Mathews Elementary School

The community in Nixa has changed greatly in recent years. More and more people are being priced out of the district. The public schools will ask for money constantly from parent in addition to constantly raising taxes almost yearly. Espy Elementary has been a disappointment. I attended as a child and two of my children have attended recently. My daughter who had attended their special education pre-school for 2 years and had an IEP for kindergarten was told she no longer needed services despite the fact that she struggled to meet minimum grade requirements even after working on her education at home. She received an Autism diagnosis in the 3rd grade and I requested that she be re-assessed for an IEP due to the diagnosis as she was struggling greatly in school. Espy and their special education services director outright refused to assess her/ see if she would be eligible for help citing the fact that she met the minimum requirements for her grade despite the fact that she had a new diagnosis, therapy and previous IEP paperwork on file with the district, and was coming home daily to essentially do more schoolwork to just barely stay afloat at school. Providing paperwork and explanations did NOT matter to the school. I would understand if she had not qualified after testing but they REFUSED to even test her for qualification in the first place. In addition they also refused her a 504 for headphones for sensory issues she was having in the class room even with her pediatrician signing off on it being needed.If you have a child with an IEP, a child who is suspected of having special needs, a child who has or might need a 504, DO NOT send them to Espy Elementary. They have their hands full and don’t want to deal with more kids who need help unless your child is exhibiting excessive disruptive or destructive behavior. They do NOT care about your child’s success in the classroom. In addition we had constant issues with the nurse there. She literally could not tell the difference between gnats and lice. Heaven forbid if your child got a stomach ache she would call you, require your child be picked up even without a fever and then proceed to reprimand you for sending your child to school “sick”. This happened to multiple families besides our own and was prevalent during the 5 years our children attended Espy before we pulled them from the district.

So happy we moved into this school Zone! The girls love it here, their teachers, the staff, the principal, have all been so very nice. Very pleased we moved, here I highly recommend the school

My experience at JTSD is one like non other the teachers are amazing and always there for you. And they have made school a fun environment to be in by letting us be more hands on and by giving us more freedom.Thanks for everything JTSD!