November 9th-13th, 2026
East End Elementary Empower. Encourage. Excel.
Celebrating Growth, Gratitude, and Our YellowJacket Family!
We have had another wonderful week at East End Elementary, and there is so much to celebrate as we head into November!
📚 ATLAS Interim 1 Testing Complete!
We have officially wrapped up our first round of ATLAS Interim testing! We are so proud of our students for working hard, persevering, and showing us what they know! These assessments provide valuable information that helps our teachers celebrate growth, identify areas of need, and plan targeted instruction to ensure ALL students continue learning and growing. Thank you to our amazing staff for making the testing process a success!
🇺🇸 Veterans Day Parade This Week!
We are looking forward to our Veterans Day parade this week as we take time to honor and celebrate the brave men and women who have served our country. This is such a meaningful opportunity for our little YellowJackets to learn about gratitude, respect, and the sacrifices made by our veterans. We are excited to show our appreciation to these incredible heroes!
🌟 Celebrating Positive Choices!
We continue to be incredibly proud of the positive culture our staff and students are building at EEE! During October, we celebrated 50 POSITIVE office referrals compared to only 5 discipline referrals! WOW!! Our students are demonstrating what it means to have the Heart of a YellowJacket, and our staff members are intentionally recognizing and celebrating the GOOD happening throughout our building!
🤝 CKH Word of the Month: TEAMWORK!
Our Capturing Kids' Hearts character word this month is TEAMWORK! We are encouraging students to work together, support one another, and recognize that we can accomplish amazing things when we work as a team. We encourage you to talk with your child about ways they can demonstrate teamwork at home, too!
🦃 Two Weeks Until Thanksgiving Break!
Can you believe we are just TWO weeks away from Thanksgiving break?! As we enter this season of thankfulness, we are reminded of how blessed we are to have such wonderful students, families, and staff. We have so much to be grateful for at EEE!
We still have two important weeks of learning ahead of us, and we encourage our YellowJackets to continue attending school each day, working hard, and making positive choices!
💙💛 Thank You, EEE Families!
Thank you for your continued support and partnership. We are so proud of the school culture we are building together, and we couldn't do it without you!
You are important. You are loved. YOU BELONG HERE!!
Tamara Strawn, Ed.S.
Important Dates
November
11th-Veterans Day Parade
12th-Picture Retakes
13th-Wear BLUE for World Diabetes Day!
20th-Author Visit (See Information Below)
23rd-27th-THANKSgiving Break
30th-Return to School
Decemer
10th-2nd Grade Music Program
Purchase Your Yearbook Now
Scan the QR Code below or go to www.buytheyearbook.com.
State-Arkansas
City-Little Rock
School-East End Elementary
Push the Let's Go Button
Holiday Card Challenge
Kindergarten Game Night
Please Watch For Our Car Line Procedures
Items To Remember:
Want to eat lunch with your child? We have a limited number of seats, so you are required to call the office to reserve a specific date and spot, 501.888.4262.
Please try and send all lunch and snacks with your student in the morning rather than bring to the office for us to deliver.
You MUST have your student car tag in order to pick up your child. (Handbook-pg.68)
You can purchase ONE additional car tag in the office for $1.00.
Parents must stay in their vehicle in the carline. We have staff to assist students. When stopped, students should open their car door and have all items ready to get out in the morning. If you have a child safety lock on your door, please ask for help opening the door.
When staff start to close the morning gate at 8am, we will not re-open it. You must check your student in the front office after 8am.
For the morning carline, students should be ready to get out of the vehicle at every orange cone.
For the afternoon carline, we encourage you to work on your child buckling themselves. If they cannot, please pull up to the front parking lot after they get into your vehicle to buckle them. This helps our carline work more efficiently.
If at all possible, please have your student's car seat on the passenger side. It is safer for staff and students if all students enter and exit the vehicle from the passenger side.
HEART of a YellowJacket
- Students at EEE show the HEART of the YellowJacket
- Honest, Effort, Accountable, Respect, Teamwork
- Students can earn Jacket Bucks & spend them at our Jacket Buck Store
- Behavior Bash after each 9 weeks. Criteria to go: No MAJOR Behavior Referrals and 80% on class behavior log for that 9 weeks.
- POSITIVE Office Referrals=Phone call home, celebrated on grade-level "Caught Being Kind "Wall, celebrated at CKH Monthly Meeting.
