May 1, 2026
Dear Saxe MS Family,
Happy May! I hope you had a terrific week as we flipped the page on the calendar to yet another month in 2026. We have accomplished so much over the course of this school year, and the best is yet to come as we continue into the final quarter of the school year. Below you will find many of the amazing moments, experiences, and people who make our Saxe Middle School community so special. We appreciate you taking a look, reading, scrolling, listening, or however you prefer to consume your media. Thanks for joining us for the latest snapshot through the lens of the Saxe Weekly.
This week, we take a look at the latest Saxe Weekly Podcast, Spring Daytime Open Houses, Celebrating our community, ELA, Latin goes to HH, “Operation Artery”, School Climate Survey, Safety Week, Walk, Ride, Roll to School Day, Spring Musical, Making connections, Saxe in the News, Hacky Sack is back!, Hawks Gazette, Scenes around Saxe, Mahjong, Dogs of Saxe, and much more. Enjoy and have a wonderful weekend!
Be Well,
Dave Gusitsch
Principal, Saxe Middle School
Upcoming Noteworthy Dates:
5/4-8: Teacher Appreciation Week
5/6: School Nurse’s Day
5/8: Walk/Ride/Roll to School Day
5/8-9: Spring Musical (additional information below!)
*Quotes that resonated with us this week:
“What we think, we become.” — Buddha
“You can’t start the next chapter of your life if you keep re-reading your last one.”-Unknown
“Never put off till tomorrow what may be done day after tomorrow just as well.”― Mark Twain
“You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.” — Martin Luther King, Jr.
“Don’t let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do.” —John Wooden
Saxe Jokes of the week:
Why did the computer get glasses? To improve its website.
Why did the student do multiplication problems on the floor? The teacher said no tables allowed!
What word can you make shorter by adding two letters? Short
Why did a man throw water out of a window? He wanted to see the waterfall
Why was the root vegetable so happy on Monday? He was up-beet.
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!
Spring Daytime Open House
Thank you to everyone who came to our Spring Daytime Open House this week! If you were unable to attend, the slides for each Team, as well as World Language & Special Area Teachers, are listed below.
| Monday, 4/27 | Tuesday, 4/28 | Thursday, 4/30 | Friday, 5/1 |
| 11:20 a.m. G8: RED Team Room #:200 Slides | 11:20 a.m. G8: GREEN Team Room #: 218 Slides | 11:20 a.m. G8: PURPLE Team Room #: 221 Slides | 11:20 a.m. G8: BLUE Team Room #: 205 Slides * including the amazing team video on the last slide! 🙂 |
| 12:10 p.m. G7: RED Team Room #:102 Slides | 12:10 p.m. G7: PURPLE Team Room #: 105 Slides | 12:10 p.m. G7: BLUE Team Room #:109 Slides | 12:10 p.m. G7: GREEN Team Room #:144 Slides |
- Art Slides
- WL slides: Mandarin 7, Mandarin 8, French 7, French 8, Latin 7, Latin 8, Spanish 7, Spanish 8
- PE slides, Health Ed slides
- Music Dept slides
- STEM: Robotics (Grade 7), AI Open House (Grade 8)
Test your knowledge to see if you are smarter than a 7th-grader (below are the answers from today’s session with 7Green)!
Celebrating our School Community
Today, & EVERYday, Saxe MS salutes & celebrates our bus drivers… Happy Bus Driver Appreciation Day ‘26! Thank you for keeping our students safe, supported, and smiling on every ride. We appreciate you more than you know!
We are fortunate to have the absolute BEST “Cafe Staff” around at SaxeMS… Thank you for all that you do for our entire school community!
I typically do not like to “self-promote”, but this post is more of a huge “Thank You!” to our Saxe MS community for the outpouring of positivity in celebration of “National School Principals’ Day”. From notes, “hellos”, snacks, and so much more, thank you to EVERYONE who helped make today such a special day – you’re the BEST!
There was even a nice shout-out to celebrate the special days this week on the Saxe MS morning announcements – thanks again!
So many great snacks to celebrate this week, too! Thank you for spreading some sweet joy at Saxe MS!
And, these special treats from Ms. Jarosik were delicious!
Staff Appreciation
Thanks to our amazing Saxe PTC, next week will keep the celebrations going with this fabulous lineup – thank you to all involved!
