Just a reminder that we will be closed for Christmas Break from December 25th through January 9th. (Jan. 8th is a Staff Workday only.) Students will resume their regular schedules on Tuesday, January 9th, 2024.

Our Ellison Eagle PE Department reminds us we can all stay active while we're away from school for Christmas Break. Check out this cool video and pick up a few exercise tips from Coach Pardo and Ellison Eagle PE!

Thank you, Eagle PE Department, for keeping us motivated!

(Use the cut-out below to create your own exercise cube)

Stay active over the break!

To all of our Ellison Parents & Guardians: Please use this link or QR code to complete our anonymous Parent Survey for December 2023! This survey feedback is important to us, and will help us as we begin work on next year's Campus Improvement Plan.

Survey Link: https://forms.office.com/r/FuxTHLiGs8

Thank you!

Now that we have arrived at Semester Exam Week, we remind all students to prepare well for every exam throughout the week.

The Semester Exam counts as 10% of students' semester average, with the first and second Nine Weeks each counting as 45% each.

See our Semester Exam Schedule below!

Go Eagles!

We will follow our regular bell schedule on Monday, December 18th, and the Exam Schedule begins on Tuesday, December 19th.

Note: On Friday, December 22nd, we will have both a Late Start and an Early Release. The Student Entrance will open at 9:15 am instead of the normal 8:15 am, and our first exam that day will begin at 9:45 am. Our last exam that day will end at 1:50 pm, and students will have the opportunity to purchase a carry-out lunch at dismissal.

Let's prepare and be ready for Semester Exams!

It's always a bittersweet moment when one of our staff members shifts from the daily work of being an educator to the adventure of retirement. We are so happy for them to take this well-deserved and hard-earned step, but we also miss seeing them here every day.

Every now and then, however, one of these moments hits especially hard, when it's one of our longtime Eagles who has seen so much Ellison history come and go.

Tami Kraft announces her retirement effective at the end of next week and will be moving on at Christmas Break.

Mrs. Kraft's first role as a teacher came at the age of 10, when her mom was the YMCA Aquatics Director in Big Spring, TX, and Tami helped out with teaching younger children how to swim and dive. This experience led to being a Girl Scout camp counselor, which in turn led to the path toward a career in teaching.

Mrs. Kraft's official teaching career began in Amarillo ISD in 1990, continued in Waco ISD, and then brought her to Killeen ISD and Ellison High School, beginning in the 1997-1998 school year.

Over all these years, Tami has taught Language Arts, every subject possible within Social Studies, and also Journalism/Yearbook! In addition to these various teaching assignments, Tami has led multiple extracurricular activities, including UIL Academics, Student Council Advisor, and Junior Class Sponsor, which included coordinating the Prom, including an all-time favorite theme, "Nightmare on Elms Road". (Tami's favorite Prom memory was the year that MTV did a feature about an Ellison student and did some of their filming at our prom.)

Mrs. Kraft has a wealth of stories to share about the joys and challenges of the teaching career, and has seen several historical events occur during this time, which naturally flowed into rich lesson planning for the Social Studies classroom.

Mrs. Kraft directed the production of 17 consecutive Ellison High School yearbooks from 2007 to 2023, before handing the Yearbook over to Ms. Coffey in anticipation of retiring this year. What a legacy of history and great memories!

Mrs. Kraft sums it up best when she recalls the comments from so many students and staff quoted for features in the yearbook. Time and time again, the quote centered around how everyone is welcome at EHS and students can find a place here. Tami echoes this sentiment when she says, "I love that about Ellison. People can find a place here."

Mrs. Kraft plans to stay active in the community through her work with the Food Pantry at the Southside Church of Christ, where expansion is planned for this outreach to better serve our community. You will find Mrs. Kraft busy at the Food Pantry on Monday, Tuesday, Friday, and Saturday mornings.

Thank you, Mrs. Kraft, for 25 great years at Ellison High School, and congratulations on your retirement!

You are a true Ellison Eagle, and we will miss you!

