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Hunter's Creek Middle School Community Brief Monday, May 13, 2024

Dear Mark,

As we move into week eight of the fourth quarter, we have only two more weeks to go until the end of the school year. Please check your student's assignments in Canvas and make sure that he/she is on track. HCMS teachers and paraprofessionals do whatever it takes to help the students succeed! They stop at nothing to ensure that each and every student is focused, and is actively participating in their learning.  

The FAST ELA, Math, BEST EOC Algebra I and Geometry as well as the Statewide Science 8th Grade Assessment and 7th Grade Civics assessment testing are all behind us now. The Common Final Exams (CFE) are following this week. These tests will be administered in all Science, History (except Civics) and elective courses Monday through Thursday. Please note that we will be following a modified testing bell schedule.

This week students will start turning in their OCPS issued laptop on Friday, May 17th. Further information is included below. Students are not allowed to bring their backpacks with them to school during the last week, starting Monday, May 20th.

We hope you enjoy this edition of The Eagles' View which contains photos and recognitions for our dedicated HCMS PTSA members, students, teachers and staff members. Meet our whole family! 

I am so proud of our teachers, staff, parents and students for working so hard and making the best out of this year. 

Your Proud Principal, 

Joumana Moukaddam

Proud Principal

Hunter's Creek Middle School

** Pictured above: We love our teachers! We had an amazing Teacher Appreciation Week! **

In the last Eagle's View, we mistakenly shared that Navid Javadi won the OCPS ESOL Spirit of Excellence; however, Navid actually won the OCPS Inaugural Two-Way Dual Language Spirit of Excellence for his success in the two-way dual language program. 

Sunday, May 12th: Mother's Day

"Mothers hold their children's hands for a short while,

but their hearts forever."

Monday, May 13th to Thursday, May 16th: CFEs

• Monday: 1st & 5th period blocks
• Tuesday: 2nd & 6th period blocks
• Wednesday: 3rd & 7th period blocks
• Thursday: 4th period block
• Last day to buy 8th grade formal tickets! 

Wednesday, May 15th: 

Last Day to order LAST DAY shirts using THIS LINK

High School Senior Middle School Reunion

Longhorn Steakhouse Spirit Night, 5-9pm

Information about OCPS Device Policies and procedures can be viewed at: https://hunterscreekms.ocps.net/parents/hcms_digital_policies_and_fines_information 

Friday, May 17th: 

7th Grade Laptop Return (through math classes)

8th Grade Formal

Monday, May 20th: 

8th Grade Laptop Return (through math classes)

PTSA Elections meeting in the Library, 5:30pm (Volunteers needed for 2024-2025)

7th graders - no backpacks

Tuesday, May 21st: 

6th Grade Laptop Return (through math classes)

8th Grade Two-Way Dual Language Student Farewell Breakfast 8:50am, Cafeteria

Junior Thespian Final Bows 6:30pm, Cafeteria

8th & 7th graders - no backpacks

Wednesday, May 22nd: 

Evening of Champions (by invitation)

2023-2024 Winning House Donuts Before School

No backpacks

Thursday, May 23rd: 

7th Grade Field Day, Before Lunch

6th Grade Field Day, After Lunch

No backpacks

Friday, May 24th: 

Last day of school!

8th Grade Field Day, Before Lunch

8th Grade Celebration, After Lunch

No backpacks

Reminders & Special Events

"Last Day of School" Shirts:

It’s time!

Last Day shirts are available on SchoolPay! Shoutout to Ariel Marshall for the awesome design! 

You can order through SchoolPay using THIS LINK.

All funds raised support Future Problem Solvers for the 2024-25 school year. 😊

We’re almost there!

Yearbooks:

Although presales are done, you can still get a yearbook UNTIL WE SELL OUT using the link below:  

https://www.schoolpay.com/pay/for/Yearbook-20232024/ShkAbC

Last day to buy 8th grade formal tickets is Monday, May 13!

Freedom Summer Music Camp:

Orlando Book Festival:

Middle grade readers and writers won't want to miss Orlando Book Festival

on May 18!

