June 13, 2025
Dear Saxe MS Family,
If you thought any Saxe Weekly was packed with information and events prior to today, wait until you scroll through this one! It was an action-packed week, and we captured many snapshots of the learning, experiences, and fun that help make Saxe MS the special place that it is. We appreciate you taking a look!
This week in the Saxe Weekly, we take a look at Father’s Day, Social Studies, National Latin Exam, a team Kahoot, STEM, shark Tank, the NCHS Class of 2025 Grad Walk, a Promotion celebration, the grade 8 Bash, Brownstone Adventure Park, Camp Kiwi, End-Of-Year events, “Believin’”, Saxe Spirit, some rock n’ roll, Yearbook, Lost and Found, Saxe in the News, our mascot, outdoor learning, family, Dogs of Saxe, and much more. Enjoy and have a wonderful weekend!
Be Well,
Dave Gusitsch
Principal, Saxe Middle School
Upcoming Noteworthy Dates:
6/15 – Happy Father’s Day!
6/16 – 8th Grade Bagel Breakfast, 7th Grade Yearbook Distribution
6/17 – 8th Grade Promotion Rehearsal, 8th Grade Class Picnic
6/18 – 9:45 8th Grade Promotion @ NCHS, ½ Day Grade 7 – Happy Summer!
Father’s Day
To all of the Dads in our Saxe Middle School community – Happy Father’s Day! We would like to acknowledge, and celebrate, all the amazing fathers, stepfathers, grandfathers, and father figures in our school community. Whether you’re the daily driver dropping off/picking up, volunteering at school events, or simply being there for your children every day, we salute you!. Your dedication helps make our school the special place that it is. We appreciate everything you do for our students and our community. Have a wonderful Father’s Day!
*Quotes that resonated with us this week:
“If we don’t change, we don’t grow. If we don’t grow, we aren’t really living.” – Gail Sheehy
“In seeking happiness for others, you will find it in yourself.” — Unknown
“All your dreams can come true if you have the courage to pursue them.” – Walt Disney
“The most wasted of all days is one without laughter.” – E. E. Cummings
“There are no regrets in life, just lessons.” – Jennifer Aniston
Saxe Jokes:
What happens when frogs park illegally? They get toad
What do you call a man who can’t stand? Neil!
Why was Cinderella so bad at soccer? She kept running away from the ball!
What fruit do scarecrows love the most? Straw-berries
Where do shoes like to go during summer vacation? Where? Boot camp!
Social Studies
Grade 7 social studies students are using their research to create podcasts about their topics of research in their Globalization unit. Here are some pictures from the recording sessions in Mrs. Korman’s classes.
At the end of the year, 8th graders have the opportunity to choose a line of research connecting to one of our essential questions and concepts from the year. Students then present their findings to classmates. Below are a few fine examples from Mrs. Baltz’s classes – Nice work!
National Latin Exam
Congratulations to our 7th and 8th grade Latin students who took the National Latin Exam this past March! The NLE is a test given annually to Latin students across the United States and around the world. The NLE is not meant to be a competition but rather an opportunity for students to receive recognition for their accomplishments in the classroom. We had another triumphant year, with many students scoring above the National Average, including six students with perfect papers (7th graders = Ryan Murphy, Alexander Lobashov, and Avery Van Dam; 8th graders = Arlo Cohen, Declan Flaherty-Lovy, and Jacqueline Gordon). This week, students received their awards in their individual classes, and also took a moment to celebrate with their Latin peers outdoors. We are very proud of all our students! Congratulationes discipulis linguae Latinae agimus!
(more pics below in the “X” post section of the Saxe Weekly – enjoy!)
8 Green
Green Team Fun Facts Kahoot filled the room with lots of energy, team building, and a sprinkle of competition!
