2026.5.22 – Saxe Weekly (#326)

May 22, 2026

Dear Saxe MS Family,

As we go into this Memorial Day weekend, I would like to thank any member of our community who has honorably served in our United States military. I have a deep appreciation for all who bravely served our great country and made sacrifices for us to be able to enjoy the freedoms that we have, each and every day. This also goes for family members who supported them during their time of service. Thank you! As challenging as life can often be, we have much to be grateful for, and to be proud of. It is my hope that you are able to enjoy the upcoming weekend by spending time doing something you enjoy, with those you care most about.

This week in the Saxe Weekly, we take a look at Memorial Day, the latest Saxe Weekly podcast, NCHS Senior Internship Program, important date reminders, some birthdays, National Sunscreen Day, Heritage Month, Hawks Gazette, “Americana”, Orchestra, Art, Music, recess, Scenes around Saxe, and so much more. Enjoy and have a wonderful long, holiday weekend!

Be Well,

Dave Gusitsch

Principal, Saxe Middle School

Upcoming Noteworthy Dates:

5/26 Memorial Day – No School – enjoy!

5/28 Saxe 7/8 Spring Band Concert (7 pm) – No Homework

Happy Memorial Day

Saxe Middle School acknowledges all who have served. Thank you for all that you have done for all of us, and our great country!

*Quotes that resonated with us this week:

“Why fit in when you were born to stand out?” — Dr. Seuss

“The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time.” – Thomas A. Edison

“Be a good person for no reason. Not for praise, not for attention, not because somebody is watching. “Just because that’s who you are.” — Anonymous

“To keep your balance, you must keep moving.” — Albert Einstein

“Your future is created by what you do today, not tomorrow.” – Robert Kiyosaki

Saxe Jokes of the week:

Why are there no knock-knock jokes on Memorial Day? Because freedom rings!

Why are peppers the best at archery? Because they habanero!

Did you hear about the two rowboats that got into an argument? It was an oar-deal

I stayed up all night wondering where the sun went, and then it dawned on me.

What did the bald man say when he got a comb for his birthday? I’m not parting with this!

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!

NCHS Senior Internship Program

This week was special as we welcomed some of our former Saxe MS students back as NCHS Senior Interns! What a terrific group & we are excited & honored to have them back as part of our school community for their last month as New Canaan PS students!

It’s so exciting to see how well they have done, the fine young adults they have become, & the exciting plans they have for their time beyond NCHS in the near future. Best wishes!

Important Dates

You can never over-communicate important upcoming dates. For anyone involved in the 8th-grade, please check them out, below. There’s quite a bit to look forward to in the next month!

Happy Birthday

This week, we are kicking off a new addition to the Saxe Weekly… In the spirit of celebration, we will be including birthdays from each week as they are seen on our digital slideshow in the building. For anyone on the list this week – Happy Birthday to You! 🎶

National Sunscreen Day

Memorial Day is often considered an official kickoff to summer, of sorts. Next week, May 27th also happens to be National Sunscreen Day and in the spirit of “wellness”, we want to not only celebrate this day, but also remind everyone to protect their skin, you’ll be happy you did when you get older! 🙂

Heritage Month

This month, we honor the many contributions of fellow Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander heritage. This week, we celebrated Kalpana Chawla, Ah Bing,Dr. Vivek Murthy, Yo-Yo Ma, and Tyrus Wong for their remarkable achievements and lasting impact in their respective fields.

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! Thank you to the following for your contributions: Gino Monaghan, Max Cohn, Nico Curran, Tiago Sirett, & Luke Loeffler…

Or, check out the latest edition by accessing the Hawks Gazette Google Site, directly.

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

Some signs of “Americana” have been showing up around SaxeMS as we get ready to head into the Memorial Day weekend! Have a great long weekend, All!

Noticed the 7Green Charter Champs on display in their hallway this week – congrats to All!

Wishing our team of professionals the best today! Thanks for all that you do for our Saxe MS school community!

Some amazing talent on display in the Saxe MS main lobby as the most recent Challenges in Art showcase is up & ready for all to enjoy during the upcoming Saxe Music concerts… Congrats to all who have their art on display!

It’s always great to walk the hallways & hear amazing music filling the building at Saxe MS!

Great turnout for the Saxe MS Spring Orchestra Concert!

The Saxe MS Orchestra, led by Ms. Harris, performed beautifully, playing “Goin’ to Boston” & “The Airships”, capped off by a medley of paper airplanes taking flight as they finished – great touch!

Thanks, as always, to Mr. Whitlock for providing the technical expertise necessary to ensure a flawless audio, visual, & lighting experience for all in attendance in the Saxe MS Auditorium!

The Saxe MS 8th-grade Orchestra, led by Ms. Dorfman, capped off the evening with terrific renditions of “Declarations”, “In the Company of Angels”, & “Thriller”… It was a wonderful concert all around, congrats to all involved!

Not only was the Saxe MS Spring Orchestra concert a huge success, but there were also some touching back stories, too… It was special to see Ms. Dorfman be joined by her daughter, who also performed on stage, & then to capture a pic of the 3 generations after the concert? Awesome!

This box belonged to Ms. Dorfman’s father, who conducted HS band for 30+ years, and was brought to the concert last evening by her Mom… They guessed it’s about 45 years old & seeing Ms. Dorfman’s & her Dad’s batons next to one another in it, was truly special!

The skies may have been cloudy over Saxe MS, but the freshly replanted pots out front brought smiles to all who walked by on their way to the Challenges in Art Showcase & Spring Orchestra concert! Thanks, as always, to Ms. Jordan for her time & talent in making them look great!

A few raindrops didn’t stop this crew from getting a little activity (&, fun) in on Hawk’s Court before school started at Saxe MS this morning… No better way to start the day!

Light drizzle? No problem! 120+ of our Saxe MS students (in one lunch wave) were unfazed by a few raindrops to enjoy some fresh air, activity, socialization, & fun time during #SaxeRecess today!

There have been sunny days, too!

Thanks to Ms. Jarosik for capturing & sharing these terrific pics of our Saxe MS mascot out in the wild… Go, Saxe Hawks!

It’s been a hot few days (90+) around Saxe MS, so we’ve been sharing a few heat-related safety tips to help keep our school community safe & well! Stay cool, everyone…

Thanks to the NCHS Courant for delivering their latest edition to Saxe MS. We love catching up with all that’s going on and seeing how well our former students are doing over at NCHS!

We’ve had some wild variability as it relates to temps around Saxe this week, but the racks continue to be packed as many students choose to ride to school. Nothing better to see than kids choosing to get to/from school this way!

Grateful for the efforts of our maintenance team in keeping our Saxe campus looking terrific throughout the “spring bloom”!

This particular image evokes some strong emotion of national pride going into the Memorial Day weekend – Go USA!

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