Tell me about Union Schools. (Tulsa, Broken Arrow: transfer, magnet schools, university)

[okie in tx]

Well, we've narrored our search to south tulsa, around Mingo ^ Garrnet. We felt this area would put me close to most things I need, sience I am handicapped and only have my rascal scooter to get around. The kids really liked Union Schools, and I've heard nothing but good things about them.

[sgrizzle]

That's my alma mater..

A little history:
Tulsa County once had somewhere around a dozen towns in it. Tulsa Public Schools took care of Tulsa, but towns like Mayo, Alsuma, Broken Arrow, etc. were not served by TPS. A single school district was formed to support all or part of 9 smaller towns and named "Union Consolidated School District #9" They built a school out in the middle of nowhere (61st and Mingo) back in the 20's. The City of Tulsa grew and TPS petitioned and took over the richest part of the Union district and basically "stole" Mayo elementary. In the last 25-30 years the retail boom in South Tulsa caused Union to go from "barely funded" to "KA-CHING." Union's current High School was down the road from the original school in a pasture at 71st and Mingo which is now the geographic epicenter of the South Tulsa retail monster. Union is still growing and building constantly. They have sports and performing arts facilities equivalent to a small college. Dropout rate is relatively low compared to TPS and focus has been put on "college prep" to a large degree. Since they only have one high school, they can also support low-participation sports like "girl's golf."

[okie in tx]

Wow, thanks for the history of Union thats interesting. I would not consider sending my kids to TPSas they have a pretty bad reputation.

[sgrizzle]

Booker T Washington high school (TPS) is like 3rd in the nation. They also have some good magnet schools. The rest seems hit or miss.

[okie in tx]

Yes I've heard of that school but isn't it a charter school?

[Goodearl]

I participated in what I would consider a rare "reverse busing" program. I lived in the Union School District but attended the magnet programs offered by Tulsa Public Schools for the 6-12 grades.

When I was in the 6th grade my parents applied for an intra-county transfer, which allows students living outside of the school district to attend TPS schools. Our goal was Carver Middle School or Wilson Jr. High School and Booker T. Washington High School so that I would have the opportunity to sit Advanced Placement (AP) and International Baccalaureate (IB) courses as well as a multitude of non European foreign languages (Japanese and Chinese) that were (and still are not) offered by other schools within and outside of TPS.

Choosing a school for your child is certainly not an easy task. Making the right decision now will have a profound effect on your child’s further education, but you cannot stop there. You must insure you child choose the right classes taught by the right teachers. Because schools do not divulge who the superior instructors are, the onus is on you to determine the good and bad teachers through meeting with teachers, speaking to your child and their friends, and especially their parents as they may have older children who went to the same school. You must educate your child so that they too can make the best decisions on their own.

On to the schools - I believe Union and Jenks schools offer a superior elementary education over TPS. Class sizes seem smaller, the facilities are better, and there is more money to invest in each child. The school I attended in Union was brand new; a complete 180 degree difference from Grimes Elementary School (TPS) where I first attended. However, with the recently passed bond issue expect to see great improvements in the near future within TPS!

With regards to middle schools, they all seem to be on par with each other. Carver seemed to offer the most while Wilson wasn’t that far behind. Both schools also have a very strong foreign language department. (I only mention foreign languages because these schools have magnet programs, thus they generally exceed other schools in math and science.)

When it comes to high school education, it becomes a bit difficult to compare BTW (Booker T. as well call her) with the other high schools as she is one of the nations finest. If you are looking for a good school that is well diverse, BTW may not be the best choice. I say this because unless you have a very detailed breakdown of each course, numbers can be deceiving. Using BTW (1992-1996) as my example, while the school was considered "very diverse," once class started a more segregated picture would emerge. A majority of the students did not take advantage of the superior education at their finger tips. “Why?” you may ask, because their parents did not know any better.

Further reading:
America's Top Public High Schools | Newsweek Best High Schools | Newsweek.com

Video Tours Made by Students and Their High Schools - US News and World Report

[Goodearl]

Originally Posted by okie in tx

Yes I've heard of that school but isn't it a charter school?

You may be confusing a "magnet program" with a "charter school."
Please view the Booker T. homepage: Booker T Washington High School, Tulsa, Oklahoma (http://www.tulsaschools.org/schools/Washington/ - broken link)

According to National Report Card.gov, a charter school is "a public charter school is a publicly funded school that, in accordance with an enabling state statute, has been granted a charter exempting it from selected state or local rules and regulations. A charter school may be newly created, or it may previously have been a public or private school; it is typically governed by a group or organization (e.g., a group of educators, a corporation, or a university) under a contract or charter with the state. In return for funding and autonomy, the charter school must meet accountability standards. A school's charter is reviewed (typically every 3 to 5 years) and can be revoked if guidelines on curriculum and management are not followed or the standards are not met."

Although BTW is now where near being 3rd in the nation it is by far the best education you do not have to pay for in Tulsa. But again I stress, no matter how great the school is, if the student does not have support from their parent they they will not succeed (unless of course the child is as brilliant as John Forbes Nash).

You may also be interested in the history of desegregation in Tulsa schools, and primarily Booker T. which was historically an all "black" school. Extremely interesting history if you are so inclined to do research it. Many of the people who lead the reform are still living today.

[okie in tx]

Thanks for all the information.

[TU 'cane]

All of my friends that have been to B.A. , Union, Owasso, etc. all say Union is the best. So there ya go.

[Goodearl]

So what did you end up choosing? And Jenks is pretty good, too... as far as I remember.