Dripping Springs ISD offers after-school enrichment classes at all five elementary campuses in the district.

The program, titled Kids College, was started in 2009 for DSISD and homeschooled students in kindergarten through the fifth grade to participate in enrichment classes held Monday through Friday for at least one hour, once per week. The district had a community education program and was offering full-time child care; after talking with vendors, the after-school program was created, according to Community Services Coordinator Misty Hurlbut.

Currently, for the fall session, there are 13-20 classes that are being offered at each campus. While the program is available at all five elementary campuses — with the addition of the sixth elementary school that will be open for the 2025-26 school year — not all of the classes will be the same, as it will be dependent on the vendor.

There are a variety of classes offered, including Mandarin, basketball, escape room puzzles, cooking/baking, drone flying, LEGOs, Spanish, drama and more: “We try to provide a large variety for parents to choose from for after school,” Hurlbut said.

Kids College does not go toward any traditional course requirements, rather it’s a way for students to participate in extracurricular activities; however, there are a lot of students/parents who choose more of an academic class, like STEM.

“A lot of ours try to do academically, STEM-related things then some are just for extracurricular. We also have some of our teachers that hold classes that include that; some of our teachers offer Kids College classes on the [physical education] level and [computer-aided design] and 3D printing,” the community services coordinator explained. “Some parents do this for additional childcare if they need it and then, some just do this for enrichment.”

DSISD wants to continue to provide good quality enrichment classes with the variety that is already included in the schedule; however, Hurlbut said that currently, they don’t feel like they would be able to offer more classes at this time, due to lack of space on campus.

Although the Kids College fall session registration will close at 11:59 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 18, the spring session will start up following winter break, tentatively in January 2025.

Learn more about the program by visiting www.dsisdtx.us/page/kids-college or contacting Hurlbut by emailing misty. hurlbut@dsisdtx.us.