.png)
Dripping Springs ISD’s second high school officially has a name.
Following weeks of community discussion and feedback, the Dripping Springs ISD Board of Trustees voted 6-1 on Monday night to name the district’s new campus Driftwood Springs High School. The school is scheduled to open for the 2028-29 school year and will become the district’s 10th campus.
The decision came after months of work by a naming committee made up of students, parents, staff and community members. The committee reviewed survey results, discussed branding concepts and ultimately presented five official recommendations to the board for consideration.
The top two recommendations presented to trustees were Driftwood High School and Driftwood Springs High School. The committee also recommended the Wolves mascot with navy blue, gold and white colors for both concepts, though trustees only voted Monday on the school’s name. Mascots and colors remain under consideration and have not yet been finalized.
Other recommendations presented by the committee included Bear Creek High School, Sycamore Springs High School and Cypress Springs High School.
During Monday’s meeting, trustees repeatedly emphasized the amount of public feedback they received and the difficulty of balancing community identity, district traditions and future branding considerations.
Several trustees spoke in favor of retaining the “Springs” naming tradition used throughout the district while also acknowledging strong public support for the Driftwood name.
Trustee Mary Jane Hetrick said she believed the district could preserve both ideas.
“I feel like we can do both,” Hetrick said. “We can keep the Springs naming tradition.”
Trustee Rob McClelland said he believed the final name balanced district tradition with the opportunity for the new campus to establish its own identity.
“I believe Driftwood Springs High School strikes the right balance,” McClelland said. “It honors the history and heritage of a broader community that helped build this district over 150 years, while also giving students at this new campus the opportunity to create traditions and a legacy uniquely their own.”
The district’s naming committee had previously identified Driftwood and Driftwood Springs as the consistent front-runners throughout committee discussions and survey results. District administrators told trustees the committee also discussed a wide range of mascot and color concepts during the process.
The new high school is being constructed off Darden Hill Road east of Cypress Springs Elementary. The approximately 506,000-square-foot campus is designed to serve 2,500 students in grades 9-12 and carries an estimated project cost of $298.8 million.
Planned facilities include baseball and softball fields, tennis courts, practice fields, a band practice lot, an agriculture barn and a sub-varsity competition stadium. The district has said the campus will not include a varsity football stadium, with varsity football games and graduation ceremonies continuing to be held at Tiger Stadium.
The campus was approved by voters as part of the district’s May 2023 bond package.
This article has been edited to a remove a quote that was misattributed. We apologize for the error.
