Cypress Springs El, Driftwood TX

Original Research by School Decision on Cypress Springs El

Cypress Springs Elementary serves pre-kindergarten through fifth grade in Driftwood, a quiet, low-density rural area in northern Hays County, about an hour northwest of San Marcos. The school sits on Darden Hill Road in the Texas Hill Country, where the landscape is defined by owner-occupied homes on generous acreage, native oak and cedar forest, and open grassland. Driftwood has no downtown center and depends entirely on car travel via farm-to-market roads. The local economy revolves around destination restaurants and wineries rather than corporate employers. The community is on a growth trajectory driven by proximity to Austin, with new private residential developments and custom-home construction expanding the area's footprint.

The school enrolls a small population, with substantial representation of white students and smaller shares of Hispanic, Asian, and multiracial students. Free-or-reduced-price lunch eligibility is minimal. Special education and English learner data were not available.

State test results from 2024-25 show strength in English language arts, where fourth-grade proficiency runs high and fifth-grade performance is solid. Reading comprehension at the third-grade level is also strong. Mathematics performance is more uneven: third and fourth graders show proficiency near the midpoint, but fifth grade improves notably. Science proficiency in fifth grade is moderate. The school's overall proficiency index across tested subjects and grades places it in the top quartile among Hays County districts.

In Texas's proficiency bands, the school reports that roughly nine in ten students across all grades approach proficiency standards, and about seven in ten meet them. In English language arts specifically, students more often reach mastery: about half the school demonstrates mastery-level performance. In mathematics, the mastery rate is lower, at roughly one in three. These patterns suggest the school brings most students to grade-level competency in reading and language but sees a steeper climb to advanced math achievement.

The school is a regular public elementary serving its grade band; no charter, magnet, or alternative designation applies. The neighborhood it serves is wealthy and rural, with median home values well above state benchmarks. A parent considering this school would be choosing both an academic environment where reading is a relative strength and a deeply rural, car-dependent community with minimal walkability and no downtown commercial life.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 356%

School 56% · district not reported

▲ 16 pts above state median · ▲ 12 pts above county median

Grade 455%

School 55% · district not reported

▲ 14 pts above state median · ▲ 12 pts above county median

Grade 569%

School 69% · District 65% · ▲ 4 pts above district

▲ 28 pts above state median · ▲ 29 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 378%

School 78% · District 71% · ▲ 7 pts above district

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

Grade 484%

School 84% · District 78% · ▲ 6 pts above district

▲ 35 pts above state median · ▲ 34 pts above county median

Grade 583%

School 83% · district not reported

▲ 29 pts above state median · ▲ 23 pts above county median

Science

Grade 561%

School 61% · district not reported

▲ 38 pts above state median · ▲ 38 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.