2025.10.3 – Saxe Weekly (#296)

October 3, 2025

Dear Saxe MS Family,

Happy October! Ready or not, we are into the fall season… As we have settled into the 2025-26 school year, we have seen so many moments of learning, enrichment, growth, and just as importantly, fun! Each week, it is our goal to share as many snapshots as possible with you, and we appreciate you scrolling through and seeing some of the action!

This week in the Saxe Weekly, we take a look at the latest podcast version of the Weekly, Celebrate Saxe 2025, Walk/Ride to School Day, Safety Tips from our Saxe SRO, National Custodian Day, Start with Hello, The Dome at NCHS, a staff spotlight, Confidence Club, Hispanic Heritage Month, Science, Charters, morning announcements, a.m. arrival, Literary Magazine Club, Scenes around Saxe, and much more. Enjoy and have a wonderful weekend!

Be Well,

Dave Gusitsch

Principal, Saxe Middle School

Upcoming Noteworthy Dates:

10/6 Kickoff to Celebrate Saxe Campaign 2025

10/6 “Start with Hello” kickoff

10/8 Saxe Walk/Ride to School Day

10/8 Celebrate Saxe School Assemblies

10/8 Celebrate Saxe Spirit Day – Red and Black Day

*Quotes that resonated with us this week:

“Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire.” — Aristotle

“Develop a passion for learning. If you do, you will never cease to grow.” – Unknown

“The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing!” – Walt Disney

“Your education is a dress rehearsal for a life that is yours to lead.”—Nora Ephron

Saxe Jokes:

Where do ghosts like to shop? At Bootiques!

How does a penguin build its house? Igloos it together!

Why do sharks swim in saltwater? Pepper water makes them sneeze!

When do student astronauts eat? During launch time.

Saxe Weekly: The Podcast

Interested in getting an overview of the latest Saxe Weekly in podcast form? Using Google’s Notebook LM, we are able to offer an option to listen to all of the great “goings on” around Saxe while you are “on the go”! We invite you to give it a listen, here. Enjoy!

Celebrate Saxe 2025

We’re kicking off our annual Celebrate Saxe fundraiser! This year’s theme is Unlock Your Magic and we’re excited to host a full week of activities that showcase the magic of Saxe. Each year funds raised during Celebrate Saxe support projects large and small that enhance our children’s daily experience above and beyond the annual school budget. The Saxe PTC is a 501(c)3 organization. Your donation is tax-deductible to the fullest extent of the law.

WAYS TO DONATE:

ONLINE – Click here to donate now
CHECK – Made to Saxe PTC delivered to the main school office
CORPORATE MATCH – For company matching, please click HERE or contact PTC Treasurer at saxeptc@gmail.com.

We are grateful for the generosity and dedication of this community of Saxe families. Thank you for joining us to make magic for our students!

Sincerely,

The Celebrate Saxe Committee

Don’t forget to follow us on Facebook and Instagram to see how we CELEBRATE SAXE!

Celebrate Saxe Postcard Design Winner

Celebrate Saxe ‘25 is here & we had some amazing submissions for the annual student-created postcard that goes out to all Saxe MS families! Congrats to 7th-grader Celina on the winning design – great job!

Here are just a few more of the submissions from across the school:

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 Wednesday, October 8th (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 at Saxe!” We have four bike rack areas, two outside the lower entrance area and two outside the main entrance area, 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 Wednesday (10/8) morning!

Safety Tip of the Week

Please see the below from our dedicated SRO, Officer Blank.

With all the information swirling around about E-Bikes recently, I’d like to take a moment to ensure our Saxe community is educated on what is, and what is not, considered an E-Bike.

There are three main classes of e-bikes in Connecticut:

Class 1:

The motor provides assistance only when the rider pedals, and it stops when the rider stops pedaling or reaches 20 mph.

Class 2:

The motor provides power with or without pedaling (via a throttle), but it disengages when the rider applies the brakes or reaches 20 mph.

