May 9, 2025
Dear Saxe MS Family,
I hope your first full week of May was as good as ours! This week in the Saxe Weekly, we take a look at Mother’s Day, School Nurse Appreciation, Teacher Appreciation, Math, Science, AAPI Month, a safety PSA, the NCHS Dome, some mindful coloring, lunch, recess, positive messaging, floral arrangements, Dogs of Saxe, and much more. Enjoy, have a wonderful weekend, and Happy Mother’s Day to all the Moms out there!
Be Well,
Dave Gusitsch
Principal, Saxe Middle School
Upcoming Noteworthy Dates:
5/11 – Happy Mother’s Day!
*Quotes that resonated with us this week:
“Challenges are what make life interesting and overcoming them is what makes life meaningful.”–Joshua J. Marine
“Life is a mountain. Your goal is to find your path, not to reach the top.”– Maxime Lagacé
“As long as you live, keep learning how to live.”– Seneca
“A simple but powerful reminder of the positive domino effect a good education can have on many aspects of a person’s life and outlook.”-Confucius
“That is the way to learn the most, that when you are doing something with such enjoyment that you don’t notice that the time passes.” —Albert Einstein
Saxe Jokes:
Why did the watch go on vacation? To unwind.
What do you call a dinosaur that is sleeping? A dino-snore!
What type of carpeting did the geometry teacher use? An area rug.
What’s a tornado’s favorite game? Twister!
Where do birds stay when they go on vacation? Someplace cheep.
Happy Mother’s Day
As we look ahead to Mother’s Day on Sunday, we want to extend our heartfelt appreciation to “all the Moms” in our school community. Your ever-present support, guidance, and love make an huge difference in our students’ lives and our school’s success. You do one of the hardest jobs in the world with style, grace, and most of the time, a smile 🙂
Students, please take time this weekend to show your appreciation – whether through a heartfelt note, helping with chores, or simply spending quality time together. These small gestures mean more than you know.
To all our amazing Saxe Moms – thank you for everything you do. We hope you enjoy a well-deserved day of recognition and rest. Thank you for ALL that you do for all of us!
School Nurse Appreciation
We appreciate our School Nurse team! Ms. Faust “runs point” in the middle school office, while Ms. Graham is always willing to pitch in and contribute from the intermediate office, and Ms. McIntosh leads the way as our NCPS Nursing Supervisor. Thanks for everything you all do for our Saxe MS community!
Teacher Appreciation
Our Saxe Staff felt the love from our amazing Saxe PTC during Teacher Appreciation Week! Cinco de Mayo was the perfect way to kick off the week with a terrific spread from La Pescaderia…
Tasty treats in mailboxes, “Tasty Yolk” out front, & fun/functional gifts made for a great week…
Even though it was a little rainy on Friday, we were prepared to round out the week in spirited-fashion with Bubble & Brew to keep everyone’s spirits high… Thank you to all involved, all week!
There are “tons more” pictures from Teacher Appreciation Week, below. Thanks again to everyone who helped make this amazing week possible – YOU are appreciated!
Math
Students in Ms. Martin’s Geometry class used properties of circles and tangents to solve problems on the whiteboards. In a thoughtful balance between tech and traditional to enhance their learning experience, students then used Geogebra and Desmos to discover characteristics of inscribed angles, triangles, and quadrilaterals.
Science
In addition to our DOME field trip this week, students on 8 red took another “trip” to a solar system theme park within the classroom. Students researched their assigned planets and presented important information and fun facts about the planet to another group. Each group was then tasked with designing a theme park attraction that made connections to the planet they learned about. Below are just a few examples of the creative ways in which students were able to represent their learning.
AAPI Heritage Month
This month we honor the contributions of fellow Americans with Asian and Pacific Islander heritage. This week, we celebrate the lives and work of Maya Lin, Kimberly J. Ng, Tammy Duckworth, leoh Ming (I.M.) Pei, and Steven Chen- our lives, and society in general, would not be the same without their contributions!