There is a stacked lineup with these authors and more for panels and writing workshops including, "The Joys and Difficulties of Writing for Children" with Amar Shah, José Pablo Iriarte, Taryn Souders where we'll learn how to write stories that will captivate young readers. Learn more: www.ocls.info/OBF

PTSA Volunteers Needed / Elections Meetings May 20

Students of the Week

7th Grade (announced 5/3)

Congratulations to our LAST 7th grade Students of the Week

for the 2023-24 School Year!

Mia Fiddle for Excellence: She is very smart, respectful, concentrated, and I am very glad to have her in my class! -Ms. Gramiscelli

Jonatas Casado for Excellence: Jonatas has been one of the top scoring students in science throughout the year. -Mr. Putchinski

Sincere Burch for Exemplifying Perseverance: I am so proud of Sincere Burch! When she returned to HCMS, she had an attitude of determination and I started to see tremendous growth in her Math ability! She works hard to complete her assignments on time and with accuracy. She also asks for clarification if she doesn't understand a concept. I admire her for her commitment to being successful in my class. Keep it up, Sincere. I believe in you!!! -Mrs. Daniel

Gavin Dexter for Excellence: Gavin is nominated for student of the week for demonstrating excellence in his academics! All year Gavin has shown excellence in all of his work; classwork, homework, and assessments! He continues to excel in his studies and I know will do amazing on the Algebra EOC! Way to go, Gavin! -Mrs. Lebron

Alice Miranda for Excellence: Alice is a great student! She completes her work on time, is polite, and helps her peers. -Ms. Khan

Luiza Silva for Exemplifying Perseverance: Luiza has really started showing how great of a student she can be this quarter and has made some huge improvements to her grades and work ethic! I love seeing how much effort she has been putting in over the last few weeks to bring her grades up. She asks questions, checks hers work with me, and has been a leader during our novel discussions. Way to finish off the year strong, Luiza! -Ms. DeLuca

Celeste Rossi Bonillo, Alejandra Rodriguez Echenique, and Omayma Hadiah: I want to congratulate these three on their second year of book club! I am always impressed with the insight, commentary, jokes, and joy they bring to book club every week, and I am so proud of them for sticking with it two years in a row! -Ms. H

Stefania Gomez Bastos for Exemplifying Perseverance: Stefania has made big improvements over the last few weeks and I've been proud to see how hard she has been trying to raise her grades! She has been asking questions when she needs help, coming to see me about how to get missing work done, and putting in some hard effort in class on assignments. Keep up the great work! -Ms. DeLuca  

Davi Borges for Giving Respect: Davi has been such a wonderful part of our classroom all year and I've loved getting to be his teacher! He is always polite, friendly, and respectful to his teachers and all those around him. Keep up the great work and keep spreading kindness! -Ms. DeLuca  

Talia Newton, Tatiana Speights, Isaac Mello, Faith Swider, and Elena Gil for Excellence: These 5 were my book club newcomers this year, and I am very proud of them for stepping outside of their comfort zone to try something new. They brought wonderful new perspectives and ideas to our reading discussions, and I am very grateful to have seen their excellence shine this year. -Ms. H

Elijah Gano for Exemplifying Perseverance: Congratulations on your perseverance in math! I commend your hard work preparing for the state test. Your dedication to completing assignments always stood out. I'm very proud of you. -Ms. Rivera

Keep up the amazing work!

8th Grade (announced 5/10) 

Congratulations to our LAST 8th grade Students of the Week

for the 2023-24 School Year!

Jayda Overholser for Leadership: Jayda is so well deserving of this award. Not only has she proven successful in the honors science class with me for two years, but she has also spent the year as a student assistant in my classroom. Jayda has always been positive, followed directions, and worked above and beyond. She has helped me with several classroom tasks and worked as a peer tutor. I appreciate her hard work and commitment throughout the school year, thanks Jayda! -Ms. Bullock

Olivia Costa for Excellence: Olivia consistently does well in chorus and gives 110% every single time she is in my class! -Mr. Brett

Daniel Diaz for Leadership: He has been assisting me with attendance and volunteers to help out on a daily basis. -Coach D’Orsa

