Dryden Central School District
Our mission: Educate and empower each learner to achieve excellence and build a better world
All students from the MS/HS have been dismissed. Each bus went back to the MS/HS to drop off students and help students get house keys.
Elementary bus routes will be delayed as previously communicated
Good Afternoon,
This is Joshua Bacigalupi, Superintendent of Schools for the Dryden Central School District. This is communication update #2. The fire has been extinguished at the MS/HS. All students are sheltering at TC3 per our previous message. Unfortunately, we will need to dismiss TC3 today. Students will not be permitted back into the building today. Students will be able to collect belongings from their classroom in the mornings. All after school activities and events are canceled today districtwide. There was one lunch period that did not get their lunch and we apologize. We are working to get that lunch period food at this time.
Buses for the MS/HS will be dismissed directly from TC3. If you are picking your child up at dismissal, please go to parking lot 4 on the main TC3 campus and follow the directions of staff members. All other schools will dismiss normally from their buildings.
I am incredibly grateful to our staff, students, and our first responders. We will send home another message shortly after dismissal to let you know that everyone is on their way home.
We're Hiring - Join the #LionPride!
School Bus Attendant (multiple open positions)
Bus Driver
Teacher Aide
Cleaner (2nd Shift)
2026 DRYDEN SKI & BOARD CLUB:
JANUARY 7th IS THE LAST DAY TO SIGN UP FOR SKI CLUB
1. Club Fee/Transportation: This club registration/health form and payment of $50.00 is required to participate in Dryden’s Ski Club. Participants in the Ski Club program must pay the club fee to cover supervision, transportation, and equipment. If it is necessary for a student to ride home from Greek Peak with his/her parents, the parent must sign the official Dryden School District Transportation Release Form with a Dryden Ski Club chaperone.
Students have the opportunity to ride home with someone other than with their parents ONLY if parents have cleared it IN WRITING with a ski club advisor and our Athletic Director, Todd Kwiatkowski 24 HOURS PRIOR to the scheduled skiing night. An email directly from a parent or guardian stating that “____has permission to ride home from Ski Club tonight (or multiple nights) with____” addressed to both Mr. K and an advisor will suffice. Mr. Kwiatkowski’s email address is tkwiatk1@dryden.k12.ny.us. Students CANNOT leave Greek Peak without informing a chaperone.
2. All students in Ski Club, 6th grade or below are encouraged to have a BUDDY with them at all times! On the first day, students who are renting equipment and taking lessons from Greek Peak will be shown to the rental shop and the Ski School area by a buddy or a member of the chaperone team.
3. TIME SCHEDULE: HS and MS Ski Club members will leave from the auditorium lot at the high school at 2:30pm, immediately after 9th period. Ski Club members in DES will depart from the Elementary School at 3:30, or as soon as possible following school dismissal.
MS/HS Ski Club passes are good from 3:00 pm – 7:00 pm. DES Ski Club passes are good from 4:00 pm – 7:00 pm, and all students MUST be ready to load the bus at 7:30pm so that we can do a head count.
The time schedule for departure from Greek Peak and student pick-up in Dryden is as follows:
7:15 pm - in Rental Shop, returning equipment
7:30 pm - at the bus, ready to board
7:45-8:00 - Students must be picked up at DRYDEN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
IF STUDENTS ARE LATE BOARDING THE RETURN BUS OR ARE PICKED UP LATE AT THE SCHOOL, STUDENT TRANSPORTATION PRIVILEGES WILL BE LOST THE FOLLOWING WEEK.
SKIING WILL BEGIN ON THURSDAY, January 8th
Scheduled dates: Jan 8th, 15th, 22nd, 29th
Feb 5th & 12th
If we need a make up day it will be Thursday, Feb. 26th*
4. SIGN UP ONLINE:
● www.greekpeak.net/school-programs
● Access Code: EJJXP
● Pin # 0774
You can also scan the QR Code on the poster to Register
If you have a season’s pass, please sign up using the QR code. This is how we know your child is “signed up” for Ski Club. There is NO additional fee. The meal plan is an available option for pass holders.
