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Horizon West Middle School |
HWMS Community Member,
CONGRATULATIONS HORNET BASKETBALL TEAM!
Last night our boys basketball team won the OCPS Middle School Basketball Championship to cap off an incredible 2021-2022 season. Our young men practiced so hard every week, were extremely well coached, exhibited consistent sportsmanship game after game, and played with real grit that all combined to make our boys #1 in the county. Thank you to our students, parents, and faculty that supported the team all season plus those students that also showed up at Wekiva High School last night to cheer on the team (pictures below). We look forward to displaying the championship trophy for all to see and later hanging the championship banner in our gym. Well done Hornets!
Can you believe it – it is almost time for SPRING BREAK! There will be no school for students on Friday, March 11th and Spring Break takes place the week of March 14th - 18th.
Some important dates to let you know about, our final mental health lesson will take place on Monday, March 7th and the end of the 3rd marking period is on March 10th.
When we return from Spring Break, it will be the start of our 4th quarter and we will be just around the corner from our FSA Writing Assessment which takes place on April 7th. To ensure your child is ready for the test, make sure they get enough sleep the night before the test; eat a healthy breakfast and arrive on time to school. Most importantly, stay positive. Let’s encourage our students to do their best on the tests that are upcoming.
If you haven’t already, please fill out the OCPS School Surveys for any family with a student in grades K-12. They can be completed using any electronic device with internet access by clicking on the anonymous link on the district’s website, OCPS.net. The family survey will take approximately 10 minutes to complete. |
Additionally, for the safety of our students I would like to remind parents to please slow down in our school zones, as the school zones are 20 mph. In front of the school it is 15mph. Thank you for your help with this. |
Here are the highlights for this week. I hope you enjoy and thank you for your continued support.
Sincerely,
Michelle Thomas, Principal
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Florida Statehood:
March 3, 1845
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8200 Tattant Drive
Orlando, FL 37486
(407) 554-1570
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March 8: Track team information meeting after school
March 9: PTSO Spirit Night at Burger Fi, 4:00pm-9:00pm
March 11: No school for students
March 14-18: Spring Break
March 21-24: Track team tryouts, 6:00pm
March 22: School Advisory Council (SAC) meeting, 4:30pm
March 22: PTSO meeting, 5:30pm
March 23: No early dismissal
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March 31: Spring Musical - The Little Mermaid, Jr., 5:30pm
April 1: Spring Musical - The Little Mermaid, Jr., 5:30pm
April 6: Trach team at home vs. Gotha Middle and Southwest Middle
April 7: FSA Writing Assessment
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Congratulations to our Boys Basketball team for winning the OCPS Middle School Basketball Championship Thursday evening vs. Innovation Middle! |
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Principal Thomas, Coach Ryan, and Athletic Director Mr. Evans |
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School spirit on display in the Wekiva High School gym where this year's championship game was played Thursday evening. |
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School spirit bus. Go Hornets! |
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All participants must have a completed OCPS Annual Sports Participation Form for the 2021-2022 school year prior to any tryout. Track information meeting will be on March 8th after school. Tryouts will begin on Monday, March 21st after school. Students will report the gymnasium when requested via the school intercom. Tryouts will run until 6:00pm and take place on the track. Tryouts will continue until Thursday, March 24th after school till 6:00pm. (Subject to change at a later date.) Parents are not allowed to attend tryouts. Students will be dismissed to the car loop upon completion of tryouts each day.
Once the teams are chosen, coaches may opt for morning OR afternoon practices. Please refer to the schedule below for games.
- Boys participate first followed by girls in all events.
- Regular season order of events: 100, 1600, 400, 4x100, 800, 200, 4x4
- Events start at approximately 5:00 pm
Wednesday, April 6th vs. Gotha and Southwest @ Horizon West Middle School
Wednesday, April 13th vs. SunRidge and Chain of Lakes @ Horizon West Middle School
Wednesday, April 20th vs. Water Spring and Windy Ridge at Horizon High School
April 25-29th Cluster Championships @ TBA
Mid May – County Championships @TBA
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6th Grade Writing Workshop (Next Wednesday) |
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Samantha Arrioja
Nominated by Mrs. Arce - “Samantha started this semester as a new student in the United States. She is a very responsible and hard working in class. She has demonstrated an enormous desire to learn the English Language by asking questions when she has doubts about something. She is outstanding.”
