Overview

 

About the District

The eighth largest public school district in Oklahoma, Union has approximately 14,979 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 2023-24, Union's enrollment increased by 89 students over the previous year. In total, Union served 14,979 students - 6,893 at the elementary level and 8,086 in grades 6-12. 

Districtwide, 7,435 students (49.6 percent) were female and 7,554 (50.4 percent) male. In terms of racial origin, 3.7 percent were American Indian/Alaska Native, 15.2 perent African American, 9.9 perent multi-racial, 0.3 percent Pacific Islander/Hawaiian, 7.1 percent Asian, 23 percent Caucasian and 40.9 percent of Hispanic ethnicity.

Union students take four standardized tests related to college preparation and admission. The participation numbers and results:

• 1,177 students took the PreAct with a composite score of 15.7
• 1,125 students took the ACT with a composite score of 17.8
• 168 students took the PSAT with an average score of 1129
• 50 students tooo the SAT with an average score of 1,178

There were 2,885 identified gifted students in the district, served by a variety of courses, programs and enrichment services.

Union had 2,177 students were enrolled in special education.

English Learners

English Learner services were provided to 2,276 elementary and 2,139 secondary students; of these students, 227 became English-proficient and exited the program.

More than 60 different languages were spoken among Union's diverse population. About 29 percent of Union students were classified as English Learners.

Adult Education

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 2023-24 school year, Union's Adult Basic Education program enrolled about 1,500 students in these classes.

Through partnerships with local 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. Partnerships include, but are not limited to, Community Action Project of Tulsa, Tulsa Technology Center and Tulsa Community College.

The Pearson Vue Testing Center housed at the Union Adult Learning Center provided certification testing for individuals in a variety of areas, including Teacher Certification testing and high school equivalency testing. Nearly 2,000 HiSet, GED and/or Pearson tests were given during the 2023-24 school year, with about 225 individuals earning their High School Equivalency diplomas. 

Extended Day Program 

Union's before-and-after school service, the Extended Day Program (EDP) served 632 students at 15 school sites. Hiring bonuses were utilized as a recruitment tool, however, the district continued to experience a shortage of EDP workers. This shortage resulted in waiting lists at almost every school site, as there weren't enough workers to meet the demand.

Parents continue to tell us how much their children enjoy EDP. Children play outside every day (weather permitting), play gym games and enjoy reading, math science and art activities, board games, manipulatives (Legos and K'nex are the top favorites), blocks and dramatic play.

The EDP Resource Room kept sites supplied with cooking activities, STEM projects, art activities and more to enhance curriculum. They also provide all supplies and materials for camps.

Fall and spring break camps were a continued success this year, serving 194 students. Union children visited the Pumpkin Patch, Incredible Pizza, the Tulsa Zoo and Wheels and Thrills. Summer camp was full all summer with a waiting list. Union served 218 students and stayed busy daily with STEM projects, swimming, field trips and special visitors.

Staff development opportunities for EDP staff were held at Union sites over seven days, completing training written and approved by the University of Oklahoma Center for Early Childhood Professional Development.

Native American Programs

Students receiving tribal assistance continued to grow. This year, we had the opportunity to offer Cherokee Nation childcare assistance to all 15 sites. We added three sites (for a total of 10) receiving Muscogee (Creek) 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 families that qualify.