Dripping Springs

Education has been at the forefront of Dripping Springs’ history ever since the first students received tutoring here in the early 1860s. Following the establishment of a free public school system by the Texas Constitution of 1876, Dripping Springs created its own school district—Hays County School District #10—with 29 students.

In 1882, the Dripping Springs Academy was founded, marking a significant step forward. The Academy operated in a two-room structure near Mercer Street and served the community until 1949. A second story was added in the 1920s to accommodate growth.

In 1934, 14 common school districts consolidated with Dripping Springs to form the Dripping Springs Rural High School District. With the consolidation came growth and construction of a new four-room high school building downtown just west of the original school in 1939. A decade later, a new school building (510 W. Mercer Street) housing all grades was completed in time for the 1949-50 school year. On February 18, 1950, the district officially was named Dripping Springs ISD. 

The 1980s brought a new era of expansion, with the establishment of separate elementary, middle, and high school campuses. Dripping Springs High School (now Dripping Springs Middle School) opened in 1985, followed by Dripping Springs Elementary in 1987. The middle school moved into a new building in 1996, which is now home to the current Dripping Springs High School. The old Mercer Street campus then became Dripping Springs Intermediate School for fourth- and fifth-grade students while younger students continued to attend Dripping Springs Primary School on Ranch Road 12.

A new intermediate campus opened in 1999 on Sportsplex Drive. In 2006, the intermediate school was renamed Walnut Springs Elementary, and the primary school became Dripping Springs Elementary. Rooster Springs Elementary joined the district in 2007 as the third elementary campus.

In 2010, Dripping Springs Middle School and Dripping Springs High School swapped buildings to allow for high school expansion. Sycamore Springs Elementary and the district’s second middle school, Sycamore Springs, were added in 2017. In 2021, Cypress Springs Elementary—DSISD’s fifth elementary and the first in Driftwood—opened. That same year, Walnut Springs Elementary moved into a new facility next to Dripping Springs Middle School.