October 30, 2026
Dear Saxe MS Family,
I hope you had a wonderful final week of October! It seems hard to believe that upon returning to school on Monday, it will be November and we will be kicking off our second quarter of the school year… Since the weather has been so amazing, it also doesn’t really feel like “almost November” yet, either (parents – remember the snowstorm of 2011 that fell on this weekend? We got about a foot & a half of snow this same weekend, 15 years ago!).
Whether you are scrolling through to check out some pictures, or diving in to read about one (or, more) of our topics, we appreciate you checking out a snapshot of “a week in the life of Saxe Middle School”. This week in the Saxe Weekly, we take a look at Daylight Saving Time, the latest Saxe MS Podcast, Nat’l School Psychology Week, Workshop, Science, Shark Tank, Advisory, Clubs, Art, building community, Hawks Gazette, our mascot in the wild, birthdays, Halloween, a pizza party, some motivation, the “Be…” Wall, plant tower, 3D printing, Library, and much more. Enjoy, Happy Halloween, and have a wonderful weekend!
Be Well,
Dave Gusitsch
Principal, Saxe Middle School
Upcoming Noteworthy Dates:
10/31 Happy Halloween! (have fun & be safe 🙂 )
11/1 Daylight Saving Time (enjoy the extra hour!)
11/2 Photo Retake Day
11/2 National School Psychology Week
11/3 Election Day – NO SCHOOL
11/6 Portal Opens for Q1 Grades
Daylight Savings
*Quotes that resonated with us this week:
“Change is inevitable. Go with the flow”-Ms Moem
“A dead-end street is a good place to turn around.” – Naomi Judd
“All our dreams can come true if we have the courage to pursue them.”– Walt Disney
“Education’s purpose is to replace an empty mind with an open one.”– Malcom Forbes
“What you are is what you seek. What you seek is what you are.”― Matshona Dhliwayo
Saxe Jokes of the week:
What’s the best lake to visit on Halloween? Lake “Eerie”.
Where do ghosts go to trick or treat? Dead ends!
What’s a skeleton’s favorite instrument? The trom-bone.
What do ghosts use to wash their hair? Sham-BOO
What is a zombie’s favorite car? A monster truck.
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 School Psychology Week
We are grateful for Ms. Kudla (Kalamankos) & the role that she plays on our Student Support Professionals Team!
Workshop
The grade 8 Green Team played Claim, Evidence, Carnage during workshop class today. Students had to choose which of their team teachers would be most likely to survive a Halloween scenario using claim, evidence and reasoning. Students then presented to the class. Ms. Dunn was the clear favorite based on her knowledge of science!
Science
To celebrate Halloween, 8Green science classes took on the “Design a Monster” STEM challenge! This activity served as a fun introduction to key concepts in genetics. By flipping coins to represent dominant and recessive traits, students determined their monster’s features, like body shape and number of eyes, before bringing their unique Halloween creations to life.
Shark Tank
7th-graders Gwynnie and Kayla won with their “Comfrtray”! A product designed to help messy eaters in the car!
Mrs. Smith’s Advisory
What a group! Looks like they are meeting the objective of “building community & having fun” in Advisory – nice work!
Minecraft Club
Students create new worlds and enjoy each other’s company in Minecraft Club.
Art
Ms. Gianetta has the hallway outside her classroom lit up and popping with colors after her students completed their latest projects – very cool!
Building Community
8Red assembled in the Upper Mez / Think Space area of the Saxe Library for their October Community Meeting. In addition to revisiting their Team Charter, they also recognized a couple of students who exemplify what it means to be a model student on 8Red… Congrats & nice work!
7Red spent some special, quality time in the auditorium this a.m. building community as a team! It was fun to watch students find out Ms. Kiley (Math) had Dr. Ferreira (AP) as a teacher, & hilarious to see Mr. D’Alton & Ms. Hurley realized they both worked at a museum!
And, some wonderful recognitions!
Advisory
This week in our Advisory session, we spent a little time discussing goals, changing perspectives as we mature, and finally writing a “letter to our future selves” where students will get to see how much they have grown over the course of this school year!
Hawks Gazette
Thanks to our students and staff advisor (Ms. Tomasio), for sharing a collection of stories, activities, and games to enjoy!
Our Mascot in the Wild…
Thank you to Ms. Ryan for sharing these amazing pics of our “mascot in the wild” from a recent trip up to a sanctuary in Litchfield – Go Hawks!
Happy Birthday!
A special shout-out to our Saxe students who are celebrating their birthdays this week & next – Happy Birthday!
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Below are photos and phrases that were included on our Saxe Middle School page (@SaxeMS) this week. Enjoy!
It was a beautiful morning to celebrate Halloween at Saxe today! In addition to the hundreds of students who dressed up, we had quite a few staff members who joined in the fun, too!
There were Halloween vibes all around Saxe today! Including a fun bulletin board, some “black light art”, and a special “Bob Ross” sighting (including a happy little squirrel) in the main office!
Halloween Fun! 7th grade students coloring in the awareness pumpkin buckets with students from Mrs. DeRobertis’ class. Happy Halloween!
Recess was filled with some fun and hysterical moments on a perfect day to be outside at Saxe! Seeing Cookie Monster decide whether to pass to Elmo or the cow, or, the Chef blocking a shot on the court while Goose from Top Gun and another cow looked on was priceless…
I’m wondering if the “swing photo bombs” were just lucky timing?!
These two are always asking me to “watch this shot!”, just about daily at recess… I’m not sure if it was the costumes, but they were “dropping 3s” today – nice work!
This crew of Saxe 7th-graders joined us for “Pizza with the Principal” as the winners from the recent Celebrate Saxe raffle… It was a great group & we had some fun conversations about everything from fishing to cars, Advisory to teams, sports to classes, and much more in between! And a special shout-out to Quinn, as today was his birthday, too!
The narrative stories in Ms. Tomasio’s ELA classroom make for a terrific visual display! And, having read a few, there is some impressive writing… Our students never cease to amaze!
Grateful for our EI Committee for sending out this “Motivation Monday” video to start the week! It was a quick watch, but a powerful reminder on keeping perspective… We have so much to be grateful for – thank you!
The Saxe MS “Be…” wall continues to expand & there are so many terrific insights that our students share on how they can “Be” their best! Great advice for students and staff alike!
We had MANY “Certificates of Gratitude” to hand out at SaxeMS this month! By acknowledging students & staff who have gone above & beyond, we are spreading some joy, showing appreciation, & building community all at once! Thank you to all who contributed…
The SaxeMS Plant Tower is back in action up in the 8th-grade wing… Can’t wait to see what our students are growing!
Love seeing the 3D Printers always churning at Saxe! Each project helps bring a student’s idea to life!
Love seeing the various “community puzzles” that are frequently swapped out in the Saxe Library… Great opportunity for students to have some old school, no tech fun!
This week, we started the “Question of the Day” poll at Saxe MS with an appropriately Halloween-themed question… Sorry, candy corn – looks like you’re “out”! (I voted yes, but understand why people don’t love them…)
7Blue made a great team from the “Mario genre”!
Dr. Hannaway, Dr. Kleis, Dr. Ferreira, & Mr. Gusitsch were decked out in their “breakfast best”!
For those who are younger than us, yes, this is a play on the 80’s classic – “The Breakfast Club”! 🙂
From our breakfast crew to yours: have an eggs-cellent weekend! We never waffle on school spirit, we always bring home the bacon, and our school pride is stacked, like pancakes! See you next Friday!
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!
