Dryden High School (New York)


Dryden High School is a public high school located in Dryden, Tompkins County, New York, U.S.A., and is the only high school operated by the Dryden Central School District. This district is in New York State's southern tier and encompasses an area of and serves a population of about 1900 students. The school's mascot is a Purple Lion.
The school district's attendance boundary includes the Village of Dryden, the Village of Freeville, and the McLean census-designated place.

Administration

Joshua Bacigalupi is the Superintendent of the Dryden Central School District. Sarah Powel is the principal of Dryden High School, with Dale sweet as the assistant principal.

Academics

Dryden offers a comprehensive program with multi-level instruction in all academic areas. The school is accredited by the New York State Board of Regents. Few Advanced Placement courses are offered each year and are contingent on school funding and teacher availability. In the past, U.S. History, European History, Studio Art, Microeconomics, and Music Theory have been offered. Some dual-credit courses are also offered through the Tompkins Cortland Community College, located nearby, which transfer to schools within the SUNY system, but often not to other private schools such as Cornell University. Dryden High School also has programs set up with TST Boces where juniors and seniors can pursue vocational studies, including welding, culinary arts, and cosmetology, among others. TST Boces also has a program through Cornell University called New Visions where seniors can attend classes in life sciences, health and medical sciences, and engineering. Dryden High School has a graduation rate of 78%.

Sports

Dryden High School offers many varsity sports. Most teams compete in the Interscholastic Athletic Conference.
SportCoachCitation
FootballJustin Wood
Girls' SoccerNeal McDowell
Boys' SoccerLaszlo Engel
CheerleadingDeanna Day
Cross Country
Girls' SwimmingJon Singer
VolleyballMargaret Hartquist
Boys' BasketballZach LeViere
Girls' BasketballLaszlo Engel
WrestlingRex Hollenbeck
Boys' Swimming
BowlingDave Hicks
BaseballAndrew Lampman
SoftballDave Allen
GolfDave Hicks
Girls' LacrosseBrittany Barillaro
Boys' LacrosseDominic Barillaro
Indoor/Outdoor Track & FieldLee Stuttle

Note: Lee Stuttle recently retired from his position as Track & Field coach after 30 years of coaching. The boys' swimming coach and the cross country coach were not listed on the high school team pages.
The boys' varsity soccer team won the 2006 I.A.C. championship with an undefeated season. In 2016, The Boys' Track and Field Team were undefeated division champions, I.A.C. Champions, and Section IV Champions.

Theater

Dryden High School has a robust theater department. In 2018, the high school put on a production of Legally Blonde, and were recognized by the Cortland Repertory Theater Pavilion Awards. The production won Best Musical and Best Visual Ensemble, along with many individual awards. In 2019, Dryden put on a production of the Addams Family, where they were recognized for Best Vocal Ensemble in a Musical, along with 3 individual awards at the Pavilion Awards.

Arts

The arts department at Dryden High School has a variety of programs, with Media Arts, Studio Art, and Crafts the foundational courses to move up toward upper-level courses. Dryden High School is often recognized in the regional Scholastic Art Awards. In 2019, 15 students were recognized in the ceremony. In 2020, 21 students were honored, and in 2021, 10 students were honored.

Music Program

As of April 2025, Dryden's High School provides three music programs. Chorus, Concert Band, and Music Theory, along with smaller band ensembles, such as Jazz Band, Pep Band, Group Ensembles such as The Clarinet Choir, Woodwind Choir, and Percussion Ensemble.

Student Population

Dryden High School serves a population of 453 of the district's 1900 students. Most Dryden High School students go on to some form of college, many progressing to Tompkins-Cortland Community College which is about one mile away from the school campus. The Dryden Central School district is predominately white, with the population of the school district being 86% white, 6% multiracial, 4% Hispanic or Latino, 2% Black or African American, and 1% Asian or Pacific Islander, as of 2019.

Building

The Dryden High School building is connected to the Dryden Middle School. The combined buildings house many classrooms as well as two gymnasiums, a pool, two cafeterias, multiple computer laboratories, an auditorium and the school library.

Capital Projects

In 2017, a $38 million capital project was proposed and approved by voters. Construction began on the athletic fields and on the roof at the MS/HS and elementary schools. A new transportation facility was also approved. In addition to the improvement of the athletic fields and the transportation facility, plans were also approved to improve the auditorium and create music and choral classrooms, along with the improvement of the high school gymnasium and locker rooms, and the cafeterias. In 2019, the town of Dryden approved a $3 million capital project. Two propositions passed: the first approved the installation of a synthetic turf field on Dryden's Volante Field, along with better drainage systems and sound systems, and the second approved the district's acquisition of property at 22 Pleasant Street.

Technology

The Dryden Central School District and Dryden High School utilize a computer network software made by Citrix which centrally houses programs. Computers in the school network access programs via this network's central server, and as such, computers do not generally have programs loaded onto them. In addition, the school uses the Websense program which filters out potentially offensive/disruptive websites on the internet.