CKH Greetings
At EEE, we believe every child deserves to feel seen, valued, and welcomed! Through Capturing Kids’ Hearts, we, whether we is staff or classmates, intentionally greet our students with a smile, a warm welcome, and a personal connection. A high-five, handshake, or kind word, these small moments build strong relationships, create a sense of belonging, and set a positive tone for learning.
November Word Of The Month
Cafeteria Information
Peanut Free School
East End Elementary is a peanut-free school. Please be mindful when packing lunches, snacks, and treats for your child.
Some prepackaged meals, including certain Lunchables, may contain candy or snack items such as Butterfinger, CRUNCH bars, or Nutty Buddy bars that may contain peanuts or peanut ingredients. Items containing Nutella should also not be sent to school.
Please check ingredient labels carefully before sending food items with your child. Thank you for helping us keep our students safe!
Counselors Corner
November 5 finger Breathing
🌟 Calming Strategy: Five Finger Breathing 🖐️
Five Finger Breathing is a simple calming technique that helps children slow down, regulate their emotions, and refocus when they feel frustrated, overwhelmed, worried, or upset.
How to Practice at Home:
Hold one hand up with your fingers spread apart.
Using the pointer finger of your other hand, slowly trace up one finger while breathing in.
Breathe out slowly as you trace down the other side.
Continue until you have traced all five fingers.
💛 Parent Tip: Practice this strategy when your child is already calm so they become comfortable using it when big emotions arise. It's a great tool to use before bedtime, during homework, or anytime your child needs a moment to reset!
🎥 Watch and practice together: Five Finger Breathing
Little breaths can make a BIG difference! 💜
ATLAS INFORMATION
Kindergarten
1st Grade
Long Vowels
Long Vowels – Vowel Sounds That Say Their Name!
Long vowels say their letter name! The five vowels are a, e, i, o, and u.
Long vowel sounds can be spelled in different ways, including silent e (CVCe) and vowel teams.
Long A: cake, rain, play, name
Long E: me, tree, feet, team
Long I: bike, light, pie, time
Long O: home, boat, snow, rope
Long U: cube, cute, mule, music
Silent E Rule: When a word follows the consonant-vowel-consonant-e (CVCe) pattern, the final e is usually silent, and the first vowel says its name.
Examples: cap → cape, kit → kite, hop → hope
Parent Tip: Play “Short or Long?” with your child! Say two words, such as cap and cape, or kit and kite. Ask your child to listen carefully and identify which word has the long vowel sound. Remind them that long vowels say their name!
2nd Grade
Long Vowels
Long A Vowel Teams – AI and AY
Two vowels work together to make one long vowel sound! Both ai and ay usually make the long A sound /ā/, just like the letter A says its name.
AI is usually found in the middle of a word.
AY is usually found at the end of a word or syllable.
Long A (AI): rain, train, paint, mail, snail
Long A (AY): play, stay, day, tray, spray
Remember: When you hear the long A sound in the middle of a word, try ai. When you hear the long A sound at the end of a word, try ay!
Parent Tip: Play “AI or AY?” with your child! Say words like rain, play, train, and stay. Have your child listen for the long A sound and decide whether to spell it with ai or ay. Then have them write the word and explain why they chose that vowel team.
Remind your child that AI usually goes in the middle, and AY usually goes at the end!
ROYO
We encourage all students to continue using the ROYO program at home to help strengthen and maintain their reading skills! Students can log in through their Google account just like they do at school.
If you need your child’s login information, please contact the office at 501-888-4264 or email:
Coach Strawn – tamarastrawn@sheridanschools.org
Joy Sharp – joysharp@sheridanschools.org
Keep reading and keep growing!
What is ROYO?
What Is ROYO?
ROYO (Read On Your Own) is an AI-powered literacy platform for elementary and middle school students. ROYO generates personalized decodable books aligned to Science of Reading principles, phonics scope and sequence, sight words, individual teacher classroom instruction, and each student’s reading ability, language needs, and interests.
Contact Us
Please feel free to contact East End Elementary administration for any reason. We are here to partner with you to ensure safety and success for your child. You may call the office at 501.888.4264 or by the emails listed below. Thank you for choosing to share your child with EEE!
Tamara Strawn, Principal
tamarastrawn@sheridanschools.org
Alan Braden, Assistant Principal
alanbraden@sheridanschools.org
Christy Whitley
