October 2, 2026
Dear Saxe MS Family,
Happy October! We are a little over the halfway mark for our first quarter, and time always seems to pick up as we approach benchmark dates on the calendar (10/30 is the official end of Q1). I would like to remind everyone to continue to use your planners, check to ensure assignments are up to date, and keep the lines of communication open with your teachers and school counselors. You are your own best advocate, and the adults in the building (&, at home) are here and ready to help you achieve your goals and do your best!
As we look ahead to next week, we truly have an amazing series of events to be excited about, including our Advisory “group photo”, Celebrate Saxe Assemblies, and Walk/Ride/Roll to School Day. And, to make it even a little better, the forecast looks like a classic fall New England stretch of weather… We look forward to it being one of the best weeks of the year!
This week in the Saxe Weekly, we take a look at the latest Saxe MS Podcast, National Custodian Appreciation Day, Science, Gardening Club, Yearbook Club, Scenes around Saxe, Walk/Ride/Roll to School Day, Hispanic Heritage Month, birthdays, recess, the “Be… Wall”, building community on our teams, Celebrate Saxe, Art, Dogs of Saxe, and much more. Enjoy and have a wonderful weekend!
Be Well,
Dave Gusitsch
Principal, Saxe Middle School
Upcoming Noteworthy Dates:
10/2: National Custodian Day
10/5: Start of Celebrate Saxe
10/6: Advisory
10/7: Celebrate Saxe Assemblies during Workshop
10/9: Walk/Ride/Roll to School Day
*Quotes that resonated with us this week:
“A dream doesn’t become reality through magic; it takes sweat, determination and hard work.”—Colin Powell
“It is never too late to be who you might have been.” – George Eliot
“You can be everything. You can be the infinite amount of things that people are.” —Kesha
“With the new day comes new strength and new thoughts.”-Eleanor Roosevelt
“I am not a product of circumstances. I am a product of my decisions.” -Unknown
Saxe Jokes of the week:
What is a chalkboard’s favorite drink? Hot chalk-olate!
Why did the phone wear glasses? Because it lost all of its contacts!
What did the big flower say to the little flower? “Hi, bud!”
Have you heard of the new sport called quiet tennis? It’s like normal tennis but without the racket.
What does a car do when it’s too old to be in a race? It re-tires!
Saxe Weekly: The Podcast
Interested in getting an overview of the latest Saxe Weekly in podcast form? Using Google’s Gemini Notebook, 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!
Below is a graphic representation of the latest Saxe Weekly created through Gemini Notebook for you to enjoy!
National Custodian Day
Happy National Custodian Appreciation Day to our Saxe MS team & thank you for your service to our school community. We are fortunate to have a great group who take such pride in their work, do a wonderful job, &, are just kind, caring people. You are all appreciated – thank you!
Pictured: Daryl Johnson, Pashk Rapaj, Martin Rrapi, Jonathan Miller, Timmy McCrae, Adam Cerone, Dan Martinelli, Mark Taliercio; Not Pictured: Kelly Corner, Wayne Lewis
Science
Students in 8th grade Science classes are learning about how genes determine an organism’s traits and how mutations can be adaptive or non-adaptive depending on the change in traits it causes and the environment. Groups were testing how different types of locomotion, color vision, and finger dexterity impacted their ability to collect food (beads).
Gardening Club
The Saxe Gardening Club was hard at work this week cleaning out the garden beds and greenhouse in order to prepare for future planting projects. Students also harvested sunflower and pumpkin seeds to be grown next spring.
Yearbook Club
The yearbook club is off and running! Our 8th grade students are ready to get back to work, and we look forward to working with our new 7th graders!
Speaking of yearbooks… Want to order your yearbook early?
Scenes around Saxe
This time of year in the Northeast is great for so many reasons. One of them is the amazing scenes we get for a few minutes at the beginning or end of many days. Thanks to Saxe MS Social Worker, Ms. Perretti, for sharing a couple of earlier morning shots, including one with our Saxe MS mascot – Go Hawks!
This one happened to be on the drive home last Friday. The sunset before the nor’easter arrived was absolutely stunning!
