Congratulations to Coach Hortas and the Boys Volleyball Team on winning the 2023-2024 County Championship on Wednesday night against Walker Middle School!! |
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Friday, December 15, 2023 |
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Horizon West Middle School |
HWMS Community Member,
I am so proud to announce that Horizon West Middle School has earned an “A” for our School Grade once again! Congratulations to all of our hard-working students and staff, I could not be prouder! |
We have our upcoming Winter Break taking place December 25th to January 5th and be aware that January 8th is a Student Holiday/Teacher Workday. Students will return from break on Tuesday, January 9th. Take time during this break to rest, relax and get motivated for a new year and the second semester of the school year. Look for our next “Hornet’s Buzz” Community Brief on January 12th when we return from Winter Break!
Just a reminder that we are offering Homework Help Sessions from 8:00-9:00 AM in the HWMS cafeteria. Students that attend will earn Hero points!
- Mondays: Language Arts
- Tuesdays: Social Studies
- Wednesdays: Science & Spanish
- Thursdays: Math
I could not end the year without taking a moment to express my sincere gratitude to our teachers and staff at Horizon West Middle School. We are so honored to have such a brilliant team of teachers and staff at Horizon West that put students first and keep our hive buzzing. Also, we are so grateful for our parents and students who have been so supportive and dedicated to education. Our Horizon West Families are truly the best in OCPS and we thank you for all your support and kindness.
Happy Holidays,
Michelle Thomas
Principal
Pictured very top: Boys volleyball team celebrates after winning the 2023-2024 County Championship over Walker Middle School. Congratulations Hornets!
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8200 Tattant Drive
Orlando, FL 37486
(407) 554-1570
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Communication is KEY to the SUCCESS of our SCHOOL, STUDENTS and FAMILIES. Stay connected to our school by following and liking our OFFICIAL social media accounts. |
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Dec. 16: OCPS Annual Food Distribution at select school sites, 10:00am |
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Dec. 18-22: HAPPY HOLIDAY SPIRIT WEEK
Dec. 18: Spirit Night at Piesanos - Windermere
Dec. 20: Hornets Nest Store open 10:54am - 12:48pm
Dec. 21: Candy canes delivered during 7th period (NJHS special event)
Dec. 22: Yearbook price increase
Dec. 25-Jan. 5: Winter Break
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Jan. 8: Student Holiday/Teacher Workday |
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Jan. 9: Classes resume/Start of Quarter 3
Feb. 5: NJHS Fundraiser at Chipotle (3317 Daniels Road), 5-9pm
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Hornet Athletics
Horizon West Boys Volleyball - #1 in Orange County!
District Champions (December 13, 2023)
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The Road to the Orange County Boys Volleyball Championship |
Before winning the Orange County Volleyball Championship this past Wednesday evening vs. Walker Middle, our Hornets first had to defeat a tough Blanker team in the semi-final match. Congratulations Hornets on your 2023-2024 Championship Season! |
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Basketball Tryouts after Winter Break |
Basketball tryouts will start on January 10th after Winter Break. Times TBA. Students must have a completed Aktivate account, including physical, in order to participate. You can locate more information on our website regarding physicals. |
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Happy Holiday Spirit Week begins Monday (Dec. 18-22):
Our students and staff are welcome to participate in the Happy Holiday Spirit Week sponsored by our SGA students!
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Spirit Night on Monday, Dec. 18: |
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Congratulations to the following “Student of the Week” recipients! |
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6th Grade-
Catarina Masini
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6th Grade-
Nikolai McAllister
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Nominated by Mr. Nguyen-
“Catarina shows great promise in class with a willingness to learn!”
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Nominated by Dr. Pagan-
“Nikolai is always working hard in class and is kind with his peers. He, also, goes out of his way to help others.”
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7th Grade-
Valeria Ramirez
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7th Grade-
Lauren Lisembly
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Nominated by Ms. Ferrand-
“Valeria has been working on improving her grades and I’m proud of her hard work!”
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Nominated by Miss Bontempo-
“Lauren is an amazing student and is so respectful. She is always doing the right thing and cares about her work and the people around her!”
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8th Grade-
Matheus Spacca
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Nominated by Ms. Martinez-
"Matheus has been putting much more effort and I’m very proud of his efforts! Keep it going Matheus!!!”
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Nominated by Ms. Ocampo-
“I appreciate having Vero in my class! She is willing to kindly help fellow students, participates well and is responsible!”
