Best Special Needs Schools in Nixa, Missouri (2026)

Espy Elementary is dedicated to fostering a nurturing and inclusive environment for students with diverse learning needs, including those with language-based learning disabilities and twice-exceptional children. The school's core mission revolves around empowering every child to reach their full potential through individualized support and tailored educational strategies. Espy Elementary employs a range of innovative programs and therapeutic methodologies designed to address the unique challenges faced by its students. These include specialized learning plans, adaptive technologies, and a strong emphasis on social-emotional development. What sets Espy Elementary apart is its commitment to maintaining a low student-teacher ratio, which allows for personalized attention and fosters strong relationships between educators, students, and families. Additionally, the school features specialized facilities that enhance the learning experience, along with community events that encourage family involvement and celebrate cultural diversity. This holistic approach ensures that each child not only thrives academically but also develops essential life skills in a supportive atmosphere.

• Elementary school
• Learning differences
• Twice-exceptional
• Private school

Our building at 312 North Market opened in 1960 as East Elementary, and in the fall of 2012 it became the John Thomas School of Discovery, a Nixa Public Schools choice school built around STEAM. Students spend their days learning through science, engineering, art and math with hands-on, real-world problems. The campus now has a greenhouse, hydroponic towers, garden beds, a flock of chickens and a STEM lab. We serve kindergarten through sixth grade, and seats are filled through an annual lottery, with waiting lists that follow each grade. Class sizes are capped at 20 in kindergarten, rising by one each year to 25 in fifth and sixth grade. Siblings of current students receive a kindergarten spot when space allows. Our calendar runs longer than the district's, with extra required days in May and June. Each family commits to 20 hours of parent involvement for its first child and 10 for each additional child, through events and volunteering.

• Public STEAM choice school (K-6)
• STEAM education
• Hands-on learning
• Public school

Nixa Early Childhood serves children ages 3, 4, and 5 on one campus with two buildings: the original Peggy L. Taylor Early Learning Center and the Early Childhood Center, which opened in 2014. Instruction follows the Missouri Early Learning Standards and uses Project Construct, the Ready Bodies Learning Minds motor lab, Conscious Discipline, and Heggerty Phonics. Families can choose from four class types. Six tuition classrooms fill in the order families join our interest list, which opens January 15. Bright Beginnings Preschool places qualifying children, identified through screening, in those classrooms at no cost. Our seven Early Childhood Special Education classrooms provide occupational therapy, physical therapy, speech and language therapy, and instruction from certified early childhood special education teachers for eligible children. Through our Peer Model Program, typically developing children learn alongside classmates in ECSE classrooms, where peer models can make up half of the class. The Early Childhood Center also houses Parents as Teachers, which supports families with children from birth to age 5 and monitors development over time. Eagle Care is part of the district's XLT extended learning program.

• Public early childhood center (preschool)
• Developmental delays
• Inclusive peer model classrooms
• Conscious Discipline