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Robert Robles
Nominated by Ms. Burt - “Robert is such a kind and thoughtful student. He’s very respectful, creative, and always has a positive attitude. Robert is focused, always completes his work, and is pleasure to have in my class.”
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Bailey Prutsman
Nominated by Mrs. Gutierrez - “I nominated Bailey because she is one of the sweetest students. Any time she talks to anyone, she welcomes them with the warmest smile. She is a bright student in all her classes and one day she will be president!”
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Khrystopher Bennetts
Nominated by Mr. Lynch - “Khrystopher is an incredibly hard working young man! He completes assignments quickly and efficiently, and helps students around him if they need it. He’s a joy to have in class!”
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Santiago Zavarce Brett
Nominated by Mrs. Rodgers - “Santiago is an exceptional student. He has top marks in all his classes. He strives to do his best in everything. Within Theater he had a leading part in our fall play The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, he is Sebastian in our upcoming musical, and received top score at State Thespian Competition. It has been my pleasure to have him in class for the past two years.”
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Joseph Morales Milano
Nominated by Ms. May - “Joseph is a polite young man who consistently follows class expectations. He contributes to discussions and asks questions when he needs clarification. Joseph puts effort into all of his assignments and I am proud of his progress this year.”
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Congratulations to our “Hornet of the Week”- Mrs. Martinez, 8th Grade Science |
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Nominated by Ms. Parrish (above right with Mrs. Martinez) -
I’d like to nominate Mrs. Mary Martinez as our Hornet of the Week! When given the opportunity to select a teacher to pass the award on to, I asked myself to think about someone who loves what they do and who has a magnificent heart for teaching. After speaking with several students, I found that Mrs. Martinez is so incredibly loved by all of her students! She is always striving to provide the best possible instruction for her students and puts together some of the most creative lessons to help her them gain a love for and understanding of science. Her students rave about how there is never a dull moment in her class and how much positivity radiates from Mrs. Martinez whenever they walk into the room. Mrs. Martinez is the epitome of someone who genuinely wants all her students to succeed and will often go the extra mile to ensure that they do just that!
Mrs. Martinez has been teaching for 30+ years and still invests the same amount of energy and passion in her teaching, just as she has done from day one. We are so grateful to have a teacher that cares about the wellbeing of her students and that puts in such a great amount of effort to help her students succeed!
I asked some of her students what they think of Mrs. Martinez, here is what they said:
- “She is so nice and always ensures that we understand!”
- “She is so helpful and puts together the best science labs.”
- “I love learning from her, and she makes advanced science easy to understand. She deserves to be the Hornet of the Week because she always helps us succeed."
- "She helps me get a lot of NJHS hours and I appreciate the effort she puts into teaching us. I have a greater love for science because of her."
Mrs. Martinez is beyond deserving of being chosen for the Hornet of the Week!
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We are currently running a donation drive for Eight Waves Youth, a local organization that helps our under-resourced children and families. The drive is for new or used hygiene items, and will be focusing on shampoo and deodorant. We have a collection box in the front office and will finish the drive at our Spirit Night on Wednesday, March 9th at Burger Fi. So, if parents cannot make it to the school they can bring their donations to Burger Fi, drop them off to us and then order dinner and support the PTSO! Spirit Night will be from 4pm - 9pm
Our next PTSO meeting will be Tuesday, March 22nd at 5:30pm, after SAC at 4:30pm.
A Google Doc Form will be available online shortly for those interested in being on the PTSO board next year. Several board members will not be with us next year- so we will need new board members!
SAVE THE DATE - BURGERFI Upcoming Spirit Nights!!
March 9th & May 18th
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PTSO is looking for volunteers to help out at the Arnold Palmer Invitational: |
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PTSO is looking for volunteers to help out at the Arnold Palmer Invitational this month.
