Letter from Administration

Dear Hillview Middle School Hawks, 

Welcome to the 2025-2026 school year! I hope everyone had a fun and relaxing summer break. I look forward to talking with students about the many summer adventures during the break. The new school year is approaching quickly and we are excited to welcome our students back to school on August 4th! 

We have some new team members joining the Hillview staff. We are welcoming Desiree Valdez, our new vice principal. Our new 7th grade counselor is Melina Lee. Marisa Yudin and Sarah Carbera are joining Hillview as our school psychologists. Attached to this message are Mr. McCraw’s, Ms.Lee’s, and Ms. Yudin’s letters of introduction. Joining our teaching team are Krystal Arias (8th grade ELA), Karine Parry (8th grade math), Terra LaFayette (Pre-Algebra and 7th grade math), Esteban Custodio (7th/8th grade math), Jon Wood (Art), Christian Ramirez (CTE), and Carlos Cruz Dzidz (PE). Joining our classified team, we have Sara Smith as our new LVN, Jordan Bacchus (IAI - AVID), Mia Huert (IAI- AVID), and Sumaiya Bhaiya (IA II). Please join me in welcoming all of them to the Hillview Hawk family.

Westside Union School District will be partnering with the Lancaster Police Department for two school resource officers. Hillview will be hosting one of the resource officers throughout the school year. We are excited to have the officer on campus to provide extra support and interact with our students. 

6th Grade Honors Orientation/Early Schedule Release 

Congratulations to our incoming sixth graders that will be attending Hillview as part of the honors academy! An orientation meeting for sixth grade honors students and their families will be held on July 30, 2025 beginning at 12:00pm. to 2:00pm. Students will be participating in activities with the WEB Leaders in the gym while parents will be meeting with administration in the cafeteria. Students will receive their schedules, tour the campus, and PE clothes will be available for purchase in the front office. The cost for PE clothes is $25.00 for the shirt and shorts set and only cash will be accepted. All sixth grade honors students and families are highly encouraged to attend. 

7th Grade Orientation/Early Schedule Release 

7th grade students with the last name beginning with the letter A-M and their families are highly encouraged to attend the orientation and early schedule release at 8:00a.m.-10:00a.m. 7th grade students with the last name beginning with the letter N-Z and their families will attend the orientation and early schedule release at 12:00p.m.-2:00p.m. Students will participate in activities with the WEB Leaders in the gym while parents/guardians are in the cafeteria with admin. We will also be doing a presentation with Kim Karr from I CAN Help about social media. Students will receive their schedules and take a tour of the campus. After the orientation meeting, families and students will reconnect and PE clothes can be purchased in the front office for $25.00 (cash only). If students are unable to attend, they will receive their schedule on the first day of school.

Early Schedule Release for 8th Grade

8th grade students are able to come pick up schedules from 12:00p.m. to 2:00p.m. on August 1, 2025. Tables will be set up near the Hillview Gym with the students’ schedules. If students are unable to attend the early schedule release, their schedule will be provided on the first day of school during the first ten minutes of advisory. PE clothes can be purchased in the front office for $25.00 (cash only). 

New Elective Offerings

We are excited to announce that we have three new elective course offerings at Hillview this school year! The first is our Future Forward Career Lab. Students will have an opportunity to engage in hands-on projects related to 16 different careers. The second is dance where students will learn different styles of dances while learning how to create and perform short routines individually or in groups.. The third elective is flight and space and will explore skills related to aerospace and allow students to develop skills working with drones. Students will choose their elective during elective rush during the first two days of school. 

Hillview Updates

Our school has been completely cleaned and prepared for the new school year. Our school has received much support from maintenance and operations, IT, and district management. Our wonderful custodians Kelly, Raymond, and Steve have been working hard to ensure our school is clean and ready for students and staff to return. I really appreciate all of their hard work. A huge thank you to the district management, the Board, and Maintenance and Operations for the improvements they have made to Hillview over the summer. Our Future Forward Career Lab is beautiful with a new floor, new lights, walls, paint, furniture, and decals. The dance room in the gym got a wonderful new floor. PE received a brand new storage container on the field for their items. New HVAC units were replaced in the main buildings and the gym. A lot of resources went to Hillview this past year and we are very thankful.

Our schoolwide theme for this school year is “The Future is Now. and Hawks Lead the Way!” Our focus will be motivating students to be their best everyday to help them reach their goals as they plan for their future. 

Arrival/Dismissal Information 

Monday, August 4th is a minimum day with dismissal being at 12:51p.m. Students will be following the “odd” day schedule. Also, Tuesday, August 5th is a minimum day and students will be following the “even” day schedule. The odd and even schedules are attached below for reference. 

On the first day of school, students will report to their advisory teacher’s classroom for the first ten minutes of school. This is where students will be given information about the schedule, get another copy of their schedule if they did not get it at early schedule release, and be given their planner. After the ten minutes, students will resume the schedule as regular. If your student has Calica, Davila,E or Davila,R. as their advisory teacher, they will report to the gym for these 10 minutes.  

Parents/guardians are welcome to walk their student(s) to their advisory class on the first day of school, but we ask parents/guardians to please not enter classrooms or the cafeteria with students at that time. There will be many opportunities for parents/guardians to volunteer in the classrooms throughout the school year. If you are already registered as a district volunteer, volunteer badge pictures will be taken on August 13th. If you would like to register as a district volunteer, please call 661-722-0716 ext 77526 to schedule an appointment for fingerprinting at the district office. I look forward to seeing families on campus in the morning on the first day!

As a friendly reminder, traffic near the school during arrival and dismissal will be impacted since Rancho Vista Elementary begins and dismisses at the same time. Your patience and cooperation with following the traffic laws during this time is much appreciated and essential to the safety of our students. During dismissal, only students with siblings at Rancho Vista will be permitted to go to that campus. Please remind your student it is very important they go straight to their dismissal location and not linger in the area after school. 

Westside Pathfinders Updates

Registration for the Boys and Girls Club at Hillview is open! The program is offered to all students at no cost. The program runs immediately after school each day until 5:30p.m. Parents will go to the back gate on Maestro Ln for pick up. If you are interested in registering your student(s) in the Boys and Girls Club please visit https://www.avbgc.org/westside-school-district-sites. Students participating in Boys and Girls Club will report to the patio area outside of the cafeteria to check in for snacks and attendance after school ends.

We are excited to announce an additional weekly afterschool program, AutoPros Academy that provides students with hands-on automotive STEM education. The program will meet weekly on Fridays beginning August 15th in Room 126 at 2:15p.m. to 4:15p.m. There are only 40 spaces available for the school year! 

PTSA

Our wonderful PTSA have been busy planning many great events for this school year! Please support the PTSA by becoming a member for $8.00 using this link: https://jointotem.com/ca/palmdale/hillview-middle-school-ptsa Thank you to our PTSA for all your support and we are looking forward to the wonderful events planned. 

I hope you enjoy the remainder of summer break and I look forward to partnering with you to ensure that your student has a successful year at Hillview! If you need anything at all, please do not hesitate to contact me via phone (661-722-9993), email (jordon.holmes@westside.k12.ca.us), or ParentSquare. It is going to be a fantastic year!

Go Hawks!

Mr. Holmes

Principal