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7th Grade Profile

School Configuration

Our school is in a period of transition. Currently, our school configuration is rather unique serving more than 2,200 students – of both seventh and sixth grades. We have divided both the sixth and seventh grades into teams to help the students feel more "at home" and less unsettled by the size of the building.

In February 2023, voters approved a bond measure that will allow Union to separate both grades,

The teams consist of a core group of teachers and 140 students. There are seven teams in each grade. The teaming concept has really been beneficial to the students and has enabled us to utilize a lot of inter-disciplinary instruction within each team. We do have an active student council for each grade. Our students are also very active with several cheer, drill and pom squads.

School History and Features

The Union 7th Grade Center was completed in 1993 on 61st Street near Highway 169 at the original Union School site. The second phase of the building, the Union 6th Grade Center, was completed in the fall of 1994. All of Union's 6th and 7th grade students attend this school.

The fine arts area was expanded in 2013 for more music classrooms and in 2014, the front entrance was remodeled for new office space, additional classrooms and a new outdoor entrance area.

The school site also features an eight-lane, 30-meter swimming pool with a seating capacity of 400. The pool is utilized for physical education classes, after-school activities and competitions and practices for all secondary students participating in swimming.

A well-equipped media center, a drama room with mini-stage, a spacious cafeteria, two gymnasiums and abundant rooms for art and music add to the versatility of the center. In addition, a multi-purpose room on the second floor is used for classroom projects, special speakers and other activities.

Three smiling individuals, two young women and an adult, pose for a photo in a classroom with desks and colorful decorations in the background.

Welcome to the 7th Grade Center!

Emily Blakley
Union 7th Grade Center Teacher of the Year

Frequently Asked Questions

 

We are excited to welcome your student to the Union 7th Grade Center. In this section, you will find answers to frequently asked questions about our site. Please know this information may changes as we update policy and procedures.

Bond Progress – Reconfiguration

Reconfiguration to smooth the transition from elementary school

Union Public Schools – thanks to overwhelming voter approval – pledges to do a better job of bridging the gap between elementary and middle school for our sixth grade students and provide separate campuses for both sixth grade and seventh grade students. Union hopes to create a smaller, more elementary-like environment for sixth graders, and a springboard for seventh graders that positions them for success in the eighth grade. Structural changes are needed to accommodate two widely different experiences.” 

Among the proposed changes as part of the new 5-year bond include: 

  • New school configuration, with sixth grade on one side of the building and seventh grade on the other. We anticipate changes to bus and vehicular traffic flow around the school. 
  • Smaller clusters of classroom spaces with common learning areas for teams. “We need space where teams of 120 – 150 kids can get together and collaborate with nearby restrooms,” said Federline. The changes will also ease crowding and require less travel by students, while providing additional pathways and reducing congestion. “With the smaller learning environment feel, we are going to change the culture and kids won’t feel so disrupted.” Team spaces will have designated color schemes to make communities feel more self-contained. 
  • Smaller and additional bathrooms will be placed closer to classrooms, with sinks and paper towels located outside in the hallways. This provides for improved monitoring. 
  • Improved cafeteria serving area with two eating spaces: To make lunch more efficient for 2,200 students, a centralized kitchen will be placed between smaller eating spaces. This will allow 450 kids to spread out and eat lunch at the same time, but it will be quieter and more comfortable. 
  • Addition of a gym on the building’s southwest side. This will not only provide seventh graders with a separate gym, but it will be a hardened facility designed to shelter students and staff in the event of inclement weather. 
  • The spirit and winter guard programs will have two new practice areas and locker rooms with the addition of this gym. 
  • Renovation of the HVAC system, replacing an old geothermal system that no longer works. 
  • The media center, along with the beautiful fine arts facility on the building’s west side, will continue to be a shared space utilized by both grades. 

 

Principals

Principal

Kaitlyn Bueno

Kaitlyn Bueno

Kaitlyn Bueno was named principal of the Union 7th Grade Center in June 2026.

Bueno had served as assistant principal at Union High School for the 2025-2026 school year. She previously served as assistant principal at the Union 6th/7th Grade Center since July of 2019.

Her career in education started at Union in 2011. During her time at Union, she has taught Language Arts and art at the 6th/7th Grade Center. In 2018 she was named 6th Grade Teacher of the Year. 

Bueno received her bachelor’s degree in English education from Northeastern State University and her master’s degree in education administration from the University of Oklahoma.

 

Assistant Principal

Stacey Bingman

Stacy Bingman was named an assistant principal at the Union 7th Grade Center in June 2026.

She comes to Union after serving four years as a principal for the Vanguard Academy at Broken Arrow Public Schools. She has also served as a principal and assistant principal at other Broken Arrow school sites as well as Jenks Public Schools. Previously, she worked as an administrator for federal and state programs for Canyons School District in Sandy, Utah and worked as an elementary teacher for public schools in Dallas.

