The 2025-2026 school year has just started, and along with the new classes and policies that students can expect every year, students have also seen a change in the school infrastructure. The main changes that were made are the addition of portables, located outside of J hall, and a complete redesign of the front office.
The main reason for these changes has to do with student safety. Redoing the front office wasn’t something that was decided on because the way it previously looked was terrible, but was a decision that helps keep students and staff alike safe from intruders or any potential threats.
“In the last bond, they wanted to take the front office, and make it as safe as possible,” Assistant Principal Joshua Kaiser said. “So, there’s not as many access points. There is only one and you have to get buzzed in to get to it.”
This change doesn’t necessarily affect the students directly, other than when in a dangerous situation. However, this does change the way that parents and other adults enter the school.
“They have made a larger waiting room and separate quick offices that you can go to so you never have to go further into the building, which [can] create an unsafe environment,” Kaiser said. “So, this environment is a little…safer.”
There has been significant growth in Dripping Springs over the years and because of that, the school is getting full. Due to the fact that the new high school won’t be done for at least a couple years, portables became the solution.
“Due to student growth, obviously, that’s why the second high school passed in the first place, we’re running out of room,” Assistant Principal Kenneth Debord said. “So, we brought in some portable buildings. [Portables] have been previously used over at Sycamore Middle School and middle schoolers have already been using them.”
The portables are not everyone’s first choice for a classroom, so the school had to decide which classes would go there. Some teachers even volunteered to be moved to the portables.
“We put our ACC classes out there…” Debord said. “…A hall is pretty tight and runs up against science and CTE (Career and Technical Education) classes in D hall, some of our social studies teachers, Coach Marshall, Coach Green and Coach Daniels, volunteered to take one for the team and go out there.”