The top reported proficiency rate is 26% in Science. The lowest is 20% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Union Es
Union Elementary sits in north Ponca City, a small north-central Oklahoma city whose economy and identity have been shaped by the petroleum industry. The city’s largest employer remains the Phillips 66 refinery, the biggest in the state. After ConocoPhillips moved non-refinery operations out of town some years ago, the city’s population has declined steadily. Ponca City has been working to diversify its economy into technology, manufacturing, and service jobs, but the long industrial history still defines the place. The school is one of several elementary campuses in the Ponca City district.
This is a kindergarten through fifth-grade school with a modest enrollment for its grade band. The student body is predominantly white, with a noticeable share of students who identify as American Indian or Alaska Native, a group that makes up a substantial portion of the school’s population. Hispanic students, students of two or more races, Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander students, Black students, and Asian students are also present in the community, in descending order of share. The school’s demographics reflect a community with significant Native American heritage, consistent with the city’s location in a region anchored by the Standing Bear Park and Museum and other tribal history sites.
Union Elementary provides no data on the share of students who qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, nor on the share of students with an individualized education program or who are English learners. These gaps mean a parent cannot assess the school’s level of economic need or the breadth of special education and language support from the available information. The school also does not report chronic absenteeism, discipline rates, or staffing data.
State assessment results are available for the most recent year. On the Oklahoma School Testing Program, proficiency rates in math and English language arts fall in a range that is soft across the tested grades. In math, the share of students scoring proficient or above declines from third grade through fifth grade. In English language arts, the pattern is uneven but remains in a similar range. Fifth-grade science results, the only tested science grade at this school, show a comparable level. The school’s overall proficiency index, which averages performance across tested subjects and grades, places it in the bottom quartile relative to other school districts in Kay County. Because Union does not serve grades beyond fifth, there is no graduation rate to report, and the index comparison is at the district level, not the school level, for the county set. A parent may want to ask the school what steps it is taking to support academic growth.
No program offerings, course access information, or school-level strategic initiatives were found in the available data. The district brief shows no recent major changes or new initiatives publicly reported. The school is a traditional public elementary, not a charter or magnet.
The housing market in the area around the school is affordable by national standards. Home values and rents sit well below both the Oklahoma state average and the national benchmark, and the estimated typical mortgage payment and rent are each a small share of national median household income. For a family moving to Ponca City, the cost of housing is relatively low, though the city’s population decline and economic transition mean the job market may be more limited than in faster-growing parts of the state.
Union Elementary serves a community with a clear industrial heritage, a student body that includes a significant Native American presence, and housing costs that are low relative to the rest of the country. The academic proficiency numbers are below the midpoint among Kay County schools. A parent considering this school would want to visit, learn about instruction and intervention practices directly, and understand how the school supports students whose state test scores suggest they are not yet at grade level.
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