2025.12.19 – SAXE WEEKLY (#307)

Posted on by David Gusitsch

2025.12.19 – SAXE WEEKLY (#307)

December 19, 2025

Dear Saxe MS Family,

It may be difficult to believe that this is the last full week, and last Friday that we are in school, for the calendar year of 2025… What a year it has been! It is easy to let the time fly by, but we do our best to capture the moments that define what makes our experiences at Saxe Middle School so special. We appreciate you taking a moment to read, scan, or scroll through the Saxe Weekly to get a sense of what our school community is truly about – thank you!

This week in the Saxe Weekly, we take a look at the latest podcast, Science, our Cafe staff, building community, Ugly Sweater Day, Saxe in the News, recess, Health Ed, Art, the Winter Choral Concert, the Saxe “Inspire Wall”, Cookie Exchange, Poetry in Motion Crew, positive messages, snowy scenes, Dogs of Saxe, and much more. Enjoy and have a wonderful weekend!

Be Well,

Dave Gusitsch

Principal, Saxe Middle School

Upcoming Noteworthy Dates:

12/23 Early Dismissal @ 12:00pm

12/23 Holiday Break – Happy Holiday, Happy New Year, & ENJOY!

*Quotes that resonated with us this week:

“Great things never came from comfort zones.”-Unknown

“Keep your face always toward the sunshine, and shadows will fall behind you.” – Walt Whitman

“Life is not about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself.” —Lolly Daskal

“Do not be embarrassed by your failures, learn from them and start again.” – Richard Branson

“The scariest moment is always just before you start.” — Stephen King

Saxe Jokes of the week:

How much did Santa pay for his sleigh? Eight bucks!

How do the elves clean santa sleigh the day after Christmas? They use Santa-tizer!

Why are Christmas trees bad at sewing? They’re always dropping their needles!

What did the hat say to the scarf? You hang around while I go on a-head!

Why was the candy cane so expensive? It was in mint condition.

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” in our school community while you are “on the go”, with the Saxe MS Podcast! We invite you to give it a listen… Enjoy!

Note: We have been using Notebook LM to create our podcast for the past couple of months, and recently, noticed the “create an image – infographic” option. It’s a pretty neat representation of the latest Saxe Weekly and may become part of our weekly update – enjoy!

Science

As we near the end of our life science unit, 8 Green students worked in groups on concept maps to review material, make connections between topics, and demonstrate their understanding, highlighting the value of collaboration in the classroom.

Cafeteria Staff

We are grateful every day for our cafeteria staff! They make sure our students are well fed and cared for every day! And they always have a positive attitude and a smile for everyone. Each of our staff members plays such an integral part in our Saxe Community!

Building Community

We recognize the vital role that connections play in making middle school such a special time. This week, we held our third Advisory session, where our goal is to simply build community and have fun. Our 76 Advisory groups brought together 8-10 students with Saxe MS staff members for engaging activities that underscored the value of building relationships, creating positive shared experiences, and having some FUN! It was wonderful to see our students and staff connecting in meaningful ways, and we look forward to sharing more of these experiences in the near future, many of which are based on student feedback. Below are just a few that show some of the activities – enjoy!

Ugly Sweater Day – December 23rd

This Could Get UGLY…. December 23rd is Ugly Sweater Day at Saxe MS. Do you have what it takes to rock the ugly? DO YOUR WORST (Ugly Sweater that is!).

Saxe in the News

This past weekend, Saxe 7th-grader, Vanessa Delev, competed in the inaugural Katie Ledecky Invitational at the University of Maryland, winning all of her events. National swim media outlet, SwimSwam, included a headline about Vanessa’s 200 backstroke time, which is the top time in the country: Katie Ledecky Invite Day 1: Vanessa Delev Swims #1 200 Back Time This Season for 11-12 Girls. To make things even more exciting, Vanessa met the 9-time Olympic Gold Medalist and was included in the TV news clip with her:

As a 13-time Olympic medalist, Katie Ledecky is the most decorated American female Olympian!