Class 3:

Similar to Class 1, the motor provides assistance only when the rider pedals, but it continues to assist until the rider stops pedaling or reaches 28 mph. Riders must be 16 years or older to ride a Class 3 E-bike.

As of October 1st:

All E-Bike riders must wear a helmet.
E-bikes with no pedals and motors over 750 watts (but under 3,500 watts) will now be legally classified as motor-driven cycles.
These vehicles are no longer considered standard e-bikes and must comply with motor vehicle laws, including additional licensing and potential registration requirements.
Any e-bike with a motor over 3,500 watts will now fall under the same category as motorcycles.

Safety Reminders

Since safety always comes first, we wanted to re-share some Safety Tips that were shared in previous Saxe Weekly editions. Thank you to our SRO, Officer Blank for putting these important reminders together:

Follow the rules of the roads, including all signs and signals.
ALWAYS walk on sidewalks if possible.
If there is no sidewalk, walk facing traffic and distance yourself from the traffic as much as possible.
When crossing streets, use crosswalks if possible. Look for cars in all directions before crossing. Look left, right, then left again before crossing as well.
Make eye contact with drivers as they approach before crossing.

Some Bike and Scooter Safety Tips:

Always wear a helmet when riding a bike and/or scooter. Not only is it smart, it is the law.
Obey traffic laws
Make eye contact with drivers as you approach each other
Obey all E-bike laws, new laws in effect October 2025:
- https://www.cga.ct.gov/2025/ba/pdf/2025HB-06862-R000553-BA.pdf

Parents:

Please only drop your children off at designated drop-off locations (Lower entrance during drop off, Main entrance during the school day)
Never drop your children off on South Ave or Farm Ave, and let them cross in front of, or behind, your vehicle
Please do review the above rules of the road and safety tips with your children

Thank you for helping keep all of our Saxe family members safe!

National Custodian Day

October 2nd was National Custodian Day and we have an AMAZING team of custodians to celebrate! They make sure that Saxe is an exceptional environment for students and staff each and every day. We are grateful for their hard work and dedication. Thank you, Martin, Tim, Darryl, Wayne, Pashk, Jonathan, Martha, Pete, Kelly, Dan, and Paul!

Start with Hello Week

October 6th is the kickoff of Start with Hello week. This program empowers students to reduce social isolation and strengthen school communities by teaching practical strategies for building peer relationships. Start With Hello engages and encourages students to reach out and support their peers, enhancing social connections and personal responsibility.

Below is a look at the great lineup, for a great cause, that is all set for next week. We appreciate all the work that has gone into putting this together for our school community! A special thanks to Ms. Nettleton, Ms. Perretti, and their team of 7th & 8th Grade Leadership Team students, for their work on this!

Monday – “Make Connections Monday” – Participate in a “get to know you hexagon activity” during Workshop.

Tuesday – “Take What You Need Tuesday” – There will be inspirational messages placed on the bulletin board outside the middle school office, where students can “take what they need” for the day.

Wednesday – “Celebrate Saxe Spirit Wednesday” – wear your favorite Red & Black to bring the Celebrate Saxe spirit to life!

Thursday – “Trusted Adult Thursday” – Students will have an opportunity to write a letter using our “Start with Hello” template to any trusted adult.

Friday – “Feel Good Friday” – Students give compliments to each other and say and do positive things for each other, and wear Green for “Start With Hello”.

The Dome at NCHS

If you have not had an opportunity to check out The Dome at NCHS, here is your chance! You will not be disappointed… 🙂

Staff Spotlight

In the past, we have highlighted staff members who have some interesting or unique hobbies outside of school. We are looking to bring this back and are setting the bar high right out of the gate! While Mr. McHugh works across the entire district, we thought his story was a good one to share!