Alexander Pagan for Leadership: He is my student assistant 7th period and has helped out during track season. He has assisted with gathering materials for the team, preparing the water Jug, taking out shotput and long jump equipment. Along with being helpful and asking if we need anything or anything to be done. -Coach D’Orsa

Luis Souza for Excellence: Luis is nominated for the last student of the week for demonstrating excellence all year in Algebra! His dedication, effort and work ethic in class this year has really paid off- he passed the Algebra EOC! I appreciate all of his resilience in making sure that he always did was what asked of him and even beyond so that he could be successful in Algebra! I am very proud of him! Way to go, Luis! ❤

-Mrs. Lebron

Micah Berger for Soaring for Greatness: Micah is an amazing student!! He grew from a level 2 to a level 5 on the FAST Reading this year. I am absolutely in awe and so very proud of his accomplishment and all his hard work and effort this year. Micah is AWESOME!! -Ms. True

Ben Layton for Soaring to Greatness: Ben steadily grew all year on each FAST Reading test moving from a level 2 to a level 5. I am extremely proud of all he achieved this year. He is an amazing student who worked hard, participated daily, motivated those around him, and excelled in everything. Ben is a WONDERFUL student to have in class!! -Ms. True

Advay Udgirkar for Excellence: I'm proud to nominate Advay for Academic Excellence! His determination in Algebra has been remarkable all year. His tireless efforts on IXL, Math Nation, and DeltaMath assignments, along with test corrections, have really paid off. Advay never showed signs of being overwhelmed, instead, he displayed awesome work ethics. His consistent hard work led to the highest score, a level 5, in his Algebra EOC class. Advay's achievements are a brilliant way to end the school year! -Ms. Davis

Luis Otavio Souza for Soaring to Greatness: Luis always gives 100%! He strives to do his absolute best, asks questions, and has an amazing mindset. I am very thankful to be his teacher! -Ms. Cecil

Steven Mankarious for Exemplifying Perseverance: Steven has a wonderful attitude in class and never gives up! It has been an honor being his teacher this year!! Here's to one last "have fun storming the castle!" -Ms. Cecil

Amanda Filgueiras for Giving Respect: Amanda has a wonderful outlook in my class. She is open to giving her opinion in class and always does her best work. It has been a joy to be her teacher!! -Ms. Cecil

Agatha Penno Cardoso for Excellence: Agatha, thank you so much for your hard work, your positive attitude, and your desire to do your best every single day! You are a wonderful student and I am glad to be your teacher! As Johnny tells Ponyboy, Stay Gold!!!! -Ms. Cecil

Sadi Shabazz for Soaring to Greatness: Sadi, thank you do always putting forth your best effort in class and being respectful! You have put a lot of work into your podcast, and you ask questions when you need to. It's been an honor being your teacher. Good luck as you work toward nationals and world competitions! -Ms. Cecil

Alessya Escobar for Giving Respect: Alessya is an extremely kind and respectful student! She takes her time on her work, she wants to do her best, and always takes the time to check in on others as well. Her first question every day is "How are you doing Ms. Cecil?" I am proud of you, Alessya! Keep doing your best as you go to high school! -Ms. Cecil

All 13 of my Level 5 Math FAST students for Soaring to Greatness: I am so happy to recognize the students that rocked their FAST MATH and scored a level 5. I am proud of your hard work and accomplishment and wish you all the success in high school next year! 

Congratulations Jesus M, Kyle T, Ana R, Yan P, Alexandra A, Angel R, Antonella O, Gabriel G, Aileen A, Shantal G, Marianna T, Ferkan A and Christine P! YOU ARE AMAZING! -Ms. Pratt

Zunaira Shah for Leadership: Zunaira was a perfect addition to the Student Literacy Leader class; she is efficient, kind, responsible, and just a wonderful person! -Ms. Moye

Jaden Nguyen, Thais Mendes Rodrigues, and Teresa Zeghen Ghanj for Soaring to Greatness: Thank you so much for being our Library Student Assistants!! -Ms. Moye

Leticia Zato Soares Da Silva for Exemplifying Perseverance: Leticia: I am so glad that I have had these last 3 years with you, both just hanging out in the library and as a Student Literacy Leader. You are such an exceptional person! 💗 -Ms. Moye

Anabella Miranda-Carrero, Erin Gold, and Ariel Marshall for Excellence: Thank you to my 8th grade book club for their excellence in reading this year! -Ms. H

Felix Narvaez for Soaring to Greatness: Very proud of Felix showing so much improvement in all state test!!! Great Job Felix!! - Ms Lemus 

Keep up the amazing work!

