Dripping Springs

Dripping Springs ISD, located less than 25 miles from Austin, is nestled in the northern portion of Hays County in the picturesque Texas Hill Country. The district encompasses 198 square miles, including a small portion in Travis County.

DSISD is a fast-growth district and has increased by nearly 4,000 students over the last decade. We currently enroll 8,700 students from pre-kindergarten through 12th grade. The district operates eight schools including five elementary schools, two middle schools and one high school, along with a central administration/child development center and transportation service center. 

Dripping Springs ISD schools provide a comprehensive curriculum based on the goal of student achievement at the highest level to prepare students for success after graduation. We promote the importance of having a "life changer" in every classroom to truly impact students' love of learning. Our students routinely excel in academic and extracurricular activities with success at the regional, state and national levels.

DSISD is often recognized for excellence at the district and campus level. In 2022, the district and five campuses earned an A rating in the annual Texas Education Agency (TEA) accountability ratings. Niche.com ranked DSISD as the second-best school district in the Austin area in its 2024 rankings. 

Education has been at the forefront of Dripping Springs’ history ever since the first students received tutoring here in the early 1860s. The Dripping Springs Academy, founded in 1882, laid the foundation for what would eventually become Dripping Springs ISD. 

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 off Mercer Street, just west of the original school, in 1939. A decade later, a new school building housing all grades was completed in time for the 1949-50 school year. On Feb. 18, 1950, the district officially was named Dripping Springs ISD. 

Dripping Springs ISD branched off into separate elementary, middle school and high school buildings in the 1980s. Dripping Springs High School (now Dripping Springs MS) was built in 1985 and Dripping Springs Elementary was completed in 1987. Dripping Springs Middle School was housed in the former DSISD administration building (510 W. Mercer Street) until a new middle school building (now the site of DSHS) was constructed in 1995. After middle school students moved out of the Mercer Street campus, Dripping Springs Intermediate School was established there to serve fourth- and fifth-graders. Younger grades continued to attend Dripping Springs Primary School on Ranch Road 12. A new intermediate school campus was built in 1999 on Sportsplex Drive.

In 2006, the intermediate campus became Walnut Springs Elementary and the primary school was named Dripping Springs Elementary. The following year, Rooster Springs Elementary opened its doors as the district’s third elementary school. 

In 2010, the middle and high schools “swapped” buildings to allow for the expansion of the current high school. Sycamore Springs Elementary and Sycamore Springs Middle School were built in 2017. Cypress Springs Elementary, DSISD's fifth elementary school and first in Driftwood, came on board in 2021. That same year, Walnut Springs Elementary relocated to a new building next to Dripping Springs Middle School.