On Friday, October 30th, 2015, Ms. Brandi Williams visited our 7th grade ELA classes. She is a doctoral student at Syracuse University and a parent of a SASCS elementary student. She is coming to speak to our middle school students about a FREE youth writing conference that is being hosted by "Writing Our Lives" on Saturday November 7, 2015 from 9am-1pm at Danforth Middle School. 

Writing Our Lives is an annual conference that brings together community members, Syracuse University affiliates and employees, as well as students to facilitate multimodal writing workshops for youth ages 12-18. The annual writing centered conference is free for all registered youth and includes 2 hour workshops such as comic book creation, spoken word poetry, autobiographical writing, fiction writing, poetry and much more! Registration includes a light breakfast, lunch, participation in workshops, all materials included, and a chance for students to share their work! The first 25 students also receive a free t-shirt!

On Thursday, October 29th, 2015, the Student Leadership Club at the middle school hosted a Fall dance. They worked together with the Art Club to design and make decorations. Staff and parents were present to help monitor the dance and serve food. The Student Leaders raised money for future events. Students from all middle school grades attended and had a blast!

On Monday, October 26th, 2015, Mr. Giuseppe Passucci was a guest speaker at the 5th and 6th grade science classes at the Syracuse Academy of Science Middle School. He is currently in the physics doctoral program at Syracuse University.  Mr. Passucci spoke to the 5th grade about the study of physics. For the 6th grade, he spoke about the many careers in the science field including his own and the many roles of the professional scientist. This was Mr. Passucci’s second time guest speaking in the building and we look forward to including him in future events.

On Friday, October 23rd, 2015 the SAS Middle School held our Olweus Anti-Bullying program kickoff event. This research based program has been utilized in many schools throughout the world to help address bullying and bring its devastation out of the shadows. Students participated in activities in the classroom as well as team-builders in the gymnasium.

A role-playing activity was the beginning of the kickoff in the classrooms. Each student had the chance to play roles such as the bully, the bullied, possible defenders, as well as others. The intent of the activity is to illustrate how students are often presented with the opportunity to stand up to bullying throughout their school careers. In addition to the role play, students were given the opportunity to write anti-bullying essays or create posters to illustrate the program and our focus on ending bullying in our building.

On October 26, 2015 Dr. Lebel came to visit SAS for the second time to speak with the 10th grade about his career. Dr. Lebel is the Chief Medical Geneticist at Upstate and is also a Professor in the departments of Pediatrics, Internal Medicine, Obstetrics and Gynecology, and Pathology and a Lecturer in the department of Bioethics and the Humanities. Dr. Lebel shared his background with the students, what it took to get where he is today, and also shared some stories about work. Students asked excellent questions and were really interested in learning about the rare diseases and disorders Dr. Lebel experiences at work. We appreciate the time Dr. Lebel took out of his schedule to come and speak with our students about the work he does and about helping his patients. 

The high school Drama Club has been working very hard on their Murder Mystery Dinner for this weekend on Friday and Saturday night, both at 7pm. Here is a sneak-peek of the rehearsal that went on last night. It is a show you won't want to miss! If you are interested in purchasing tickets for the play, please contact Ms. McGinnis at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

On Thursday, October 15th some of our high school students attended Construction Career Day at the NY State Fair Grounds with Mr. M. Students were able to move between 3 stations: Hands-on Demonstrations, Operating & Static Equipment, and Career/Continuing Education Booths. During the trip, students learned about the wide range of career options available in the construction industry from about 40 different types of construction-related companies and union contractors. Students were also able to speak with employers, college representatives, and unions to discuss apprenticeship programs and hiring information. This was a really fun field trip and will definitely be a trip SAS attends again next year!

On Friday, October 9, 2015, the SAS Middle school held its first Student of the Month ceremony of the year. A student, who showed dedication, passion, and hard work through out September, from each section was recognized during the ceremony. Each student was awarded with a certificate and a dress down day pass. Everyone enjoyed the ceremony with laughter and cheers. Ceremony was closed by a great performance with students in step/drill club who had their first demonstration since the club activities have started. Congratulations to star students of September. Keep up the good work.

On Friday, September 11, 2015, the SAS Middle School held a variety of activities commemorating 9/11. In the morning, we created an American flag using each grade level wearing red, white, and blue and paid our respects with a moment of silence. We also conducted the pledge of allegiance as an entire school. In the classroom, middle school students studied the event and our country’s response, heard narratives from staff perspective of where they were during 9/11 as well as wrote thank you letters to the brave men and women that serve our great nation.

On September 23rd, 2015 all of the 2nd grade went to Navarino Orchards for a field trip. The students have been working on story writing in school and have been writing stories about the Journey of a seed. While at the orchard, teachers and students talked about how the apples have seeds and what their journey might be if they had gotten out of the apple at the orchard. Needless to say, it was a very fun journey this seed would have had at the orchard! Students took hay rides, picked apples, and explored the orchard while they were there! A great time was had by all!