Eagles: On the first day of school for students, January 9th, 2024, all students will report to their 1st period class from the 1st semester. Any students whose schedules have changed for the second semester will have the opportunity to visit the Counselors' office for their new schedule if needed.

Enjoy these links to some of the historical background behind major holidays celebrated around the world during this season when we take a break from school:

*Christmas: https://www.history.com/topics/christmas/history-of-christmas

*Hannukah: https://www.britannica.com/topic/Hanukkah

*Kwanzaa: https://www.history.com/topics/holidays/kwanzaa-history

Eagles: Thank you for your help in maintaining our Closed Campus procedures for lunchtime.

Seniors with their CCMR indicator are the only students permitted to leave campus for lunch, and there is a procedure for these students to check out and back in through the Student Entrance.

Commercial deliveries to campus, such as Door Dash, Uber Eats, etc., are not permitted.

We do want to give a reminder that closed campus begins from the time students arrive on campus in the morning. Students who arrive before school starts are not permitted to leave campus and then return for 1st period.

Thank you all for your help!

Eagle Parents & Fans:

We encourage all of our students to attend our Athletic & Fine Arts events and support our Eagles and Lady Eagles! Please make plans for students to be picked up from any extracurricular event within 30 minutes of the event ending. Campus administrators will be present to remind students to contact parents for rides before the event has ended, and will use the Hero system to provide reminders for students who are not picked up within the 30-minute time after the event.

Thank you for helping us get everyone home safely and timely after our extracurricular events!

Eagles,

Continuing from last year, our teachers are using the Hero software to track student tardies as well as positive actions. Please use the link below to create your own Parent and Student accounts in Hero to track your progress. Parents: If you have more than one student at EHS, you will need to create your Parent account, add one student, then log out and log back in to add another student to the same parent account. All you need is your student's KISD Student ID #, Date of Birth, and name in order to add your student to your Parent account.

Here's a link to the Hero home page:

https://access.heropowered.com/

If you have any questions about Hero, please contact Assistant Principal Miller at:

kailani.miller@killeenisd.org

Go Eagles!

Parents: Do you have an active login for the Home Access Center? This is your most helpful tool in keeping up with student grades, assignments, and tests, as well as finding contact information for your students' teachers.

Contact our Student Activities Office if you need assistance in getting a login for the Home Access Center!

https://www.killeenisd.org/parents_and_students

Eagles: Be sure you are taking advantage of every tutoring opportunity available to you: Wake Up Wednesday, other tutoring times scheduled with teachers, and don't forget the KISD Learning Center!

Use this link to the KISD web site for more information about our district-wide free tutoring center:

https://www.killeenisd.org/Page/15211

Dr. Casper Eugene (C.E.) Ellison was the Superintendent of the Killeen ISD from 1953 - 1973. Dr. Ellison led our district through years of tremendous change and growth, and was highly regarded throughout our community. Dr. Ellison passed away unexpectedly in 1973, while still serving as Superintendent. A few years later, Killeen ISD made plans to open its second high school, and it was the perfect fit to name the school after Dr. Ellison. C.E. Ellison High School first opened its doors for the 1978-1979 school year, and our Eagles have been soaring ever since!

The mission of Ellison High School is to launch young people into successful adult lives of learning, service, and meaningful work.

We seek to make a Lasting Legacy for students and for our community.

Our goal is to help every student learn, grow, and discover how they can make positive contributions to their community, today and in the future, here in Killeen and around the world.

Our most important motto at EHS is: Own Your Learning!

When we use this motto, we are reminding students that their academic success belongs to them, and that they should take ownership of it. School staff and parents all care very much about students' academic success, but the key is for our students to see their academic success and achievements as their own.

This invitation to growth, maturity, and ownership of one's success is a key part of our experience here at EHS.

Own Your Learning!

If you have any questions, we are here to help. Please feel free to call our main office or email our Principal, David Dominguez.

Email: david.dominguez@killeenisd.org
Website: https://schools.killeenisd.org/Page/97
Location: 909 East Elms Road, Killeen, TX, USA
Phone: 254-336-0600
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EllisonEagles
Twitter: @EHSPrincipal