About Union

 

About the District

The eighth largest public school district in Oklahoma, Union has approximately 14,890 students, pre-kindergarten through 12th grade, residing within a 28-square-mile boundary encompassing both southeast Tulsa and a portion of Broken Arrow.  The school system is the heart of the community and serves as a unifying force.  It includes an early childhood center for three-year-old students; 13 elementary schools pre-kindergarten through fifth grade; five secondary schools—a 6th and 7th Grade Center (to be separated into two distinct facilities), 8th Grade Center, the High School Freshman Academy, High School (Grades 10-12,) and the Union Alternative School for grades 9-12. 

In addition, Union's Adult Education Learning Center serves northeastern Oklahoma, offering GED classes, English as a Second Language and more.

Parents choose the Union district for its all-around excellence.  They take great pride in its wide-ranging, dynamic academic programs; award-winning activities; caring, talented teachers; highly respected elected and administrative leaders; and remarkable facilities.  Union is one of the leading districts in Oklahoma in the number of teachers earning National Board Certification and in number of Presidential Math and Science Award recipients.

Union’s Community Schools — schools complete with health clinics and services from community agencies — serve as a model to other districts nationwide.  They increase academic success by forming community partnerships to provide extra supports such as early care, health and social services, out-of-school activities, family/community engagement, neighborhood development and lifelong learning.

In addition to challenging Pre-Advanced Placement (AP) classes, Union offers a variety of Advanced Placement classes which allow students to earn college credit while learning about a subject in depth.  In partnership with Tulsa Community College (TCC), Union was the first to pilot a unique concurrent enrollment program - EDGE - Earn a Degree, Graduate Early – on its High School campus, enabling qualifying students to earn both high school and college credits at the same time – virtually tuition free!  

Union’s Collegiate Academy at the High School provides students a challenging college-like experience with instructors from Tulsa Community College, tiered lecture halls, advanced science labs, student lounges, and specialty food shops, along with a safety net of high school staff members there to ensure their success.  Counselors in the College and Career Center help students and their parents complete college entrance, financial aid, and scholarship applications or bank college credit through Tulsa Technology Center.  

The Union community provides whatever it takes to ensure all students graduate college/career ready. Successful bond issues have funded state-of-the-art tools to enhance reading, language, math, science, and writing skills at every grade level. Art, music, and physical education enrich the traditional curriculum. Professionals in remedial reading, speech therapy, and special education are assigned to the schools along with library media specialists, nurses, and counselors. Courses for gifted students are offered at all levels, as are programs for English Language Learners.

Statistics

In 2022-23, Union’s enrollment dropped by 121 students. With a 0.8 percent decrease over the previous year, Union served 14,890 students – 6,944 at the elementary level and 7,946 in grades 6-12.

Districtwide, 7,417 students (49.81%) were female and 7,473 (50.19%) male.
In terms of racial origin, 3.8 percent were American Indian/Alaska Native, 15 percent African American, 10.2 percent multi-racial, 0.3 percent Pacific Islander/Hawaiian, 7 percent Asian, 24.1 percent Caucasian, and 39.6 percent of Hispanic ethnicity.

For 2022-23, there were 2,760 identified gifted students in grades prekindergarten through 12th grade, served by a variety of courses, programs and enrichment services.

Union returned to ACT testing in the 11th grade, and 114 seniors took the ACT for graduation requirements in the spring of 2023. The mean score for juniors taking the ACT was 17.5; the mean score for seniors was 18.3.

There were 72 SAT tests taken by Union last year with an average score of 1192. There were 60 unique students who participated and – using their highest score from last year – the average score was 1179.5

2,107 students were enrolled in special education.

English Learners

For the 2022-23 school year, English Learner services were provided to 2,393 elementary and 1,861 secondary students; of these students, 221 became English-proficient and exited the program. Our diverse population spoke more than 60 different languages. An estimated 29 percent of Union students were classified as English Learners.

Extended Day, Native American Programs

Our Extended Day Program served 620 students at 15 sites. Hiring bonuses were implemented to help recruit new staff. Staffing continued to be our largest challenge. Our EDP Resource Room continued to keep our sites supplied with cooking activities, STEM projects, art activities and more to enhance our curriculum. All EDP sites applied for and received multiple grants through the Oklahoma Department of Human Services that were offered this past school year.

Fall and Spring Break camps were a success in 2023 and 2024. We were able to resume field trips. Students, parents, and staff were all delighted! Summer camp was full all summer with a waiting list!

Students receiving tribal assistance continued to grow this school year. We served 14 sites receiving Cherokee Nation childcare assistance. We also served seven sites receiving Muscogee (Creek) Nation assistance. The tribes require that parents first request childcare assistance through their agency before they extend an agreement. As those requests come in, we immediately submit the paperwork for approval for any additional sites. We also accept DHS childcare assistance at all sites for those families that qualify.

Staff development opportunities for EDP staff were held at our sites and included events offered by DHS and the Tulsa Child Care Resource Center, as well as training written and approved by the University of Oklahoma Center for Early Childhood Professional Development. Topics included Guaranteeing a Safe Environment; Behavior and Guidance for School Age Students; Extreme Science; Youth Works Methods; True North Bullying Prevention; Supporting Student Mental Health through Social/Emotional Learning and Play- ground Supervision.

CPR/first aid training was offered in small groups in person. All training was approved for formal training credit through the University of Oklahoma Center for Early Childhood Development. Each staff member is required to be a member of the CECPD registry and take 20-30 hours of training annually.

Adult Learning

For more than 25 years, Union Public Schools has served the community with an adult basic education program to assist adults through GED/HiSET Preparation classes and/or English language learning for non-native English speakers. During the 2022-23 school year, Union’s Adult Basic Education (ABE) program enrolled approximately 1,200 students in these classes.

Through partnerships with local work-force development offices and other community agencies, the Union Adult Learning Center embraces the opportunity to serve students not only in Tulsa, but also in the neighboring communities of Claremore, Muskogee, and Pryor. These partners include, but are not limited to, Community Action Project of Tulsa, Workforce Tulsa, Tulsa Technology Cen- ter, Tulsa Community College, Goodwill Industries, Northeastern State University, Rogers State University, Workforce Pryor, Workforce Muskogee, Muskogee Public Schools, and TRiO.

The Pearson Vue Testing Center at UALC offers certification testing for individuals in a variety of areas, including Teacher Certification testing and high school equivalency (HSE) testing. During the 2022-23 school year, nearly 2,000 HiSet, GED and/or Pearson tests were given, with approximately 150 individuals earning their High School Equivalency diplomas.