HERO Students of the Month

Congratulations to our April HERO Students of the Month! These students earned the most HERO points during the month of April!

Alejandra Rodriguez Echenique,

7th grade

Sarah Costa Almeida, 

7th grade

Emaan Habib, 

7th grade

Elias Goldstein, 

8th grade

Luan Dos Santos, 

8th grade

Ricardo D'Bruzos Rivas, 

8th grade

Thank you to Papa Johns for providing the prizes for our amazing HERO Students of the Month!

Teacher of the Month

Congratulations to our March/April Teacher of the Month: Ms. Frontanez!

Here are some of the kind things students said about Ms. Frontanez when they nominated her: 

● I choose her because she is a great teacher and I like how she teaches us.

● This teacher deserves to be teacher of the month because she is extremely nice, smart, caring, over achieving, respectful, and a happy teacher.

● She is very good at teaching and when a student needs help she is always there.

Support Person of the Month

Congratulations to our March/April Support Faculty/Staff of the Month: Deputy Martin!

Here are some of the kind things students said about Deputy Martin when they nominated him: 

● He protects our school, and everytime I see him he is always doing something funny or helpful.

● He is very funny and nice and he protected our school the entire school year and made sure there was no trouble outside of the campus.

Thank you to our amazing PTSA!

We want to extend our greatest thanks to the best PTSA there is for all that you do!

PTSA hosted lunch during Teacher Appreciation Month: 

Thank you, Kindness Club & CHEER!

During Teacher Appreciation Week, our HCMS Kindness Club and CHEER organization hosted a breakfast for all teachers! Thank you for the kind words and delicious food!

OCPS School Board Chair Visit

To celebrate National School Library and Media Month, school board members spent the month of April visiting media centers around the district to see a “Day in the Life of a School Librarian.” HCMS was so lucky to have Chair Teresa Jacobs visit the HCMS Library where Ms. Moye shared our school’s literacy program, gave a tour of the library, and went over her Florida Power Library portfolio.

Ms. H (Media Clerk), Ms. Moye (Media Specialist), OCPS School Board Chair Jacobs, and Principal Moukaddam 

We were honored to celebrate our amazing Principal on National Principal’s Day! Ms. Moukaddam deserves all the love and recognition (and flowers!) we can give her and more!

We are so lucky to have such a wonderful cafeteria team–they truly are lunch superheroes!

On Friday, May 3rd, we joined them in wearing tropical themed clothes:

Spring Band Concert

Congratulations to all of our HCMS Band classes on a wonderful Spring Concert! 



Thank you also to HCMS alumni, and professional musician, Ryan Devlin for coming out to play with the band!

Congratulations to all of our National Junior Honor Society Inductees!

We are so proud of you!

Angel Phanor

Annarita Abraham

Aysel Patel

Cayden Simonsen

Celeste Rossi Bonillo

Derek Wallace

Devananth Thiyagarajan

Dyna Valeus

Edith Mize

Ellie May

Emily Caudle

Ethan Samaan

Fonsi Matos

Ishani Majumdar

Joshua Wang

Julianna Golden

Lara Kosmerlj

Lianna Jean-Baptiste

Madeline Moist

Maya Dragoiu

Melanie Luzardo-Diaz

Nethuka Hewagama

Raegen Begonia

Rodrigo Portal Figueroa

Ryan Nichols

Samanta Ferre Campo

Samantha Batignani

Vallerie Jonis

Veronica Franco

The induction ceremony was May 7th and hosted by the NJHS adviser, Ms. Jarque, and Ms. Moukaddam. 

Thank you also to our HCMS Jazz Band for playing at the event. 

Highest OCPS Middle School Circulation

During the 2023-24 school year, HCMS had the highest circulation of all middle schools in OCPS! 

