21st Century Digital Learners
OCPS School of Innovation
Florida 'A' Rated School
5 Star School

13400 Town Loop Blvd.
Orlando, FL 32837
(407) 858-4620
Hunter's Creek Middle School
Monday, December 21, 2020
HCMS Community Member,

Thank you Hunter’s Creek Middle School Family for successfully finishing an incredible first half of the school year! The journey was not smooth, but as a team, our amazing teachers, staff, and parents worked very hard together to remove every bump in the way that hinders the learning of our Eagles. Your support, empathy and kindness during these times are certainly making the positive difference. I am grateful to be working alongside the best faculty and staff, parents and community.

The third quarter of the academic year starts on Tuesday, January 5th. On this day, we will be welcoming back on campus all returning face to face students and the students who selected to switch to face to face instruction as the other students continue with LaunchEd@Home. HCMS Intramurals will also start on January 5th.

During this holiday season, I encourage you to donate to our virtual food drive sponsored by Mrs. Perez and the Academic Advanced classes which benefits the Second Harvest Food Bank. Details are shown below. Thank you very much.

I hope everyone enjoys a much deserved relaxing and rejuvenating holiday break. We can’t wait to welcome 2021 with a fresh restart!

Stay safe and healthy.

Joumana Moukaddam
Proud Principal
Hunter's Creek Middle School

Pictured very top: Katie and Eva Schischa’s mom donating to the SGA Holiday Toy Drive.
Stay Connected
Dates to Watch For
December 19th - January 4th: Students’ Winter Break
December 21st: OCPS Holiday Food Distribution
January 5th: Students return & 3rd quarter begins **Information below for students returning face-to-face for the first time for Q3**
January 7th 6pm: Two-Way Dual Language Magnet Virtual Open House
Interested in attending? Complete our sign-up form to be contacted with information: https://tinyurl.com/HCMS-TWDL-Open-House-2020-2021
January 7th 6pm: 8th Grade (Rising 9th Grade) Parent Night
Information is also posted to the Freedom High School Website > Student Services > Rising 9th Graders Information.

January 11th 5pm: SAC Meeting in the Library
January 18th: No school in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
January 27th: OCPS Annual Stellar Awards (virtual this year)
Winter Break Message from Superintendent Jenkins
Superintendent of Schools Dr. Barbara Jenkins prepared a short message for students and families just prior to the winter break tied to health & safety. Please click here for Dr. Jenkins' remarks.
Students of the Week
Congratulations to our 6th grade students of the week!
(Announced Dec. 4)

  • Caua Matias Bustaman Monti for Giving Respect: Caua is so very kind! Each time he enters the library, he comes to greet us first, asks how we are, and then says good bye when he leaves. He is such a pleasure and truly brightens up our day! -Mrs. Moye & Ms. Armstrong
  • Victoria Madrid Escalona for Excellence: Victoria always completes her work on time and participates in class. She is a real pleasure to teach and always has a smile on her face. -Ms. Cohen
  • Kyan Vonk for Soaring to Greatness: I chose to celebrate Kyan because he is going the extra mile to be successful in my Math class. He is learning 7th and 8th grade concepts as a 6th grader and is very dedicated to understanding what we are doing. In fact, Kyan seeks extra opportunities to solidify his understanding. I am so proud of Kyan as he SOARS TO GREATNESS!!! -Ms. Daniel
  • Giovanny Hernandez for Soaring to Greatness: Giovanny is always helpful and respectful in the classroom because he truly cares about his peers. He wants them to succeed and is genuinely happy when others do well. For example, he is helpful with giving instructions to others in the chat while making sure he gets his own work done. Giovanny is a pleasure to have in the classroom  -Ms. Roberts
  • Elijah Hershey for Leadership: Elijah has been incredibly dedicated in our virtual food drive. He has shown a great example to other students of how to use his skills to influence others to donate for a good cause. Well done! -Ms. Perez
  • Savannah Thompson for Giving Respect: I am nominating Savannah Thompson for Giving Respect. Savannah is a new student to our school, and she has an excellent job of adapting to her new environment. She raises her hand to answer a question, and she is always respectful when speaking with others. -Ms. Bevard

We are so proud of you! Keep up the amazing work!
Congratulations to our 7th grade students of the week!
(Announced Dec. 11)