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

Snow & ice on the

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It may have been cold at Saxe MS arrival, but the mornings were beautiful & the morning crew continues to start their day on the court before heading in to start the school day!

Had a chance to see some exemplary posters from

Students in Mr. Fiorillo’s Saxe Math class were utilizing every corner of the room to work through their math problems… Great to get them up, moving, & collaborating over the course of the class!

Students in

Messages of “Kindness” fill the halls of Saxe MS following a recent Saxe Advisory activity… Love seeing the positive messages like, “never back down, never give up”, “smile”, & “Be Kind” to name a few!

Ms. Orlando & her Health Ed students have begun filling the “Inspire Wall” at SaxeMS with some positive messaging that will brighten anyone’s day! Be sure to check it out upstairs near the Design Lab!

It’s the most glorious time of the year at Saxe MS- Cookie Exchange Day! Thank you to our Saxe PTC for all they do for us EVERY day, especially this one 🙂 The sights, sounds, & smells are a staff favorite & greatly enjoyed by ALL!

What does the staging of the annual Saxe MS “Cookie Exchange”’look like? What a wonderful sight & the main office never smelled better!

“Poetry in Motion” is about to rock the house at Saxe MS for our 7th-grade assembly today!

Thanks to our Saxe PTC for supporting this enriching, engaging, & entertaining show for our Saxe MS 7th-graders today. The “Poetry in Motion Crew” took us through a historical timeline of music & dance while performing some impressive & artistic moves, representing many decades!

8 Red has updated their board to “Shine some light” on this holiday season! Thank you for “brightening our days” around Saxe MS

There is updated art all along the hallways & lobbies around Saxe MS… Love seeing the talented student work on display all over the building!

The “Gingerbread Villages” that line the hallways of Saxe MS help to get our entire school community into the holiday spirit!

During our Saxe Advisory session this week, our group participated in an activity where they started with a shape, began an idea by drawing/coloring for 1 minute, then passed it along to their neighbor. Repeat x8 & you get some creative scenes, fun stories, & lots of laughs!

The Saxe MS Choral Program is ready to kick off the Winter Concert with a terrific lineup of songs sure to spread some holiday cheer!

The

Bravo to the Saxe MS 7th-grade Choral group on a terrific set during the first half of the Winter Concert! Congrats to every member of the Chorus, especially the soloists & student “song intro readers”!

Congrats to every member of the Chorus, especially the soloists & student “song intro readers”!

The Saxe MS 7th-graders started off the Winter Choral Concert with a great rendition of “The Star Spangled Banner” – nice job by all!

Thanks to Mr. Whitlock & Mr. Antoniu for “manning the control center” in the Saxe MS auditorium to ensure all goes smoothly with the audio & visual components during the Winter Choral Concert. Your efforts & expertise are appreciated!

This time of year is one of the best at Saxe MS! In addition to the Saxe PTC-sponsored “Cookie Exchange”, our staff will gather on Monday to grab a snack, listen to some holiday music, & share some stories with colleagues! We appreciate our staff & thanks to all involved!

Scenes Around Saxe

Some snowy scenes around Saxe MS from this week! And, the seasonal covering adds to the “bench sign” on East Ave that reads, “Believe in the Magic of the Season”!

And, our very own “leaning tower of snowman”!

Dogs of Saxe

Teddy was courageous, braving the downpours & blustery winds at Saxe MS arrival this morning!

At just over 8 weeks, Ruby (Tuesday) gets 2 pics in our Dogs Of Saxe section! Thank you for visiting during Saxe MS arrival to see your human off to school for the 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

PTC: http://www.saxeptc.org/


The Saxe Weekly: SaxeMS.com

Saxe Middle School

Celebrating Our Learning Community Through Caring, Communication, & Commitment

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Published by David Gusitsch

Father of 3. Principal, @SaxeMS, New Canaan, CT. Love learning. Believe in educating the whole child. Relationships matter. "Kids don't care how much you know, until they know how much you care."