If you have any questions, please contact us at:
Neal McDowell
Dryden Middle/High School
Ski Club Co-Adviser
607-844-8694 x4288
nmcdowe1@dryden.k12.ny.us
Charl Wojcik
Elementary School
Ski Club Co-Adviser
607-844-8694 x1458
cwojcik1@dryden.k12.ny.us
🐾🦁The Dryden Lions Den Apparel Store is now LIVE!! 🦁🐾
This new apparel store will remain open, with items being produced as they are ordered. This is structured with a portion of every sale coming back as a donation to the HANDS Fund. There are various designs available on each item, as well as options for personalization. It has a little bit of something for everyone. #LionPride 💜
https://zapathletics.chipply.com/Dryden-CSD/?action=viewall
This new apparel store will remain open, with items being produced as they are ordered. This is structured with a portion of every sale coming back as a donation to the HANDS Fund. There are various designs available on each item, as well as options for personalization. It has a little bit of something for everyone. #LionPride 💜
https://zapathletics.chipply.com/Dryden-CSD/?action=viewall
All afterschool activities in the Dryden Central School District are canceled this afternoon and this evening, 12/19/25. Due to rapidly falling temperatures after a morning of heavy rain, roads in our region are expected to become icy. These road conditions combined with diminishing daylight are the primary reasons for this decision. This means all students PK-12 need to leave at their school's regular dismissal time. Please take care of yourself. Take care of each other. Always...#LionPride!
🦁 ##LionPride
Shout out to Mrs. Alexander/Mrs Frost's First Graders who invited Mr. Bacigalupi to read "Pete the Cat" in their classroom today and gifted him with an awesome Pete the Cat Hat! #LionPride!
DES Book Fair is coming up next week!
Thursday, Dec. 11 4:00 - 5:th 30pm @ DES Library
Saturday, Dec. 13th 8:00 - 11:00am @ DES Gym
Come get great holiday books, gifts, and more!
You can shop the book fair online too at: https://www.scholastic.com/bf/drydenelementaryschool4
One of our amazing DHS students has organized a book drive, as they work toward attaining their Seal of Civic Readiness. Feel free to share with anyone who might be interested in spreading the joy of reading around our #LionPride this holiday season!
DHS is currently seeking donation items for their clothing/hygiene drive. Thanks for any help our awesome #LionPride community can provide!
Due to forecasted heavy snow for the next two hours, a period in which we would be transporting children to school, the Dryden Central School District is now closed today, Tuesday, December 2, 2025.
On Friday, 11/21 and Saturday, 11/22, Dryden MS/HS hosted over 200 student musicians participating in the 2025 STMEA Fall All-County Band and Orchestra Festival. Dryden was proudly represented by 11 students in the Senior High Band and 6 students in the Junior High Band.
Our talented student musicians spent a day and a half rehearsing, preparing, and performing alongside students from Groton, Lansing, Ithaca, Newfield, Trumansburg, and South Seneca, under the direction of guest conductors Mr. Gregory Harris (current Dryden MS Assistant Principal & former Vestal HS Band Director) and Mr. Timothy Savage (Crane School of Music & St. Lawrence University). We are so proud of our Dryden musicians!
Our talented student musicians spent a day and a half rehearsing, preparing, and performing alongside students from Groton, Lansing, Ithaca, Newfield, Trumansburg, and South Seneca, under the direction of guest conductors Mr. Gregory Harris (current Dryden MS Assistant Principal & former Vestal HS Band Director) and Mr. Timothy Savage (Crane School of Music & St. Lawrence University). We are so proud of our Dryden musicians!
Students in Mrs. Rosen & Mr. Magin’s 5th grade class have received 3 Golden Awards for demonstrating outstanding behavior in PE, Art, & Library. Way to go! #LionPride
🦃 Thanksgiving Feast = SUCCESS! 🍽️
On Wednesday our Dryden Food Service team served 893 meals for our annual Thanksgiving lunch!