  • Ully Tristao for Academic Integrity: Ully transferred into our class and has joined in beautifully! She always participates. Ully has been asking questions, taking notes and is just doing a fantastic job overall with her honors science class. -Ms. Renuart
  • Katie Schischa for Soaring to Greatness: Katie is such a joy in class. Her amount of reading blows us away, and she is always willing to go above and beyond on all tasks. We are SO lucky to have her as a student literacy leader. -Mrs. Moye & Ms. Armstrong
  • Sofia Laurens for Academic Integrity: Sofia is always striving to do her best. When she is confronted with a problem, she finds every means to solve it. She works hard at turning her work in on time and with accuracy. Great Job Sofia! -Ms. Rasmussen
  • Ashley Rini for Excellence: Ashley has been chosen the student of the week in my Earth & Space Honors class because she continues to show her excellent work ethics. She's always on time to class, actively participates, complete and turn in all her assignments on time, and goes above and beyond. Keep up the excellent work Ashley, I am very proud of you! -Ms. Frontanez
  • Cesar Vargas Martinez for Exemplifying Perseverance: Although Cesar is at home, he always strives to make sure he knows what to do. He asks clarifying questions and isn't afraid to speak up, or to share his screen or audio equipment when asked. -Ms. Perez
  • Francesca Cabrera for Excellence: She always does her best and is always kind and sweet! -Ms. Scheerer
  • Sebastian Manzano for Excellence: Manzano has been a wonderful student this year and always does his best. He attends class daily, is always willing to share during discussions, and participates when working in small group to complete his assignments. He excels in class and is also a champion GimKit player! -Ms. DeLuca
  • Nicolas Ferreira for Soaring to Greatness: Nicolas is a truly excellent student. He goes above and beyond to learn the material and ask scientific questions. He completes his work and studies very hard for tests and quizzes. He has a great attitude and is very helpful toward others. -Ms. Spilker

Congratulations again, and keep up the good work!
Congratulations to our 8th grade students of the week! (Announced Dec. 18)

  • Nathaniel Klaff for Soaring to Greatness: We are so lucky to have Nathaniel both as a Student Literacy Leader and Student Assistant in the library. He has become such a great reader and really does above and beyond at the tasks given to him. We also love that he is always willing to ask for help. -Mrs. Moye & Ms. Armstrong
  • Kenzie Holland for Academic Integrity: Kenzie is a hard-working, dedicated student in my U.S History class. His work is always strong, on-time, and well-thought out. I can count on him to give me exactly what I am looking for when answering questions in class. I appreciate his effort and know he will continue to be successful throughout the rest of his time in 8th grade. Thanks for the hard work Kenzie! -Mr. Solomons
  • Jean Escalona for Excellence: Jean does great student to have in class. Along with mastering the content, He actively participates and helps others.  -Mr. Brantley
  • Tice Hailey for Excellence: I nominate Hailey for academic excellence and soaring high like an eagle. Hailey is always on top of everything and hardworking. She is such a pleasure to teach. -Ms. Chiomadzi
  • Matthew Tobbell for Excellence: Matthew has been doing well in our honors science course since the start of the school year. Recently our 8th graders submitted projects for our virtual science fair. While I have been thrilled with the results from all students, Matthew conducted an experiment to test the effectiveness of face masks. His project was well done and completely relevant; I was impressed with his work and initiative to tackle something meaningful. -Ms. Renuart
  • Isabella Diaz Quintero for Soaring to Greatness: Isabella has shown so much growth and progress this year. She has worked hard to improve her skills and class grade and currently has an A in math! She works hard in class and her effort is showing! I am so proud of you Isabella. -Ms. Pratt
  • Gabriel Santos for Excellence: Gabriel demonstrates excellence as a student every day. He is an active participant in class, goes above and beyond in his academic learning, and is an asset to our class. -Ms. Homer
  • Zixuan (Tom) Chen for Excellence: Zixuan (Tom) has consistently worked hard to maintain an A in Geometry and for the 2nd quarter he has earned a 100%!! Way to go Tom :) -Ms. Daniels

Congratulations to all! So proud of you!
HCMS Spelling Bee
Congratulations to Raida Nowreen for winning the 2020-2021 HCMS spelling bee! Raida will now go on to represent us as our School Champion in the next round!
Congratulations also to Minaya Amarasekera (alternate, 2nd place) and Tarunaadarsh Rajendran (3rd place).