Bingman has a master’s degree in educational administration from Texas A&M University in Commerce, Texas. She received her bachelor’s degree in elementary education from the University of Oklahoma.

Assistant Principal

Danika Bushyhead

Danika Bushyhead

Danika Bushyhead was named assistant principal at the 7th Grade Center in 2024. She previously served as director of Student Life at the High School.

Bushyhead had joined Union in August 2019 and was named an assistant principal at the 8th Grade Center in 2020.

She came to Union from Jenks Middle School where she taught Pre-Algebra and Algebra I. Bushyhead has been an educator since 2013, working as a teacher and coach for Stillwater Middle School until 2016 when she relocated to Jenks Public Schools. She is a graduate of Jenks High School with a bachelor’s degree in education and a master’s degree in education administration from Northeastern State University. She received her certification for school administration from NSU in 2019.

Assistant Principal

Tonya Hancock

Tonya Hancock

Tonya Hancock was named assistant principal at the 7th Grade Center beginning the summer/fall of 2026. 

She is a familiar face in the Union district, having dedicated the past eight years to serving our students, families, and staff. She began her journey in the district at Rosa Parks Elementary, where she taught fifth grade for three years before stepping into the role of Language Arts Specialist for a year. Most recently, she served as the reading specialist at Moore Elementary for four years, bringing a wealth of instructional expertise and a deep passion for literacy to our community.

Hancock holds a bachelor’s degree in elementary education and a master's degree in reading. She is currently continuing her academic pursuits by working toward her Ph.D. at the University of Oklahoma in Tulsa.

Hancock is incredibly excited to transition to secondary education and partner with our seventh grade students and families.

 

7th Grade At A Glance

A woman and a boy in the foreground are making %22L%22 shapes with their hands, while the background shows a classroom with cabinets and a nature-themed mural.
A smiling teacher stands behind two young boys sitting at desks in a classroom.
A young boy with red hair smiles at the camera in a classroom filled with other students.
A teacher and four students pose for a photo in a classroom, with the students forming %22L%22 shapes with their hands in the foreground and desks and classroom walls in the background.
Five adults in the foreground wear matching %22Team Princeton%22 shirts and smile at the camera, while a crowd of students sits in bleachers in the background.
Three people with red hair, two teenagers and an adult woman, stand in front of a colorful, mandala-like tapestry, all forming the letter %22L%22 with their hands.
A young boy rests his head on his hand in the foreground, while other students sit at desks in a classroom with colorful posters on the wall in the background.
Two cheerleaders in the foreground kick their legs high while holding pom-poms, with a basketball court and other people in the background.
A group of smiling teenagers in the foreground pose for a photo while a larger crowd watches from bleachers in the background.
Two smiling girls in the foreground are seated in bleachers with a crowd of diverse students in the background.
A large sign detailing school renovations stands in the foreground, with a mother and two children walking past a construction fence in the background.
A young girl reads a book at a desk in the foreground, while a large, rusty cutout of Bigfoot stands against the wall in the background.
A cheerleading pyramid of girls in black and red uniforms is formed on a wooden gym floor with spectators in the background.
A person in a red shirt holds a spoon to their nose in the foreground, while a crowd watches from bleachers in the background.
A young boy with his hands on his cheeks looks up dreamily in the foreground, while a blurred crowd watches from bleachers in the background.
A teacher guides students in a classroom as they build a tower of cups, with computers and cabinets visible in the background.
A woman and a boy in the foreground hold up their hands in a %22L%22 shape, while the background shows a classroom with cabinets and a nature-themed mural.
A young Black male with dreadlocks and a colorful t-shirt smiles at the camera holding a white ball in a gymnasium with a banner that reads %22UNION%22 in the background.
A young person and an adult arm wrestle at desks in a classroom with a world map on the wall.
In the foreground, a young woman proudly waves an American flag while running on a polished wooden basketball court, and in the background, spectators fill the bleachers of a gymnasium.
A woman in a red shirt and a boy in a blue shirt smile at the camera in a hallway with lockers and white cabinets in the background.
Three people hold hands in the foreground, while a school gymnasium with attendees and a stage is visible in the background.
A woman with blonde hair and sunglasses, wearing a black t-shirt, leans on a metal railing in front of a textured wall.
A group of diverse children stand on a sidewalk in front of a brick house, all raising their arms in the air.
Three young boys in a classroom, wearing safety goggles and gloves, are dissecting a specimen on a table in the foreground, while a skeleton model and educational posters are visible in the background.
Four students in safety goggles and gloves lean over a dissection tray in the foreground, while blurred figures and classroom furniture are visible in the background.
A woman with an afro and a young boy stand in a classroom with desks and students in the background.