Saxe Walk/Ride/Roll to School Day
With Walk-to-School day next Friday, October 9th, we wanted to share some Safety Tips. Thank you to our SRO, Officer Blank, for putting these important reminders together:Saxe Walk/Ride/Roll to School Day
With Walk-to-School day next Friday, October 9th, we wanted to share some Safety Tips. 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:
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!
Hispanic Heritage Month
October 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 Roberto Clemente and Maria Colon Sanches. Their contributions have helped shape our society and continue to inspire us all!
Happy Birthday!
A special shout-out to our Saxe students who are celebrating their birthdays this week & next – Happy Birthday!
We had a special birthday in the Saxe MS Main Office this week… We tried to make Dr. Ferreira’s birthday as spirited as possible! Thanks to Ms. DiMeglio for bringing her “decoration A-Game”!
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Below are photos and phrases that were included on our Saxe Middle School page (@SaxeMS) this week. Enjoy!
If there’s one favorite sign that I pass on my way into work at Saxe MS each day, it’s definitely this one on East Ave… “Eat Lunch with the New Kid at School…”. Such great, simple advice but could make such a HUGE difference in the life of that student!
So many people have commented on how great our fields look this fall…🍁 I guess rainy weekends aren’t all bad when the grass is still looking this good in October! We are so fortune to have such great space for our students at Saxe MS & a special shout out to our NC Parks Dept!
The “Be… Wall” at Saxe MS continues to grow & some of the submissions are so kind, thoughtful, & profound! We are proud of our students & this is yet another reason why – they care about being “good people”… Keep up the great work!
The bulletin boards at Saxe MS are not just for decoration, they help build community by sharing updates, Team Charters, & fun info about our students & staff! Here are a few examples from 8Blue & 8Red… It’s fun to read them & even better seeing peers stop to check them out!
Here are a few from 8Green:
And, a few from 8Purple:
Students in Ms. Ginolfi’s Saxe MS Math class were attentive, engaged, & fully present as they worked through some problems on this fine Friday morning!
Mr. Ekstrom’s Saxe MS Science students had conversations about genetic mutations & traits in their respective classes, AND discussed what other classes came up with through a gallery walk. Students were totally engaged & came up with great questions for each other!
And, the Brassica Rapa in our Saxe MS Science classes, which are also used in the genetics mutation & trait unit, are growing quite nicely!
Congratulations to the Celebrate Saxe postcard winner whose design will go out to every family within our Saxe MS community! Her winning design nicely captured this year’s theme of “Tell Your Story”… Nice work & congrats!
Speaking of Celebrate Saxe, we had an amazing amount of submissions for this year’s Saxe MS postcard contest! Here are a few from around the building… Thank you to everyone who participated!
It was terrific to see the entire Saxe MS 8Red Team in the newly redesigned Think Space for their team celebration this week! It was the perfect spot to gather as a team & recognize this month’s award winners – congrats!
Thank you to our Saxe MS SRO & Drone Pilot, Officer Blank, for scoping out the scene for our upcoming group photo of our entire school community… We have some big plans for this year – stay tuned!
This was one of the photos we captured last year:
Thanks to our Saxe PTC for helping provide more options for our students & staff to utilize non-traditional spaces on our campus, outside & in! Not only are these chairs comfortable, they add a nice pop of color!
And, colors are “popping” around Saxe as some fresh new artwork was hung around the building this week! Nice work by all!
Dogs Of Saxe:
I’m not sure who is more excited, Ms. Orlando, or some of the Dogs Of Saxe she spoils with a treat as they pass through to drop their human off for school at Saxe MS!
Smiles all around with our newest member of Dogs Of Saxe! This one is so new, they are still deciding what his name is going to be! We thank everyone who shares their pets with us for a moment at Saxe MS arrival, it’s the best way to start our 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.
Saxe Resources (live links)
Website: https://www.ncps-k12.org/saxe
Saxe Middle School
Celebrating Our Learning Community Through Caring, Communication, & Commitment
PS – On the go and interested in getting an overview of the Saxe Weekly in podcast form? Using Google’s Gemini Notebook, we are able to offer an option to listen to all of the great “goings on” in our school community while you are out & about, with the Saxe MS Podcast! We invite you to give it a listen… Enjoy!