And thank you to all students who participated - it was a wonderful showing for all!
  • Kumar Chakraborty
  • Caio Ferreira
  • Poojha Praveen Kumar
  • Masha Renggli
  • Anna Liz Ribeiro
November Teacher of the Month
Congratulations to our October Teacher of the Month: Mr. Tony Johnson, 6th Grade Social Studies!!!

Mr. Johnson was nominated by students. Here are some of the kind things students said about him:

  • "I am voting Mr. Johnson because he is the best teacher I have ever had and he is really really nice and I appreciate everything he does. He is the best."
  • "He is very good at teaching and can get through to us."
  • "I chose to nominate this teacher because he teaches in his own unique way. He allows students to be themselves and gets work done."

Congratulations, Mr. Johnson!!
November Support Person of the Month
Congratulations to our November Person of the Month: Ms. Deo Britos, ESOL Paraprofessional!

Here are some of the kind things students said about her in their nominations:

  • "She is kind and very very helpful to us."
  • "Because she is really sweet, and she helps me a lot."
  • "She's really nice and the little things she does makes a HUGE difference for people who are new to the country."
  • "(づ｡◕‿‿◕｡)づ"

Congratulations, Ms. Britos!
November CHEER Spotlight
Congratulations to our HCMS Eagle Spotlight Award Winner for the month of November, Mr. Alvin Mallard, Custodian!!!

The Eagle Spotlight Award is given by our teacher/staff-run organization, CHEER, and is awarded based on nominations from colleagues for awesome work that is being done at HCMS.
Virtual Food Drive Continues through Christmas Eve
Ms. Perez’s classes are still hosting a Virtual Food Drive in to help those in need during the Winter Holidays. Visit http://www.feedhopenow.org/goto/hcms to donate to the HCMS Virtual Food Drive.

Donations will be accepted through 12/24. Thank you!
Ms. Perez and her students have also been featured in multiple media platforms including WTVF news, WESH 2 news, and Second Harvest Food Bank article:


Congratulations for these amazing features!! Also, congratulations to our Hunter’s Creek community for raising these funds for those in need!
Classroom Spotlight: Advanced Life Science with Ms. Frontanez
A few weeks ago, students in Mrs. Frontanez’ Life Science Advanced classes, performed a Lab called Modeling Mitosis. Students used Oreo cookies and sprinkles to demonstrate each stage of Mitosis. Mitosis is the process in which cells divide to make new cells for growth, repair and replacement of dead cells.

In this model, the cookies represented the cells and the sprinkles represented the chromosomes, and how they duplicate and eventually split to make sure the new cells have the same amount of chromosomes as the original cell.
Holiday Holiday Cookbook
The 2020 HCMS Holiday Cookbook is here! With 26 contributors from our HCMS community, both students & teachers, it is definitely going to make your mouth water!
Thank You, PTSA!
On Wednesday, December 16th the PTSA hosted a boxed lunch event for our faculty and staff to celebrate the holidays! Along with the delicious food, each teacher and staff received a gift! Thank you so much PTSA for your generosity!
SGA Virtual Cookie Decorating
SGA’s virtual cookie decorating night on December 16th was a success with yummy treats made and enjoyed by all!
Classroom Spotlight: Reading with Ms. Moye
As a class, Mrs. Moye’s students, with Ms. Armstrong, our library clerk, read Geoff Rodkey’s "We're Not From Here." After completing the text, they created illustrations of the characters; some chose to make scenes where others made portraits and Ms. Armstrong took the portraits and made a “class photo.”
Classroom Spotlight: Science with Ms. Chiomadzi
Ms. Chiomadzi’s 8th graders completing a lab:
Holiday Spirit Week
Monday - Color Coordination Day!
Holiday Spirit Week
Tuesday - Rock Your Holiday Socks!
Holiday Spirit Week
Wednesday - Holiday Hats Allowed!
Holiday Spirit Week
Thursday - Festive Pajama Day!
Holiday Spirit Week
Friday - Wear Your Holiday Sweater!
Hunter's Creek Middle Leadership Team
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Copyright Notice
Reproduction of this material, either written or electronically, including the general layout, graphics, analyses, and content topics without the express approval of Target Performance Systems, Inc., a Florida corporation, and OCPS - Hunter's Creek Middle School is forbidden without written consent. Thank you for your support of the Orange County Public Schools and especially Hunter's Creek Middle School. Please contact Mrs. Joumana Moukaddam at 37895@ocps.net with any questions related to the program.
Hunter's Creek Middle | Mrs. Moukaddam, Principal | 407.858.4620 | HCMS Website