Allison began teaching ESL in 2009.  She has a B.S. in Spanish Education and a M.A. in English with a TESOL emphasis. She works primarily at Espy Elementary, Mathews Elementary, and the Early Childhood Center.

Email: allisontilley@nixaschools.net

Phone: 417-724-6867

Krista’s first teaching experience was teaching English in a Russian Humanitarian School in Tallinn, Estonia. She then taught 6th grade World Geography for 8 years in Marshfield,  MO giving her the opportunity to travel to China and South Korea. Her next teaching position was at OTC where she taught Reading and had the pleasure of working with students from all over the world. This is her 3rd year in Nixa, where she works with grades 7-12. She has a B.S. in Elementary Education and an M.A. in English Language Learning.

Email: kristastone@nixaschools.net

Phone: 417-724-3625

Deanna’s first experience teaching ESL was on a little island in the middle of the Pacific (Ebeye, Marshall Islands). This was the beginning of her love of teaching students that spoke another language besides English. She taught 5th grade in Nixa from 2005-2020. In 2020, she began teaching ESL primarily at Century and High Pointe.  She has a B.S. in Elementary Education and Language Arts Education for 7-12. She has completed her M.A. in English Language Learning and her M.A. in Math Education Grades 1-6. 

Email: deannaperry@nixaschools.net

Kara has been in education and working with multilingual learners in a variety of settings for over 10 years. She has her M.S. in Education and TESOL Certificate from Missouri State University. She works primarily at Summit Intermediate, Inman Intermediate, J.T.S.D, and the Early Childhood Center.

Email: karagriffin@nixaschools.net

Phone: 417-724-4046

Kris has worked for the Nixa ESL department as a paraprofessional since 2019. Before that she worked for several years in the special education department at Espy. Currently, Kris is working at Espy, Century, and High Pointe.

Email: kristinecrabtree@nixaschools.net

When students register, they are asked if they speak another language other than English and if another language is used in the home. If the answer is 'yes' to either or both of these questions, then we are required by the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) to screen them for the ESL program.

Students are screened in Missouri using the WIDA screener. If a student is in grades 1-12 and receives a qualifying score on the screener, he or she is in the ESL program. If they are in kindergarten, then they are automatically in ESL. However, the student's score on the screener will determine whether or not they will receive ESL services. The reason for this is kindergarteners often do not know how to read and write when they start the school year, which is when we do most of our screening. Due to this, we can only test them on listening and speaking at the beginning of the year.  If they miss zero or one point, then the kindergartener may take the listening and reading parts of the screener after the first quarter.  If they score high enough, then they are exited from the program and do not take the state English proficiency test. 

Speaking conversational English is very important, but it is not the only skill students need to possess in order to be successful in English. They also need to be able to use academic English in all main content areas: English language arts, mathematics, social studies, and science. They also need to demonstrate this proficiency in the four modalities: speaking, listening, reading, and writing.

ELL stands for English Language Learners. English Language Learners are students who have qualified for the ESL program by the process described in FAQ 1.  

Migrant students are students whose parents have moved based on temporal or seasonal work. They are considered migrants for three years from the date of the qualifying move. 
 
Immigrant students are aged 3 through 21, not born in any State (defined as each of the 50 States, the District of Columbia, and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico), and have not been attending one or more schools in any one or more states for more than 3 full academic years. The months need not be consecutive.  It is important to remember that this is an educational designation and not necessarily a reflection of citizenship.

Students can be all, one, or none of these designations.

The content and makeup of an ESL classroom varies greatly based on several factors such as grade, proficiency level, content, students needs, number of students, etc. With that said, all students are working on areas that will help them succeed in academic English in one or more of the four modalities: listening, reading, speaking, and writing.

Missouri law requires all ESL students to be tested every year using the state approved test (ACCESS). The state holds the school accountable for whether the ESL students are making adequate progress in learning English. 

Students who receive an overall score of 4.7-6.0 on the ACCESS will be automatically exited from ESL. Students may exit with a lower score.  However, the school must provide evidence with a portfolio to dispute the score on one or more of the domains.  Students who exit the program are then placed on monitor status. These requirements have been set by the state of Missouri.

Schools are required by law to monitor former ESL students for two years after they exit the program. The forms of monitoring may vary from school to school and teacher to teacher, but they need to make sure that the exited students are academically successful in their classes. If they are not, the ESL teachers need to determine whether or not it is due to a language need and how to proceed if it is.

The ESL department is under special services. The Executive Director's phone number is 417-724-6260. If you have a specific question for the ESL teacher, please feel free to contact them directly. You can find which teacher is at each school by looking under the ESL staff section above. 

First Language

Second Language

English Language Learner

Non-English Proficient

Limited English Proficient

Fluent English Speaker

English as a Second Language

Language Minority

World Class Instructional Design and Assessment

WIDA ACCESS Placement Test

Assessing Comprehension and Communication in English State-to-State

Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills

Cognitive-Academic Language Proficiency Skills

Annual Measurable Achievement Objective

Office of Civil Rights

English Language Development