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Ellen Ochoa Profile

Mission

The Ellen Ochoa community will model and teach leadership skills and behaviors, challenge students to set and meet goals, inspire all students to developand use their gifts and talents, and provide real world opportunities to positively impact the community. 

Leader in Me

We are a Leader in Me school that uses the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People to empower students and to provide opportunities for students to grow as leaders.

Motto

Learn, Lead, and Light the Way.

Vision

Ellen Ochoa Elementary is a diverse community unified to empower students to become leaders and reach their fullest potential.

Overview

Ellen Ochoa is the newest school at Union Public Schools, opening its doors for the first time on Tuesday, August 22, 2017, thanks to the overwhelming support of voters for the first two phases of the school's construction during bond elections in 2016 and 2017.

Union presented a third bond issue which was approved by voters in February 2018 to allow Ellen Ochoa to accommodate another 500 students starting in the 2019-2020 school year.

Amenities

Ellen Ochoa Elementary is a beautiful addition to the area.  It is an energy-efficient, state-of-the art, student- and family-friendly Community School.  Its amenities include open learning corridors, classrooms that share a common dream space, “maker spaces” for project-based learning, and a health clinic.

History

Union Public Schools officially broke ground on the site of its new elementary school with a ceremony at 10 a.m. Tuesday, July 12, 2016.  The school was often called the 14th newest school but it actually replaced Briarglen Elementary School, which closed its doors in June 2017.

Briarglen Elementary was Union's first elementary school and it served a pivotal service for the community from 1970 until 2017. The building will continue to serve the community as part of a planned partnership with Community Action Partnership. 

Two young boys give a thumbs up in front of a shelf filled with toys, while other children and classroom elements are visible in the background.

Welcome to Ellen Ochoa Elementary

Ellen Ochoa

Elementary named after first Hispanic female astronaut

Ellen Ochoa

The Board of Education on March 20, 2017, approved the name of Union’s newest school as Ellen Ochoa Elementary in honor of the first Hispanic female astronaut and the current director of the NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston. 

Born on May 10, 1958, in Los Angeles, California, Dr. Ellen Ochoa received her master of science and doctorate degrees at Stanford University.  She was selected by NASA in 1990, and in 1991 became the world's first Hispanic female astronaut.  A mission specialist and flight engineer, Ochoa is a veteran of four space flights, logging more than 950 hours in space.

Her technical assignments have included flight software and computer hardware development and robotics development, testing, and training.  She has served as Assistant for Space Station to the Chief of the Astronaut Office, lead spacecraft communicator in Mission Control, and Acting Deputy Chief of the Astronaut Office.  She currently serves as Director of NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, and she will be inducted into the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame on May 19, 2017.

Ochoa graduated from Grossmont High School in La Mesa, California, in 1975 (Valedictorian), and received a bachelor of science degree in physics from San Diego State University in 1980 (Valedictorian). She then went on to attend Stanford University, where she received a master of science degree (1981) and a doctorate (1985), both in electrical engineering.

Ochoa's numerous awards include NASA's Exceptional Service Medal (1997), Outstanding Leadership Medal (1995), and Space Flight Medals (2002, 1999, 1994, 1993).  Besides being an astronaut, researcher, and engineer, Ochoa is a classical flutist.  She lives in Texas with her husband, Coe Fulmer Miles, and their two children.

 

Community School Village

Broad Array of Services

Ellen Ochoa Elementary is the first purpose-built community school in the district. Ellen Ochoa serves the growing community in Union’s northeast quadrant. The building was completed in 2018, opening to a full complement of 1,100 students in August 2019.

Health Services

With the addition of an onsite clinic in 2020, Ellen Ochoa Elementary has since grown into a community school village. In April 2016, voters overwhelmingly approved the passage of the Vision Tulsa package, which included $9.975 million toward the funding of Community Health Connection’s new Eastside Clinic.

The clinic offers a broad array of services, including dental, prenatal/post-partum, pediatrics, family medicine, integrated behavioral healthcare and discounted prescriptions to patients.

Changing Lives

The Oklahoma State Department of Education: We all know that it takes a village to raise a child. See how Union Public Schools is ensuring its students receive wraparound services for their health, social, emotional and academic needs with the opening of a community school village complete with health center! Through local partnerships, Union was able to leverage the natural community hub of Ellen Ochoa Elementary to provide doctors, dentists and behavioral health services for underinsured students.

"It's gonna change lives in more ways than we can ever imagine," Superintendent Dr. Kirt Hartzler said.

Emily Wade
Ellen Ochoa Elementary Teacher of the Year

Principals

Principal

Shana Harris

Shana Harris

Shana Harris was named principal of Ellen Ochoa Elementary in 2023. She was previously principal at Jefferson Elementary since 2019. She had served as assistant principal at McAuliffe, Grove and Boevers Elementary.  Harris worked at Grove Elementary prior to Boevers, where she served as the Instructional Coach.  She comes to Union from Tifton, Georgia where she taught for eight years and served as a math coach for two years.