English Language Arts
We would like to extend our sincere thanks to the Saxe PTC for sponsoring the engaging theater group, Shakesperience, and bringing such a dynamic learning experience into our classrooms. Their visit helped launch Unit 5: Understanding the Human Condition in a way that truly brought literature to life. Through lively, student-centered performances and short adaptations of Shakespeare’s works, including Macbeth and Romeo & Juliet, our students were able to experience these classic texts in an accessible and exciting way. The interactive nature of the presentation made learning both meaningful and fun. Below are some highlights of our 8th graders actively engaging with the presenters: thinking, laughing, and connecting with the material. We are so grateful for this memorable experience!
Latin Trip to Holiday Hill
This week, a number of Saxe 8th-grade Latin students attended the CT State Latin and Greek Day at Holiday Hill in Cheshire, CT. Students participated in a variety of cultural offerings and opportunities (there was something for everyone – from academic lessons and demonstrations to arts and crafts to academic contests and sports competitions – rumor is we did well in soccer and tug-of-war). Here are some snippets of the exciting opportunities from this Latin Day 2026!
Arrival at Holiday Hill
EUGE! (Latin word for Hurray!)
Here is our certamen team (wearing the white tunicas), ready to compete. The students put in a great effort, nailing trivia questions from mythology to grammar and making it to the semi-finals (NB: they competed against high schoolers)!
Amicae Bonae! (Good Friends)
Let’s play! Towards the end of the day, students continued to have a ball.
Part of the Latin Day fun was making connections with Latin students from other schools across the state!
Students were curious throughout the day and took on a variety of challenges, both collaboratively and independently.
Dressed for the occasion and more great memories!
TEMPUS FUGIT (time flies), especially when having fun as these students did.
Operation Artery
On Monday, April 27, Julia Owsiany, a freshman at New Canaan High School, partnered with the Connecticut Science Center to design and lead an engaging educational event for 7th and 8th graders titled “Operation Artery.” The event provided students with a unique, hands-on opportunity to explore the science behind cardiovascular health. During the event, students participated in interactive experiments, discovering firsthand how blockages in arteries impact blood flow. They had the chance to step into the role of doctors to diagnose a disease based on hypothetical results of medical examination. The students were also challenged to take on the role of biomedical engineers and design innovative tools aimed at safely removing plaque from arteries. The experience was both insightful and educational, allowing students to get a flavor of STEM career paths!
School Climate Survey
Please reference (or, search for) the “NCPS School Climate Family Survey” email that you received on Monday (4/27), or the text that went out at 5:01 p.m. today (5/1), to find the link to complete the survey. Every voice matters, and we appreciate the role that every member of our school community plays in maintaining the most positive school climate possible at Saxe Middle School. Thank you!
“At Saxe Middle School, we are deeply committed to creating schools that are safe, welcoming, and engaging for every student. Your feedback plays a vital role in helping us do that. The survey takes approximately 20 minutes to complete and covers five key areas: safety, relationships, learning, environment, and communication… We work hard every day to build caring, engaging school communities — and your voice helps us grow. Thank you in advance for taking the time to share your perspective.”
E-Bike & Scooter Safety Week
Thanks to our Dean of Students, Dr. Kleis, and our School Resource Officer, Officer Blank, for always looking out for the safety of our students! Check out the lineup below to keep our students safe while they are out and about around town!
Speaking of being out and about around town, be sure to join the fun next Friday! As if there is any question, dogs/pets are encouraged to join families who choose to participate!
Saxe Walk to School Day is Friday, May 8th. 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 tomorrow morning (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!” We have multiple bike rack areas at the lower and main entrance areas, 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 walking or riding bright and early with your friends and family.
Spring Musical
Wizard of Oz Musical
Take a walk down the yellow brick road and join us for this delightful stage adaptation of L. Frank Baum’s beloved tale, featuring the iconic musical score from the MGM film. The timeless tale, in which young Dorothy Gale travels from Kansas over the rainbow to the magical Land of Oz, continues to thrill audiences worldwide. The cast & crew have been “putting in the work” to put on an amazing performance. Be sure to catch one of the shows:
- Friday, May 8th at 5:00 pm; Saturday, May 9th at 1:00 and 5:00 pm.
You can purchase tickets online here!