Ian McHugh – Manager of Technical Services

Ian attended Berklee College of Music in Boston and graduated with a degree in Jazz music performance. There he studied with world renown jazz educators Larry Baione, John Wilkins and Charles Banacos. After Berklee Ian toured with various groups around the US including a jamband Hypnotic Clambake and his own R&B group EmCQ before settling into New York City where he held various positions at record labels doing everything from administrative assistant work to technology support. During those years, Ian performed nightly on the New York City music scene with a mix of music groups in styles ranging from jazz to rock to hip hop to funk and R&B. Also while living in New York, Ian formed a band called B Squad with another Connecticut resident, vocalist Jen Durkin (of Deep Banana Blackout). B Squad’s album “Sophistafunk” debuted at #3 on the Homegrown Music network charts and landed the band headline slots at some of the premier jamband and college music festivals such as All Good Music Festival, Gathering of the Vibes, Montreal Jazz Festival and Ottawa Blues Fest. Shortly thereafter, B Squad was named winner of the New Music Award at the 31st annual American Music Awards, and performed live in front of millions of television viewers alongside Metallica, Britney Spears and Outkast. In 2011 Ian was hired as the touring guitarist of Javier Colon’s band after Javier won the inaugural season of NBC’s The Voice. Up next was a stadium tour of Latin America supporting Maroon 5’s Overexposed tour which included a nationally televised concert in Sao Paulo where the band performed in front of over 30,000 attendees. Ian has his own recording studio at home where he writes and records music with an eclectic mix of artists. He still plays guitar for the Javier Colon band and is scheduled to perform with Javier Saturday, December 20th, at Infinity Hall in Hartford. For tickets visit: https://www.eventim.us/event/Javier-Colon/662263

LiveGirl Confidence Club

If you are interested in joining, you may Register Here.

Hispanic Heritage Month

September 15 through October 15 is Hispanic Heritage Month. During this time, we recognize and honor the many contributions of Hispanic Americans to our community and beyond. This week, we celebrate the lives and work of Juan Felipe Herrera, Gwen Ifill, Dr. Ildaura Murillo-Rohde, and Rebecca Lobo—their contributions have helped shape our society and continue to inspire us all!

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

Look at the size of this sunflower (phone for scale)! Mr. Chard uses this to help teach his Science students about DNA, natural selection, Fibonacci Sequence, & so much more!

In addition to the sunflower lesson(s), the Brassica Rappa is still on display and growing rapidly!

Students in Science Workshop explore different methods of framing out bridge structures, including testing how much weight they can hold. They were incredibly strong!

An important component in learning at Saxe MS is the “trial & error” process. I got a quick snapshot of what this looks like in a robotics (Click the link to watch!)unit & was impressed with this particular version… Look at that speed!

A little “purposeful coloring” during Ms. Orlando’s Health Ed class! Students were “locked in” & doing a great job, which set them up for a great lesson!

8 Green has their Charter on display & they have some great words to maintain a positive focus on being the best team possible! Kind, Inclusive, Locked-In, Respected, & Safe are words we can all get behind at Saxe MS!

Teams across Saxe having been upping their “display game” with some terrific community building activities & showcases. Team Charters, “words of the week”, motivational displays, & more!

It’s always neat to see the “behind the scenes” action of morning announcements at Saxe MS… It’s not always easy to hop on the mic & broadcast to hundreds & hundreds of people, but these two did a great job!

Once October hits at Saxe MS, it’s time for Celebrate Saxe! Student artwork is on display & we have a great lineup of activities for our school community, thanks to our amazing Saxe PTC. Stay tuned for updates throughout the week next week!

What can make Saxe MS a.m. arrival any better on a sunny Friday morning? An impromptu Chicken Dance flash mob, led by Ms. Orlando!

Interested in creative writing? Check out the Saxe MS Literary Magazine Club! We look forward to seeing all the great writing samples that will be shared over the course of the semester!

We are into October & the Saxe MS morning crew is keeping the morning activity streak alive – nice work!

This week, we recognized one of the most important teams at Saxe MS – our fabulous Custodians! We are grateful for each & every one of them & their tremendous contributions to our entire learning community. Thank you!

Scenes Around Saxe

It may be October, but we are still blessed with some amazing weather & “Scenes around 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)