April 4, 2025
Dear Saxe MS Family,
Happy April! As we get underway in our 4th quarter of the school year, we look forward to finishing the year on a strong note. We have a lot planned for both our 7th and 8th graders, and we are excited to have some fun as we enter the spring. We also remind our students that there is still some work to be done to close the year as strongly as we began and continued up to this point. As always, we encourage our students to keep the lines of communication open with our teachers, school counselors, and/or any other trusted adults who work with them on a regular basis. We have an amazing school community, and we are grateful to be able to provide as much care and support to our students and families as we do on a regular basis!
This week in the Saxe Weekly, we take a look at Math, World Language, Art, Paraprofessional Day, AP Week, National School Librarian Week, summer enrichment, grade 8 end-of-year events, Autism Awareness day, Spring scenery, sustainability, April Fools, “mindsets”, a Saxe Hawk & East Eagle sighting in the same week, Dogs of Saxe, and much more. Enjoy and have a wonderful weekend!
Be Well,
Dave Gusitsch
Principal, Saxe Middle School
Upcoming Noteworthy Dates:
4/7-11 National Assistant Principals Week
4/12-20 April Break!
*Quotes that resonated with us this week:
“Life isn’t a matter of milestones, but of moments.” – Rose Kennedy
“Success is stumbling from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm.” – Winston Churchill
“Be sure you put your feet in the right place, then stand firm.” – Abraham Lincoln
“It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.” — Aristotle
“Different, not less.” – Temple Grandin
Saxe Jokes:
“Why didn’t the farmer’s son study medicine? Because he wanted to go into a different field?”
“Why did the firefighter quit her job? She got burned out!”
“Why didn’t A and C prank their friend? They just letter B”
“Why was the cell phone scared to go to the dentist? He didn’t want him to remove his blue tooth.”
“What word has 5 letters and starts with “gas”? Truck”
Math
The students in Ms. Kiley’s Math 7 class are learning how to calculate percentages. They explored several different models and tools such as double number lines, tape diagrams, ratio tables, proportions and percent equations. The students participated in an “around the room” activity to apply their skills.
Students in Ms. Kiley’s Algebra class are learning how to multiply polynomials. Students compare strategies and models to multiply polynomials with accuracy and efficiency.
World Language
An April Fool’s Day Prank (mixing it up with languages): Latin students walked in to initially find an “agenda” written in French! It was fun to see students amused and baffled for a moment, before trying to figure out what the agenda said. Not only did students pick up a few French words, students were also able to make Latin connections along the way, such as ‘Nous’ from ‘Nos,’ ‘Completez’ from ‘Complere,’ or ‘Est’ from ‘Est’ (albeit pronounced differently in French)!
Art
Some of our seventh graders are working on Pop Art paper mache sculptures in Art class. After studying the work of Jeff Koons and Yayoi Kusama, they selected their own iconic image to sculpt!
Paraprofessional Day – April 2
Our Paraprofessionals play a crucial role in supporting educators and students! Not only do they provide individualized assistance to students with special needs and reinforce classroom instruction, they help manage daily activities to ensure a smooth learning environment. We are grateful for their kindness, compassion and experience!
Mrs. Angilletta, Ms. Tolmich, Mr. McLevey, Mr. Gergle
Assistant Principal’s Week
Assistant Principal’s Week is a time to recognize and appreciate the hard work, dedication, and leadership of assistant principals in our schools. We are so honored to have Dr. Julia Ferreira at Saxe Middle School to support our students, teachers, and the school community. She helps to foster a positive learning environment, handles daily operations, and ensures academic success. Her commitment to education and student well-being deserves celebration and gratitude, and we are proud to have her at Saxe Middle School!
National School Librarian Day
National School Librarian Day, celebrated on April 4th, honors the dedicated professionals who help students discover the joy of reading and learning. Our outstanding school Librarian, Mrs. Stilwell does more than just manage books—she teaches digital literacy, supports classroom learning, and helps students become critical thinkers. We recognize her hard work daily in curating resources, fostering inclusive learning environments, and empowering young minds every day… Thanks for all that you do for our school community, Ms. Stilwell!
Mrs. Stilwell
Summer Enrichment
The New Canaan Summer Enrichment camps are up and running! This summer our program is full of new and exciting camps like Lights, Camera, Action!, Pops Stars, and Battle Bots. We are also excited to offer a number of new, astronomy-based camps in the DOME, New Canaan High School’s state of the art, educational space. We also still have room in some of our most popular camps like Hop on the Hogwart’s Express, the Summer Institute of Writing, the New Canaan Summer Art Camps and our Top Chef camps. Check out our website here. Complete camp descriptions, times, locations, and prices are posted there. You can register and pay online on our website, too. Summer fun is now just a few clicks away!
Brett Gillan & Darren Bruce
New Canaan Summer Enrichment Co-directors
summer.enrichment@ncps-k12.org
Grade 8 End of the Year Events
Below is a “look ahead” snapshot of the exciting end-of-year activities that are planned for our 8th-graders! Dates are tentative and subject to change, but we are planning on sticking with this exciting timeline. Stay tuned for more information on each…
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Below are photos and phrases that were included on our Saxe Middle School page (@SaxeMS) this week. Enjoy!
8Red has set their sites in “bee-ing” successful this spring!
Happy Autism Awareness Day! We have lots of blue around the building at Saxe MS to celebrate & support all students!
Some positive reminders on the value of “perspective”! Happy Autism Awareness Day from Saxe MS…
As we continue to celebrate all that makes middle level education special (thanks to AMLE
for their advocacy), we will put together a “SaxeMS Bracket” for students & staff to vote on the best features & experiences within our school community – stay tuned!
The Saxe MS “Sustainability Tree” continues to take shape as a good visual reminder to be mindful of our product use & waste. Thanks to our proactive students who have been doing a great job with this!
This week, we got some big smiles & hearty laughs at Saxe MS on April Fools Day. We had a huge pan of “Brownies” get delivered & Mr. T had some fun reporting a “**rodent problem”. 😂
(**for anyone wondering, rodents were photocopies that were strategically placed to look real)!
Saxe Science students experimenting with some advanced technology to record & analyze acceleration data!
Sometimes, it’s the simplest things that bring a smile to our faces at Saxe MS (&, this is always a good reminder that we can make difficult things “easy” with the right mindset)… Thanks for sharing, Emily! Mind set Matters (Click to watch!)
Always neat to see our Saxe MS mascot visit & watch over our school! Saxe Hawks
It’s not the Saxe MS Hawk, but I did have the amazing pleasure of seeing this regal raptor overlooking its namesake, East Elementary, this week! Go East Eagles!
Thank you to our Saxe MS maintenance team – we are almost ready to make more outdoor leaning spaces available to our students & staff!
Thanks to Ms. Jarosik, our office area was smelling like Spring from these fragrant flowers from one of our Saxe MS courtyards – spring is almost here!
Spring colors are starting to appear all around the Saxe MS campus… Can’t wait until next week, they will be in full bloom!
Dogs of Saxe
A few of our favorite visitors at arrival this week!
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