Harris graduated from Rocky Grove High School in Franklin, PA. She received her Bachelor’s Degree in Early Childhood and Elementary Education from Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania.  She received a Master’s Degree in Elementary and Early Childhood Education from Troy State University of Alabama.  She also received an add-on to her Master’s Degree in Elementary Administration from Oral Roberts University. 

Assistant Principal

Alli Blankenship

Alli-Blankenship

Alli Blankenship was named assistant principal for Ellen Ochoa Elementary in June 2025. She had served as assistant principal for Jarman Elementary since 2021.

Blankenship joined Union Public Schools in 2018, serving as a teacher at Rosa Parks Elementary. Prior to joining Union, she was a teacher for Broken Arrow Public Schools, serving from 2013 until 2018. While at Union, Blankenship has worked on social committees, United Way, Leader in Me and Leadership Cadres initiatives, as well as Tulsa Changemakers.

Blankenship earned her bachelor’s degree, with distinction, in early childhood education from the University of Oklahoma in 2012, and returned to earn her master’s degree in educational administration, curriculum and supervision from OU in 2015.

Assistant Principal

John Watkins

John-Watkins

John Watkins was named assistant principal intern at Ellen Ochoa in 2023. He was named the 2022-2023 Teacher of the Year at Grove Elementary School.

Watkins, who graduated in 2004 from Union as a “Union Lifer” received his bachelor’s degree in elementary education from Northeastern State University in December of 2010.

Watkins received his master’s degree from Grand Canyon University in Educational Administration in 2023 with certifications in elementary education and English as a second language. 

Watkins started teaching at the old Briarglen Elementary in 2011, but he has been working for Union since 2005 starting as an Extended Day Program assistant supervisor.  

Ellen Ochoa At A Glance

Children excitedly hold books inside a decorated mobile library, with a woman in the background and a street visible through the windows.
A group of diverse children sit on a patterned rug in the foreground, while a teacher stands in the background of a classroom.
Children run on a paved path in the foreground, with a school building and playground visible in the background.
A young girl in a red dress shakes hands with a woman in a striped sweater in the foreground, while two adults stand behind them on a stage with a black curtain backdrop.
A man in a black jacket and white sneakers reads to a large group of children sitting on a colorful rug with words like %22READ%22 and %22GROW%22 printed on it.
Children and adults are seated at round tables in a brightly lit cafeteria, with more people dining and socializing in the background.
A group of young soccer players in black uniforms pose on a green field with bleachers and a stadium in the background.
Two women in pink pajamas and pigtails pose in a library aisle, one holding a book titled %22Who Wet My Pants?%22.
A group of children and adults pose for a photo on a soccer field with a cloudy sky in the background.
A young boy with a gray hoodie looks down at an open book on a wooden desk with a yellow pencil in the foreground, while a woman with glasses and blonde hair stands behind him in a classroom setting.
A group of smiling children in black uniforms hold up a trophy on a soccer field, with spectators and buildings visible in the background.
A young girl in the foreground smiles as she smashes a pie into a man's face, while a crowd of children watches in the background under a covered outdoor area.
A woman in a floral dress stands at a podium in front of a screen displaying a childhood photo and a current photo with the text %22HEY. WHO IS THIS LADY?%22.
Three smiling people covered in whipped cream and wearing plastic ponchos and goggles pose in the foreground, while a blurred outdoor scene with trees and tents forms the background.
A smiling boy in the foreground holds an orange slice and a milk carton, while other children are blurred in the background.
A smiling woman in a dark green dress and a young boy with curly blonde hair in a tan t-shirt and black shorts stand together in a hallway with light-colored walls and doors.
A young girl with a purple bow smiles in the foreground, surrounded by colorful artwork and black and white portraits hanging in the background.
A teacher stands near a smartboard in the background while a group of diverse students sit on the floor in the foreground.
A smiling young boy and a man pose in a classroom with an American flag and colorful flags in the background.
A woman and a young girl stand smiling in the foreground, wearing plastic ponchos and hair coverings, while a cafeteria with tables and chairs is visible in the background.
Children in formal attire stand on a stage receiving awards from adults in front of a black curtain decorated with stars, while a wooden stage front is adorned with red and black streamers.
A person mows the lawn in front of Ellen Ochoa Elementary School, which has a modern stone facade and large windows.
Confetti rains down on a stage with two presenters and a %22Nordam%22 banner in the foreground, while an audience sits on the floor of a gymnasium in the background.
A group of children pose with fists raised on a staircase, with a blurred background of a hallway.
Children in casual clothing walk down a wide, modern staircase with a patterned wall in the background.