STEM Workshop Shark Tank Showcases Student Innovation
Our 7th grade STEM Workshop students recently wrapped up another exciting quarter of Shark Tank, where they took on the roles of young entrepreneurs. Over the course of several weeks, students worked in teams to design, build, and market original products to present to a panel of “Shark Tank” judges. They combined creativity, engineering, and persuasive communication to bring their ideas to life. Congratulations to the winning team behind Baby Blocks, a clever product designed with both function and family in mind! Runners-up included the inventive Time Keeper and the relaxing Heel Hammock. We’re so proud of all the hard work and innovation all this quarter’s students demonstrated!
NCHS Class of 2025 Grad Walk
One of the highlights of the week was the NCHS Grad Walk… This is such a wonderful tradition that is loved by current & former students, & staff, alike! Congrats & best wishes to our former students as they move on as the NCHS Class of 2025!
(click live links to see some of the videos from the walk!)
This was a neat moment when a couple of students asked to “recreate” this photo from 2021 when they finished 8th-grade!
Lesson to everyone – time flies, enjoy every moment! 🙂
And, yes, I did have one special grad that I was excited to see make the trip through the building, my daughter Brooke 🙂
I could not be more proud of this group of talented Saxe MS musicians! Thank you for representing & bringing some awesome rhythm & energy to the NCHS (Click the link to watch!) Class of 2025 Grad Walk!
Promotion Celebration
Celebrating this group of terrific Saxe MS students may have been a highlight of an already exciting week! There was music/singing (click to listen and watch), speeches, laughter, tears, great weather, & even better company all-around. Congrats & thanks to all involved!
Note: Huge shout-out to Mr. McHugh for sharing his musical talents with the group each week!
Grade 8 Bash
Our 8th Graders enjoyed an annual 8th-grade Bash on a beautiful Thursday afternoon. THANK YOU to everyone involved in helping make this special event such a HUGE success!
What a great pic to round out the evening!
To check out more pics from the Bash, please feel free to view the Google Drive album. Thanks to all who shared, and enjoy!
Officer Blank takes his job of “protecting and serving” to new heights as he scales this tree to help retrieve an errant Frisbee. Nice work!
Brownstone Adventure Park
Here are a few scenes from around Brownstone Adventure Park on this gorgeous day where our Saxe MS (CLICK the links to watch!) 8th-graders got to explore, interact, & have fun as part of their end-of-year celebrations! Couldn’t have asked for a nicer day & thanks to all who helped make the trip a success!
For any history buffs, there is so much to learn about the past of Brownstone Adventure Park & how the stone from this location made its way all across the country over the past almost two centuries! Interestingly, it’s also registered as a National Historic Landmark!
Note: Mr. Chard also shared that stone from this particular quarry was not only used in the Brownstone flats of NYC and Washington DC, but also in the base of the Brooklyn Bridge – very cool!
It was a warm welcome to Brownstone Adventure Park for our Saxe MS 8th-graders, &, a beautiful day! This group may have been the smartest ones here as they hit the snack bar right out of the gate, before the huge lines formed 🙂
Arrival & park orientation was smooth & orderly as our Saxe MS 8th-graders prepared for a day of fun & sun at Brownstone Adventure Park! We are so proud of our kids (1 example – a teacher goes, “every kid, unsolicited, said ‘thank you’ to the bus driver as they got off the bus”.
What does it look like “dropping in” from 85’ up at Brownstone Adventure Park?! Check out this cool perspective shared by one of our Saxe MS students from our 8th-grade field trip this week… Thanks for sharing, Dominic D!
Just a “casual fly by” as we got a little work done “on the ground”… Our Saxe MS 8th-graders had a great time on the Brownstone Adventure Park field trip this week!
Great to see the lineup of buses all ready to roll at Saxe MS this morning as 7th-graders head off to Camp Kiwi & 8th-graders up to Brownstone Adventure Park! And, the UConn Huskies themed bus was a big hit – Go Huskies!
Camp Kiwi – Grade 7
Our 7th graders were also able to leave school behind and enjoy a day out! They visited Camp Kiwi in Carmel, New York.