Please click on the link below to sign up!
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Horizon West Middle School
is proud to present our Spring Musical
Disney's The Little Mermaid JR.
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Come see our Spring Musical on
Thursday, March 31st & Friday, April 1st @ 5:30 PM
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Celebrating Black History month - Wearing their favorite HBCU shirts! |
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Assistant Principal Ms. Hargrett (FAMU) |
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6th Grade Clerk- Mrs. Ford (Bethune-Cookman University) |
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For Black History Month, students in Ms. Warid’s 7th Grade ELA classes conducted research and created posters on influential people that have made an impact in our history: |
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Students in Civics had the opportunity to participate in the Florida 4-H Public Speaking Contest sponsored by Florida Power & Light Company.
Congratulations to the following students who participated in the Speech Contest
on February 25th at HWMS:
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7th Grader Lawson Forrester- 1st Place Winner |
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4th- Rennan Lobato, 1st - Lawson Forrester, Asst. Principal Hargrett, 3rd- Aya Khoja and 2nd- Gwen Schmitz |
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Special Recognitions near the end of Quarter 3 |
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We appreciate our Crossing Guard Ms. Estefany!! Thank you for helping our Hornet’s cross the street safely each day! |
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We are grateful for our Administrative Team!
Ms. Hargrett, Ms. Thomas & Mr. Flanagan!
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Happenings Around Campus . . . |
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8th Grade Science with Ms. Martinez |
The students in Ms. Martinez’s 8th grade classes were learning about the history of the periodic table and how to read it. The students chose an element and made blocks for their element with identifying information and research. Those blocks were then used to make a giant Periodic Table. |
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8th Grade - Class of 2022 |
Here is a sneak peak of our 8th Graders getting ready for the class panoramic picture for the yearbook: |
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TOMORROW!
Windermere High School Dance Marathon
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Every year at Windermere High School we have hosted a Dance Marathon, in which we raise money for Children's Miracle Network and the kids in our local Winnie and Arnold Palmer Hospitals all year. On Saturday, March 5th from 1PM to 12AM we are celebrating our year-long fundraising event with our annual Dance Marathon Event and we would love for all — community members, their families truly all to attend!
Entrance to the event is $10 per person. Admission Includes:
● DJ (Who will help support themed hours, like Superhero and Disney Hours)
● Two bounce houses obstacle courses
● Snacks, prizes, giveaways and more!
● Access to oversized yard games (Jenga, cornhole, Spikeball, etc.), performances, and more!
If you would like to visit our event website to learn more, or even donate (Every dollar truly makes a difference) you can visit https://tinyurl.com/WDM22. Thank you so much for your interest in our event, we hope to see you at Windermere High School on March 5th! |
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Parents- We want your feedback! Please fill out the OCPS Parent Survey!
Click on the link below, only take a few minutes!
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Week of the Family Essay and Art Contests |
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If it applies to your family, thank you for taking our parent survey and have a great weekend!
Ms. Thomas, Principal
Horizon West Middle School
Friday, March 4, 2022
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Horizon West Leadership Team |
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Judy Logan - Admin Dean 7th Grade and 8th Grade (M-Z) - judy.logan@ocps.net
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This communication may contain information that is legally privileged, confidential or exempt from disclosure, and intended only for the use of the addressee(s) named above. If you are not the intended recipient, please note that any dissemination, distribution, or copying of this communication is strictly prohibited. Anyone who receives this message in error should notify the sender immediately by telephone or by return e-mail, and delete the message from their computer and any printout thereof. Please note that OCPS utilizes spam and junk e-mail filtration applications in its e-mail systems. That filtering process may prevent or delay delivery of certain e-mail communications. If you do not receive a timely response to an e-mail communication, please contact the intended recipient by phone. |
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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-Horizon West Middle School is forbidden without written consent. Thank you for your support of the Orange County Public Schools and OCPS-Horizon West Middle School. Please contact Ms. Tiffany Stanley at tiffany.stanley@ocps.net with any questions.
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