April 25, 2025

Dear Saxe MS Family,

This week feels like it went quickly, but it definitely seems like more than a week has passed since we returned from our Spring Break. That is most likely due to all that we have been up to around Saxe Middle School! As we head into the final stretch of the 2024-25 school year, we will continue to celebrate all that we have to be grateful for within this terrific learning community. But, we will also be sharing some of the most important learning and experiences that are planned as part of the culmination of the year. While there is a lot that happens from now until the end of the school year, we make the most out of each day as we continue to learn, grow, and apply all aspects of the well-rounded program in each grade!

This week in the Saxe Weekly, we take a look at Spring Daytime Open House (DOH), Administrative Assistants’ Day, “Saxe Serves” PTC event, Earth Day, “farm to table”, some timely and relevant community events, champs, “Saxe Outdoors”, recess, ELA, and much more. Enjoy and have a wonderful weekend!

Be Well,

Dave Gusitsch

Principal, Saxe Middle School

Upcoming Noteworthy Dates:

4/28: DOH – Grade 7 Red @ 8:55am, Grade 8 Red @ 11:20am

4/29: DOH – Grade 7 Purple @ 8:55am, Grade 8 Green @ 11:20am

4/29: Community event at NC Library: Social Media, Artificial Intelligence, and On-Line Gaming

4/29: Community event at Saxe: A Family Conversation About Vaping, Nicotine & Cannabis

5/1: DOH – Grade 7 Blue @ 8:55am, Grade 8 Purple @ 11:20am

5/2: DOH – Grade 7 Green @ 8:55am, Grade 8 Blue @ 11:20am

5/2: Saxe Walk to School Day

5/2: School Lunch Hero Day

*Quotes that resonated with us this week:

“For in the true nature of things, if we rightly consider, every green tree is far more glorious than if it were made of gold and silver.”-Martin Luther King Jr.

“An understanding of the natural world and what’s in it is a source of not only a great curiosity but great fulfillment.”-David Attenborough

“Choose to be optimistic, it feels better.”-Dali Lama

“Opportunities don’t happen, you create them.” – Chris Grosser

“Some people want it to happen, some wish it would happen, others make it happen.” —Michael Jordan

Saxe Jokes:

What makes the Earth so great? It’s well-rounded.

What type of car does a sheep drive? A Lamborghini!

How do bees fly in the rain? By wearing yellow jackets

Why are frogs so happy? They eat whatever bugs them

How can you tell spring flowers are friendly? They always have new buds!

Saxe Spring Daytime Open House

We look forward to seeing parents back in the building next week! Below is the message that was sent out at the beginning of the week…

You are invited to attend our 2025 Spring Daytime Open House during the week of April 28th – May 2nd, 2025. The schedule below depicts the specific day, date, and time for each respective grade/team. Grade 7 & 8 teams will host their program within their respective team classroom area. For parents who are unable to attend during the scheduled time, slides will be made available to show the content that was covered.

The Spring Daytime Open House series will expand on the Winter one as each session will not only include specific content covered, but also “celebrations of learning” from this year! Student work samples (either physically or digitally) will be on display from respective content areas, and you will have an opportunity to see the product of the learning that your children have been experiencing this school year.

Due to limited parking on campus and arrival of buses for the Intermediate school, please plan to arrive a few minutes early for the 8:55 am Open House. There may be a few spots open in the Lower Parking Lot by the playground, or you may park in any spaces around the front parking loop.

If you have any further questions regarding our Spring Daytime Open House program, please feel free to contact your child’s counselor, grade-level administrator, or me.

Monday, 4/28	Tuesday, 4/29	Thursday, 5/1	Friday, 5/2
8:55 a.m. G7: Red Team Room #: 102	8:55 a.m. G7: Purple Team Room #: 101	8:55 a.m. G7: Blue Team Room #:111	8:55 a.m. G7: Green Team Room #: 144
11:20 a.m. G8: Red Team Room #: 200	11:20 a.m. G8: Green Team Room #: 163	11:20 a.m. G8: Purple Team Room #: 221	11:20 a.m. G8: Blue Team Room #: 209

Administrative Assistants’ Day

This week, we celebrated Administrative Assistants’ Day to honor the essential role this team plays at Saxe MS. These dedicated professionals manage schedules, communicate with parents, and provide terrific support that helps round out the experience we are able to provide to our students. They create a welcoming environment while handling countless behind-the-scenes tasks that keep our school running smoothly. Thank you to Ms. Benware, Ms. DiMeglio, Ms. Connaughton, Ms. Jarosik, Ms. Randall, and Ms. Munrow – you are appreciated!

