Walnut Springs El, Dripping Springs TX

Original Research by School Decision on Walnut Springs El

Walnut Springs Elementary serves kindergarten through fifth grade in Dripping Springs, a fast-growing Hill Country community on the northern edge of Hays County, about thirty miles southwest of Austin. The school sits within the Dripping Springs ISD, which operates across a district campus cluster on Sportsplex Drive rather than downtown, serving a mixed landscape of historic ranches, newer master-planned subdivisions, and ongoing residential development.

The school's enrollment is small to mid-sized for an elementary in this region, with the majority of students identified as white, a meaningful share as Hispanic, and smaller numbers from other racial and ethnic groups. Free-and-reduced-price lunch participation is modest. The demographic composition reflects the broader area, which has attracted families drawn by schools, open space, and proximity to Austin's job market while remaining rural in character away from the compact downtown core.

In state testing, Walnut Springs shows mixed results across subjects and grades. In English language arts, proficiency rates are stronger, with third grade at a moderate level and fourth and fifth grades at solid levels. Math performance is more uneven. Third-grade math proficiency is modest, fourth grade improves noticeably, but fifth grade falls back to a level similar to third grade. Science, tested only in fifth grade, shows notably lower proficiency. When looking across all subjects and all grades together, the school's overall proficiency index places it in the top quartile among Hays County districts, reflecting a blend of solid ELA and mathematics performance in the middle grades offset by weaker science results.

The data provided does not include trends from prior years, so it is not possible to discern whether performance is stable, improving, or declining. Participation rates on state assessments are not available, which sometimes reflects low participation but more commonly means the data was not released. Enrollment in sixth grade is minimal, suggesting the school's grade band ends at fifth. Information about special education, English learner support, school staffing, and discipline or attendance patterns was not available in the records reviewed.

Walnut Springs is one school within a small district experiencing substantial residential growth. Multiple master-planned communities are under construction or planned, with new neighborhoods and commercial development forecast through 2026 and beyond. Housing values in the Dripping Springs ZIP code are high relative to the county and state, though home prices have pulled back modestly in recent months. Rents are also elevated. A parent considering this school should expect a newer, still-forming community with an active real estate market and ongoing infrastructure changes, alongside a small-town downtown anchored by locally owned shops and parks.

A parent may want to discuss with the school directly how it supports students who enter below proficiency, particularly in mathematics, and how the school addresses science instruction at the elementary level where results are notably weaker. The school's position within the top quartile of Hays County districts reflects its strengths in reading and math in the upper elementary grades, but performance varies enough across grade levels and subjects that it merits conversation about your own child's readiness and learning needs.

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Academic performance

How students perform on state tests, by grade, set against the district.

Math

Grade 359%

School 59% · district not reported

▲ 19 pts above state median · ▲ 15 pts above county median

Grade 469%

School 69% · district not reported

▲ 28 pts above state median · ▲ 26 pts above county median

Grade 558%

School 58% · District 65% · ▼ 7 pts below district

▲ 17 pts above state median · ▲ 18 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 365%

School 65% · District 71% · ▼ 6 pts below district

▲ 19 pts above state median · ▲ 13 pts above county median

Grade 471%

School 71% · District 78% · ▼ 7 pts below district

▲ 22 pts above state median · ▲ 21 pts above county median

Grade 573%

School 73% · district not reported

▲ 19 pts above state median · ▲ 13 pts above county median

Science

Grade 541%

School 41% · district not reported

▲ 18 pts above state median · ▲ 18 pts above county median

This schoolDRIPPING SPRINGS ISD, same grade

Graduation rate (ACGR) reflects the federally published Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate for the most recent year available. We refresh this data annually at the close of each academic year in June. The federal source publishes a banded rate (for example, "90-94%") instead of an exact number for cohorts small enough to risk identifying individual students. The state distribution chart, where shown, plots every school in the state with a published rate or band; schools whose rate is federally suppressed are excluded. Where the federal source publishes a band rather than an exact rate, the school is placed within its band using a stable, ID-derived offset, so its position is consistent across visits.

Proficiency by household income

English language arts

Grade 3Lower-income26%Higher-income71%45 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income42%Higher-income77%35 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income50%Higher-income75%25 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income22%Higher-income65%43 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income38%Higher-income75%37 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income25%Higher-income61%36 pp gap