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“Ivan may be a man of few words but his quiet leadership has been getting the very tough job of keeping our campus clean done! The behind the scene hard work that our custodial team is doing absolutely deserves special recognition.” |
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Nominated by Ivan Perez Roman- |
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“I would like to pass the “Hornet of the Week” to Victor Hortas-Burgos. Aside from being the school PE teacher, Victor dedicates times to each student and volleyball team members here at Horizon West. Through the years, I have been on staff, I have witnessed how Victor has elevated the teams to succeed in school goals. Not only giving time to each and every one of them, but also supporting the students throughout this environment with that extra personal touch. Thank you, Victor Hortas-Burgos, for your influence on our school.” |
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National Junior Honor Society |
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Students from NJHS went to Give Kids the World Village to volunteer their time to serve breakfast to families. They had a wonderful day serving others at this special time of year. |
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Our HWMS Musical Theatre class attended the District Theatre Competition at the University High School. We are so proud of all of our participating students. The following students who scored the highest will be representing Horizon West Middle School in February at the Orange County Convention Center for our State Competition.
With a PERFECT score, these two students were chosen by a panel of judges to present for the entire Festival on Saturday at closing Ceremony. They represented us well!
Musical Theatre Duet -Tristan Olofson and Victoria De Luca Da Silva
With high scores in their category:
Musial Theatre Solo- Faith Prendergast, Tristan Olofson, Victoria De Luca Da Silva
Acting Event Monologue –Emma Jimenez, Bailey Fuentes
Large Group Musical Event –Tristan Olofson, Victoria De Luca Da Silva, Faith, Prendergast, Bailey Fuentes, Fabiana Granadillo Arocha, Gabriella Goncalves, Clark Hill, Jordan Riley, Lea Santiago, and Samantha Tom
Acting Event Original Student made Pantomime –Erin King, Layla Naya, Jordan Rozefort, Maria Sophia Costa Silva, and Mariana Serna
Tech Event Short Scene Writing –Jordan Riley
Tech Event Publicity Design- Mariana Monteiro Cabrini
Tech Event Costume Design- Maria Sophia Costa Silva, Marienisse Maysonet Reyes
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The Horizon West Middle School Chorus and Dance program took two groups to perform at the ICE! Exhibit today at the Gaylord Palms. We had a blast performing in the Christmas shop and getting to walk through the Charlie Brown Christmas themed ICE! Exhibit! |
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Congratulations to all of the wonderful performers and performances that took place at the Winter Prism Concert at Windermere High School last Friday! It was a wonderful night filled with amazing talent and music! |
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OCPS Super STEM Saturday Highlights! |
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Last Saturday, the STEM Club was a participant in OCPS' Super STEM Saturday at Apopka High School. At the event, our students and their parents were able to view presentations about many of our county's STEM initiatives, such as protecting watersheds, creating energy efficient schools, and furthering science and mathematics education. |
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After voting in energy inspired art and poster competitions, three of our students entered a VEX Robotics competition, using a robot that they constructed by themselves in only two weeks. Their customized clawbot competed valiantly alongside and against other middle and high schools in a fast-paced soccer style game. Meanwhile, two more of our students invented a foam rig and strapped in their pilot, Edggar Poe, for the secondary school egg drop competition.
Although we weren't able to win any competition medals this time, our students got many promising ideas for improving their inventions from their competitions and are excited to put them into practice in our future STEM Club meetings.
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Trunks of Kindness is a free outdoor thrift store! |
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During this event we give out free clothing, shoes, outer warm clothing, food, survival items, brand new books, snacks, toiletries, and etc. We also provide arts and crafts/activities, and we give out brand new books from our kids’ corner. There is an area where our social services from the southwest community are able to assist families and there is a photo opt area for families to enjoy some picture time together.
This is one of the events that were created to assist some of our families in need in the OCPS community during the holiday season. A special thank you to all the NJHS volunteers and Mrs. Aulerich and Ms. Ford for being a part of such a special event.
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Food, Fun, and Fellowship |
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HWMS staff members enjoying some fun during our monthly Staff Social! |
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8th Grade Hollywood Glam Night - Student Picture Request |
The Horizon West Middle School Student Government Association is proud to present A Hollywood Glam Night for our 8th Grade 2024 Dance. The event will be held on Friday, May 17th, 2024.
We will be collecting back (elementary) then and current photos (middle school) of your 8th grader to be shared at the event. If you would like to submit your past and present pictures of your student, please send them to Hwms8gradedance@gmail.com. Make sure to include your student's first and last name. Stay tuned for ticket sales! |
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REMINDER:
AFTER SCHOOL ZONE
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February 2024 NJHS Fundraiser |
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Season's Greetings!
Ms. Thomas, Principal
Horizon West Middle School
Friday, December 15, 2023
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Horizon West Leadership Team |
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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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