After roasting, slicing, scooping, serving, smiling, (and maybe sneaking a bite or two 😇)… our School Lunch Heroes are officially EXHAUSTED. 💤
So if you’re looking for us now, check the:
🥶 cooler
📦 dry storage
🍎 produce shelf
We’re just catching up on our post-feast nap😴
Thank you, Dryden, for another amazing Thanksgiving feast! 💜🦁🤍
#DrydenPride #SchoolLunchHeroes #FuelingOurLions
Our #LionPride has a very thankful 4th grade! 💜 #ThankfulThursday
Dryden Elementary PTA invites you to the Winter Wonderland Extravaganza on Saturday, December 13th, from 8am to 11am!
Today is SRP Day! We honor the incredible School-Related Professionals who make our schools function effectively every single day. From early morning bus runs to after-school cleanup, these professionals are essential to our #LionPride! Whether bandaging scraped knees, serving nutritious meals, maintaining safe buildings and supporting our classrooms - our SRPs truly Rise to the Challenge!
We're partnering with Cops, Kids, and Toys to help local families have a brighter holiday season. Cops, Kids, and Toys is a program that began in the early 1980’s to help families throughout Tompkins County who were unable to provide holiday gifts for their children.
We will be collecting donations of unwrapped new toys or money through Tuesday, December 2nd.
If you’d like to make a monetary donation, checks payable to Cops, Kids, and Toys or cash may be sent in.
Drop-Off locations:
Middle/High School and Dryden Elementary School.
(Donations can also be made at FES and CES - we'll pick donations up and deliver them to CKT)
We will be collecting donations of unwrapped new toys or money through Tuesday, December 2nd.
If you’d like to make a monetary donation, checks payable to Cops, Kids, and Toys or cash may be sent in.
Drop-Off locations:
Middle/High School and Dryden Elementary School.
(Donations can also be made at FES and CES - we'll pick donations up and deliver them to CKT)
Lion Reminder:
Saturday, November 8, 2025 is a #LionPride Day all the way around the MS/HS Campus. As we prepare for the MS Musical: “The Wizard of Oz” to hit the stage at 11:00 AM (You can also catch "The Wizard of Oz" on 11/7 at 7:00 PM) and our Dryden Lions prepare to participate in their sectional semi-final football game, which is being held at Dryden beginning at 1:00 PM, please see the maps regarding parking and shuttles this Saturday for these two events. We have plenty of parking for both events, especially given that the events are offset of each other.
In addition, the District has added two shuttle bus runs to support Saturday's events, as well as give people another option as it relates to parking this weekend for events at the MS/HS. The District will operate two shuttle bus runs between DES and the MS/HS from approximately 10 AM-4PM at approximately 15 minute intervals. The DES shuttle bus stop is located at the front entrance of DES facing Union Street and the MS/HS Shuttle Stop is located just outside the normal MS/HS drop off location by the Auditorium.
We are so excited to show support for our #LionPride this weekend!
Saturday, November 8, 2025 is a #LionPride Day all the way around the MS/HS Campus. As we prepare for the MS Musical: “The Wizard of Oz” to hit the stage at 11:00 AM (You can also catch "The Wizard of Oz" on 11/7 at 7:00 PM) and our Dryden Lions prepare to participate in their sectional semi-final football game, which is being held at Dryden beginning at 1:00 PM, please see the maps regarding parking and shuttles this Saturday for these two events. We have plenty of parking for both events, especially given that the events are offset of each other.
In addition, the District has added two shuttle bus runs to support Saturday's events, as well as give people another option as it relates to parking this weekend for events at the MS/HS. The District will operate two shuttle bus runs between DES and the MS/HS from approximately 10 AM-4PM at approximately 15 minute intervals. The DES shuttle bus stop is located at the front entrance of DES facing Union Street and the MS/HS Shuttle Stop is located just outside the normal MS/HS drop off location by the Auditorium.
We are so excited to show support for our #LionPride this weekend!