Safety PSA
As a follow-up to the message that was sent out by Mr. Salvestrini, NCPS Director of Digital Technology, this week, we read the following announcement to students this morning. It is simply a reminder for students to be aware, be responsible for their actions, and “if they see something, say something”. If you have not already done so, I encourage you to have a routine conversation with your child about the dangers/risks of social media “trends”, peer pressure, and in general, making good decisions. We are so proud of our students and how responsible they are, and, we also recognize that it is important to share consistent reminders to help them navigate sometimes challenging external influences.
“Good morning, Saxe MS – this is Mr. Gusitsch with an important reminder. You may be aware that messages have been sent home, and to our staff, regarding the latest concerning “social media challenge” circulating recently. I want to remind you all that participating in any dangerous challenge (TikTok or otherwise – previous, current, or future) puts your safety, and the safety of others, at risk. These activities do not reflect our school values of respect, responsibility, and good judgment. In addition, damaging school property is a serious offense and will result in serious consequences.
I would like to remind you, before you follow any trend, ask yourself: Is this safe? Is this kind? Is this something I’d be proud to explain to a parent, teacher, or administrator? Just like anything else, we ask that anyone who sees something that may not seem right, to report it to an adult immediately…
As always, we care about you and remind you to make choices that represent “the best version of yourself”. And, yes, this does include this weekend at the May Fair 🙂
Thank you & have a great Friday/weekend.”
X
Below are photos and phrases that were included on our Saxe Middle School page (@SaxeMS) this week. Enjoy!
This week, our 8th-grade students had a chance to take a trip through history, & the cosmos, in the NCHS Dome! This is such an amazing space for our students to literally EXPERIENCE their learning in a completely different way, together! Thanks to all involved!
Our Saxe MS Staff felt the love from our amazing SaxePTC during Teacher Appreciation Week! Cinco de Mayo was the perfect way to kick off the week with a terrific spread from La Pescaderia… Thank you to all involved!
Our Saxe MS Staff felt the love from our amazing Saxe PTC during Teacher Appreciation Week! Even though it was a little rainy, we were prepared to round out the week in spirited-fashion with Bubble & Brew to keep everyone’s spirits high… Thank you to all involved!
Thank you to Saxe MS staff members, Ms. Jarosik & Mr. Formica, for getting here super early to help set up for the Teacher Appreciation treat (Bubble & Brew) in the heavy rain today! Thanks to our Saxe Custodians, too – they ALWAYS have everything ready to go, no matter what!
Wednesday was one of the all-time Saxe MS fan favorites for Teacher Appreciation Week – Tasty Yolk! This food truck NEVER disappoints!
Yes, this was as delicious as it looks!
Thank you to Ms. Orlando for sharing some “moments of mindfulness” in Health Ed as SaxeMS students participated in some mindful coloring before preparing to take some Smarter Balanced tests later in the morning…
There was no chance of getting outside with the downpours during Saxe MS Lunch/Recess today, but many of our students came prepared to spend some quality social time together (&, have FUN while doing it)!
8Purple brought their bulletin board “A-game” for May! Some great messages from our Saxe MS students & great reminders to set goals & be grateful!
We were 3 for 5 getting our Saxe MS students out for recess this week – not bad for a rainy week… As long as it’s not an absolute downpour, dozens & dozens of students have the choice to get out, be active, be social, & have FUN before getting back to business in the classroom!
Thank you to our talented & dedicated parent, Ms. Jordan, for these amazing “spring arrangements” that grace our Saxe MS entrances! What a wonderful greeting to all who walk past them!
Thank you to Mr. O’Leary for finding the couple of dry times throughout an otherwise rainy week to keep the Saxe MS courtyards looking fresh & trimmed… We are so fortunate to have one of the best custodial teams around!
Dogs of Saxe
Rain or shine, we had some eager Dogs Of Saxe this week as they wished their humans a great day!
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
Great job. middle school isn’t easy but you guys have been wonderful. The fact that I drop my daughter off every morning and the Principal and some of the staff are there to greet you rain or shine with cool music.
Thank you – we are proud of our Saxe MS community!
Thank you very much for updating the Saxe weekly every week, it is very nice to know what everyone is doing in school and I really appreciate that 🙂