401 E La Mesa St
Derby, KS 67037

My son is on his fourth year, with every year being amazing. His teachers have been outstanding in recognizing his strengths and really capitalizing on them. Teachers have open communication so we know what to work on at home. His specials teachers are outstanding and he always is looking forward to them.

We have put 5 of our children through these schools, and we have had a great experience. This school has plenty of supports for advanced students, despite having a smaller selection of AP courses, but a huge opportunity of college courses available to them through Butler County Community College, Cowley County Community College (campus located right in town), WSU Tech and Wichita State University. All of these classes are available during the school day to motivated students and the administration at Mulvane has shown their willingness to work with students to take advantage of these opportunities, some of my kids being examples of these efforts. As with any school system, there are some amazing teachers who I would put up against any other school district as being the best in the state…followed by some whom need a lot more guidance and support before they can be considered a good teacher. I have yet to see the district not provide support to students who are identified with needs, and I know examples can be provided in which parents feel their child is overlooked, but we have not encountered this directly. Everytime our children needed emotional support or guidance, the teachers and administration have stepped up to provide that to our children, but I will also say we had healthy communications with teachers and leadership during those times. Healthy meaning we acted as a team to help our kids versus a demanding parent who demanded the school do something. The school does its best to provide safe environments, and the community hear in Mulvane does not harbor ecosystems of hate. The combination makes our schools a pretty healthy space, but I will say we do get some toss outs of students who have been expelled from bigger surrounding districts trying to restart…some have great success and some need more care and attention before they can have success anywhere. The administration and staff do a good job communicating via newsletters, text messages, and videos to inform the district community of goings on, and the school board meetings are open and easily attended if you wish to dive in further. Our oldest is special needs, and we joined this district 15 years ago because of the special education we saw and experienced. They provide excellent support and inclusion, and this is seen weekly as fellow peers walk up and say hello to our special needs child at every community event and activity.

In general there is a caring staff but there is one teacher in particular that needs to go. Unfortunately he teaches at both the middle school and high school. The band teacher. He lacks care for students who are not "popular" which is sad. A good percentage of kids quit as they age. He does not create an atmosphere of creativity and learning. He has a terrible temper which goes so far as to battering students. Yet still he is employed.

As you can see from previous reviews on this page, which are more than 6 years old, most people did not like this school. Which I can not understand. We moved to this school district in the middle of the year and came from a school district that was the worst I have ever seen, and I work within schools. My son was also just diagnosed with turrets and Asperger, not even a month after he started here, and everyone has been amazing. From the Principal, Counselor, School Psychologist and especially his teacher. He is excited about school again and loves going every day. He can't wait to start 4th grade!