respectively at our Saxe MS 8th-grade Open House. It was a great turnout & we appreciate all who joined us!
Here is a quick view of some of what our Saxe MS students get to experience in the Saxe Design Lab! Think, collaborate, iterate, fabricate, try, retry, & more! #SaxeSTEM
Another big thank you to the PTC for providing dinner on the evenings of Open House this week. The staff was extremely appreciative and enjoyed not having to think about what to eat while getting ready for their big evening!
Thank you to our SaxePTC for helping enhance our school… Whether it is the nourishing dinners above, some flowers to brighten our spaces, or some lighting to accent our courtyards, you help make Saxe MS beautiful!
Who are the true stars of our SaxeMS Open House evenings? Our students! Here are just a few of the volunteers who helped make the parent experience the best it could be!
Whether they were announcing the transitions between classes, or helping parents find their way around Saxe MS, our dedicated student volunteers were eager to help in making it the best 8th-grade Open House possible… Nice work & thank you!
Special Education
Check out our new Motor Room (Physical & Occupational Therapy Space) in Rm. 108!
8th graders lead and dive into a lively discussion on football helmet safety in LA class—tackling big topics with bright minds! #SafetyFirst
Thank you PTC Volunteers!
Thank you to Jennifer Hart, Holly Hopkins and all the wonderful volunteers who helped make photo day a great experience for kids and staff alike! Your time and effort helped to make the day run extremely smoothly.
Science
Students in 8th grade Science are growing Brassica rapa plants as part of our Life Science unit. We planted our seeds the first week of school and have been observing the growth and development of the plants since then. The plants have begun to develop flowers and students made bee sticks to pollinate the plants. This was a great opportunity to learn about symbiotic relationships and the anatomy of bees and flowers.
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Below are photos and phrases that were included on our Saxe Middle School page (@SaxeMS) this week. Enjoy!
The excitement for #CeleSaxe24 is high as we started reviewing the artwork that dozens of SaxeMS students submitted for a chance to have their creativity on display throughout the building! Thanks to our #SaxeArt teachers, SaxePTC, & all of our students!
Thanks to our SaxeMS students who volunteer to read our morning announcements each day. From the latest news, to the “joke of the day”, to the Pledge of Allegiance, they do a terrific job setting the tone for the day!
There was a lot of student interest in the next phase of our “Phone Free Schools” rollout… Thanks to our at SaxeMS Design Thinking(Click the link to watch!) team for providing this opportunity for our students to check out & handle the pouches we will be introducing within the next couple of weeks!
Music Explorations students enjoy listening to some tunes & discussing what makes them recognizable in many different ways – very interesting!
Working through some equations in Math!
The plants in each of the 8th-grade Saxe Science classes are getting huge! Next step, pollination…
Speaking of pollination… Mr. Chard is providing the supplies to prepare the bees to “do their job” with the plants in the #SaxeScience classrooms…
Saxe Science brought their A-game for an experiential evening for parents at our Saxe MS Open Houses this week… Nice work & thanks!
8th-graders compare & contrast across species in Science… Some interesting conversations & debates about which should go where!
Saxe MS students discuss genes & traits as they relate to the real world in Science…
The “favorite character stars” continue to grow outside the Saxe Library. It’s great to see such enthusiasm & “energy” about reading at SaxeMS!
Thanks to our dedicated team members who help make our large school community feel smaller! We enjoy celebrating our Saxe MS staff…
A little drizzle didn’t stop this group of SaxeMS 8th-graders from getting out for a little fresh air & movement during #SaxeRecess!
Some “behind the scenes” views from Saxe MS Picture Day – the kids look great! And, thanks to all of our parent volunteers who have been helping out – you are appreciated!
Mr. Banas wins the “t-shirt of the day” award at SaxeMS today! Perfect for a Social Studies teacher…
Quick *L&F PSA: reminder to check for your belongings (next to the cafe). Thank you to our dedicated SaxeMS staff who keep it so neat & organized to look through! Please be respectful of other’s belongings & only take what’s yours…
(*Lost & Found Public Service Announcement)
A big SaxeMS “Welcome!” to our ELA Intern, Ms. Criscuolo! She has some unique experiences & we are excited to have her aboard!
A big SaxeMS “Welcome!” to our new Campus Monitor, Mr. Perry! He has an amazing background, is a nice addition to our team, & we are excited to have him aboard!
Dogs of Saxe
It was a good week for #DogsOfSaxe this week – so many visitors!
Hank, Clarence, & other #DogsOfSaxe were out to drop off their humans at SaxeMS arrival this week!
Great batch of #DogsOfSaxe to round out the week this morning! Thanks to all who share your pets with us at Saxe MS!
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
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