Saxe Yearbook
Making Connections
When science lessons come full circle, it looks a little bit like this! Back in October, Mr. Chard & his students were diving into the Fibonacci Sequence using this enormous sunflower as just one of many examples found in nature. This week, he brought some seeds from that sunflower to plant around Saxe! Stay tuned as we cover their growth over the coming months!
Here is a blurb from the October 3, 2025, Saxe Weekly, where the sunflower was used to help reinforce the learning in Mr. Chard’s Science class.
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!
Schools Supporting One Another
Monday, May 25th – NC Memorial Day Parade ft. South School – Calling all former South School Alumni! Students, parents, families, and former South Paws are invited to walk along South School in this year’s New Canaan Memorial Day Parade. In order to communicate with the parade committee and with participants regarding timing, those interested in marching are asked to register ahead of time using the link here. Please complete this form by Friday, May 8th. The school will contact all participants with the time and line-up location via email by Wednesday, May 20th.
Saxe in the News
Congratulations to Kavi Pathak on her recent success in the CT Student Writers contest! Please check out this article from UConn today describing the competition and the winners! Here is a little more detail, too:
Kavi has earlier been awarded a gold prize at her age group in Connecticut Student Writers contest in March 2025. She read her submission in front of ~700 people at the Jorgensen auditorium on Storr’s campus of the University of Connecticut last summer. We wanted to thank Kavi’s teachers, who have helped her hone the craft of writing through her years in elementary and middle school.
Nice work and congrats again, Kavi!
The Return of Hacky Sack
Just in the last couple of weeks, the resurgence of the activity of Hacky Sack has brought many of us, more “seasoned educators,” straight back to the 90s when we remember it being a huge hit, too!
Hacky Sack is BACK, in a BIG way! It’s like a trip in the “Wayback Time Machine”, as just in the last couple of weeks, the resurgence of this activity has brought many of us, more “seasoned educators,” straight back to the 90s when we remember it being a huge hit, too!
While it’s a terrific, fun activity, we will need to remind students that Hacky Sack should only be done in appropriate spaces/times (outdoors, recess, gymnasium, etc) at SaxeMS… Thanks!
Hawks Gazette
Check out the latest editions of the Hawks Gazette! Thanks to our students and staff advisor, Mr. Myers, for this fun, interactive format in which to learn more about, or engage with, Saxe Middle School. We enjoy seeing Saxe through the lens of our students!
Or, check out the latest edition by accessing the Hawks Gazette Google Site, directly.
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Below are photos and phrases that were included on our Saxe Middle School page (@SaxeMS) this week. Enjoy!
Great reminders for our students as we continue testing next week. Rest up, be prepared, & do your best!
Open House
This week, we opened our doors to our Saxe MS parents for our Spring Daytime Open Houses. It was a great turnout w/150+ parents getting to hear, see, & experience some of the learning, while spending time in the spaces their children “live” each day! Thanks to all who came out!
Whether it’s through a video, slides, pictures, or physical examples, our Saxe MS teachers did an excellent job sharing student work with parents. Such creativity, inspiration, & yes of course, FUN on display!
Beyond the opportunity to meet, see, & hear from their children’s teachers directly, one of the best parts of the Open House days is observing parents run into their child, or friends, in the hallway! It’s such genuine excitement & joy!
Here are a few more pics from our Open Houses this week – thanks to all who attended!
Thanks to Ms. Benware for making these great signs to ensure that all of our Saxe MS parents who came out for the Daytime Open Houses this week were able to find where they were supposed to be!
“Perspective” may be one of the more important things students learn as they continue to age up…
Scenes around Saxe
It’s always exciting to catch your name on the Saxe MS “Birthday Slide”… Happy Birthday to the most recent batch of birthday folks! 🎉
A few of the latest contributions to the SaxeMS “Wall of Inspiration”… We all have so much to be grateful for and these are also fine examples of keeping perspective!
Thanks to Dr. Kleis for coordinating a hugely successful Mahjong session for our SaxeMS staff this week! And, thanks to everyone who participated, too!
8Red has updated their board with some insightful and reflective comments, which are good for all at SaxeMS to see!
Thank you to our amazing custodial & maintenance teams for helping keep our outdoor spaces at Saxe looking great!
Dogs of Saxe
And, some even get treats from Ms. Orlando!
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