This statistic is from August to April and includes ebooks and physical books. 

Congratulations to all of our students and literacy teachers on this amazing accomplishment! 

The average of other middle schools is 3,770 books checked out in this time frame, with the next highest middle school circulation being 13,754. 

April HCMS Library Stats

Congratulations on the amazing participation in April on Beanstack!

Eagle Super Reader Party

Congratulations to all of our Eagle Super Reader finishers (read & logged 25+ books)! Ms. Moye and Ms. H hope you had a great time at the party!

6th grade party attendees

7th grade party attendees

8th grade party attendees

Summer Assignments

Information at: https://hunterscreekms.ocps.net/students/summer_assignments__reading___math_

READING

MATH

To help reduce the summer slide in math, HCMS assigns a summer math packet to keep students' math skills sharp over the summer. 

All incoming math classes, except Algebra, will have a summer packet to complete, and they can be found on our Summer Assignment page on the website.

Announcing our 2024-2025 Visiting Author

● Graphic novelist

● Best known for his Olympians series

● Has also written 2 books in a new series: The Asgardians

● Learn more at https://www.georgeoconnorbooks.com/

● Coming February 27th, 2025!

HCMS boys track head coach Candice Martin, and assistant coach Anthony D’orsa, had five students compete in the OCPS County Track & Field Championship held at Evans High School on Tuesday, April 23. Eighth grader Aaron Graham took 3rd place in the 1600m with a time of 5:04.23, edging the fourth place Bridgewater athlete by milliseconds. Please congratulate Aaron and all the track coaches - Shatoya Coogle (girls head coach) and Annelise Rentas (girls assistant) - on an enjoyable season.

HCMS student-athletes who earned an invitation to the county championship:

• Ben Layton – shot put
• Quincy Sydner – shot put
• Kevin Cunha – 100m, 400m
• Aaron Graham – 1600m
• Jackson Butler – 800m

Go Eagles!

Recently, we have had some generous donations from some Partners in Ed, and we want to send a heartfelt thank you: 

Thank you to: 

● Martindale Law Group for providing a prize for our teacher perfect attendance award! 

● RBS Roofing for sponsoring a Teacher Appreciation Week snack for each teacher!

● Diaz Orthodontics for sponsoring a yogurt bar during Teacher Appreciation Week!

● 4Imprint for sponsoring a lunch during Teacher Appreciation Week!

Town Hall Meetings

Superintendent Vazquez held 22 in-person and 10 virtual Town Hall meetings this school year. Find out what was asked most frequently and learn what's in store for Town Halls next school year.

* "Mondays with Maria" is presented each week by Addition Financial Credit Union.

Thank you for reading at this Mother's Day.

Mrs. Moukaddam, Principal

Hunter's Creek Middle School

Sunday, May 12, 2024

Happy Mother's Day!

Principal: Joumana Moukaddam joumana.moukaddam@ocps.net

Assistant Principal of Instruction: Jane Mabra jane.mabra@ocps.net

Assistant Principal: Debra Vereen debra.vereen@ocps.net

8th Grade Dean: Joquetta Carter joquetta.carter@ocps.net

7th Grade Dean: Shatoya Coogle shatoya.coogle@ocps.net

6th Grade Dean: Dominic Golia dominic.golia@ocps.net

8th Grade Counselor: Kelly Armstrong kelly.armstrong@ocps.net

7th Grade Counselor: Madison Brady madison.brady2@ocps.net

6th Grade Counselor: Annikki Merritt annikki.merritt@ocps.net

ESOL Compliance & Dual Language Coordinator: Joley Dominguez elyse.dominguezlozada@ocps.net

Staffing Specialist: Lynne McGregor lynne.ripleymcgregor@ocps.net

SAFE Coordinator: Alejandra Camacho alejandra.camacho@ocps.net

Social Worker: Suzette Fonseca suzette.fonseca@ocps.net

Testing Coordinator: Allison Nicosia allison.nicosia@ocps.net 

MTSS Coordinator: Karen Godwin karen.navarro@ocps.net  

Librarian: Kellee Moye kellee.moye@ocps.net