End of Year Events
How do you describe “a day in the life of a Saxe MS student”?! NOT boring, that’s for sure! Here is just a sample of 1 day: the NCHS Class of ‘25 Grad Walk, National Latin Exam recognition, a Promotion celebration, & the “8th-grade Bash”(photo link)… What a day – Thanks to all involved!
Keep Believin’
Thanks to Ms. Orlando for sharing the most recent posts as our students reflect on our “1-word” from the year – “believe”! It has produced so many great responses and words of wisdom that we can all learn from!
Bringing the Spirit
Ms. Benware is fully embracing the celebration that is the end of the school year. There will be no one who is more sad to see our students move on from Saxe MS, but she stays connected and you will surely see her around in the future!
Rock On
Thanks to Mr. Chard for sharing an action shot of Stef Kromidas during a recent musical performance that he attended! It was fun to hear about the show and the songs that were played (from back in “our era”)!
Yearbook
Congratulations to Ms. Jarosik and Ms. Mackenzie for an amazing yearbook! Today, 8th-graders got the first look and reviews were extremely positive! Thank you to everyone who contributed and to all the parent volunteers who helped hand them out!
Lost & Found
Thank you to our Saxe Custodians for keeping the Saxe MS Lost & Found so neat & orderly! We are going to pack everything up and donate it on Tuesday. So, one last chance to please stop by and take a look to see if anything belongs to you!
Saxe in the News
Civics Essay Contest
Saxe MS 8th-grader, Emily Meng, recently participated in the Civics Essay Contest for grades 7-12, co-sponsored by the New Canaan League of Women Voters and New Canaan Library. The essay prompt was: “This is a municipal election year. Why do these local elections matter?” Emily won second place (out of many entries), and she and the other two winners received their awards at a ceremony last Friday. This is an honor for Emily and for Saxe Middle School. Congratulations to Emily (and, to our two former Saxe students, Amy and Will)!
International Academic Competitions Nationals
Seventh-grader Christopher Middleton put Saxe MS on the map at this year’s International Academic Competitions Nationals in Orlando. After topping his regional qualifier, Chris represented Saxe MS in the National Geography Bee, fielding rapid-fire questions that spanned river deltas to desert climates. He also reached the championship rounds in Maps & Flags, Ancient History, and Historical Geography. Months of preparation, an endless curiosity, and steady nerves earned him impressive finishes and filled the Saxe Hawk community with pride. Congratulations, Chris – your achievements are “world-class” and we are proud of you!
X
Below are photos and phrases that were included on our Saxe Middle School page (@SaxeMS) this week. Enjoy!
How do we know it’s going to be an amazing day at Saxe MS?! When we see our school mascot fly over right before the NCHS Class of 2025 Grad Walk!
On Thursday, the Latin classes at Saxe MS celebrated the amazing performances on the National Latin Exam, recognizing students who took part & those who scored above the national average, including 6 students with PERFECT papers! We are proud of all involved – Gratulationes!
Dr. Ferreira addressed the Saxe MS 7th-graders as they revisited rules & expectations “down the stretch”. There’s a lot to look forward to, even in the final week of the school year!
The Outdoor Learning spaces were in full effect this week at Saxe MS!
Thanks to Remzi for hanging the Saxe MS end-of-year banner which congratulates our 8th-graders & wishes them well in the future!
The sign on East Ave has been updated to wish all grads well, with a great message for ALL – “Congratulations Graduates. Work Hard & Be Kind”.
Family Matters
Surprisingly, there have been very few conflicts between personal and school functions over the years. However, last evening I had to miss the 8th-grade Bash celebrations (which looks like it was amazing!) as I was in our hometown of Bethel celebrating my son Nicholas and his 8th-grade graduation. It was a gorgeous evening and we enjoyed this special milestone together as a family 🙂
Dogs of Saxe
Just a couple of our favorite Dogs of Saxe wishing their humans a wonderful day at morning drop off at Saxe MS this week!
Have a great week, see you next Wednesday!
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