Ms. Benware, Mrs. DiMeglio, Mrs. Connaughton, Ms. Jarosik

Saxe Serves

We had a GREAT turnout for the first-ever “Saxe Serves” event where school & community organizations came together to showcase resources for our Saxe MS students & families! Our PTC did an amazing job taking this from a simple idea, to a full-blown event, where we were able to showcase so much of what makes New Canaan special. From the ABC House, to NC Cares, to NC EMS, to our very own Student Support Team, to New Canaan Unplugged, to the New Canaan Y, and much more in between, there was great representation across the board. Thank you to each of our “table hosts” & to everyone who came out to join!

Please note: we will be sharing all resources from this successful event for all to access next week!

Earth Day

This week, we celebrated Earth Day ‘25 at Saxe MS. Part of this included members of our Leadership Group planting “native pollinating perennials”. They look beautiful & will be the gift that keeps on giving! Thanks to Ms. Nettleton & Ms. Perretti for helping make this happen!

Farm To Table

Our students are measuring the growth of their greenhouse starter seed kits. Students planted basil and tomato seeds and are using standard measurement to graph the growth of each seed to compare which seeds grow the tallest and fastest. In June, the basil and tomato crops will be harvested to use for making pizzas – can’t wait!

Timely & Relevant Community Events

Social Media, Artificial Intelligence, and On-Line Gaming

The NCPD School Safety Unit, in conjunction with the Connecticut State Police, will be presenting on how to safely navigate Social Media, Artificial Intelligence, and On-Line Gaming. The presentation will be on 4/29/25 at the New Canaan Library from 5 – 6:30 pm. The program is for both parents and students and promises to be a valuable educational opportunity for our community.

A Family Conversation About Vaping, Nicotine & Cannabis (Register Here)

Join for an informative session on Tuesday, April 29, 2025, at 7:00 PM at Saxe Middle School for Protect Your Health: A Family Conversation About Vaping, Nicotine, & Cannabis. This informative session, led by Tricia Dahl (Yale School of Medicine) and Saxe Middle School SRO Officer Matt Blank, will explore the science behind vaping, its effects on the body, and how to recognize common vaping and cannabis products. A Q&A will follow the discussion. This program is offered to Parents and Students. It is appropriate for students in Grades 5-12.

Saxe in the News

Recently, several Saxe MS students competed in the Mercer Lake Sprints Rowing Regatta. Representing the Maritime Rowing Club (MRC) in the Women’s Novice 4X event, they brought home the gold! Congratulations to 8th-graders Charlotte Edwards, Roxi Goodwin, Tanishi Kansal, (and their non-Saxe teammate, Eloise Healy) – nice work!

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

It was a great week at Saxe MS to take advantage of many of our outdoor learning spaces!

Thanks to Ms. Campbell for sharing these wonderful pics of her students in action!

Whether it was on Hawk’s Court, the playground, or the fields, our Saxe MS students had some amazing weather to enjoy their time during Saxe Recess this week… Love seeing how many students take advantage of this valuable time!

It was fun to listen in on the “Sonnet Conversations” in Saxe ELA as students broke down the parts of various poems and compared stories from today vs. the “Shakespearean Era” (400+ years ago!).

Today, we welcomed back our Saxe MS community from our spring break… It was great to visit classrooms to see students & staff “right back at it”, like they hadn’t missed a beat!

Happy Administrative Professionals Day 2025! We are grateful at Saxe MS to have some of the best in the business & appreciate all they do for our entire school community, EVERY day – thank you!

This week, we were recognized by an educational network that has almost 50k followers!

“Thank you! Credit goes to our terrific Saxe MS teachers! :)” Here’s a community-building idea to send off your students this spring: Invite them to record something they love about your school and share it as a hallway celebration! (Inspiration via P @DavidGusitsch)

We had a GREAT turnout for the first-ever “Saxe Serves” event where school & community organizations came together to showcase resources for our Saxe MS students & families! Thank you to each of our “table hosts” & to everyone who came out to join!

It was a great week at Saxe MS to take advantage of our outdoor learning spaces!

What a beautiful day to bring a class outdoors at SaxeMS! Thank you to Saxe Science teacher, Ms. Walsh for making connections to the learning that takes place in her classes inside & outside of the classroom!

Happy Earth Day 2025 from Saxe MS! We appreciate all who think locally & act globally to care for our “shared home”. Stay tuned for some examples from our very own dedicated students!

Celebrating Earth Day at Saxe MS by planting some “native pollinating perennials” – thanks to our Leadership Group!

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)