Middle and High School Reform
Since 2004, Durham Public Schools has been committed to improving the quality of instruction at the middle and high school levels. Each middle and high school in the district established teams of parents, teachers, principals and others to address challenges at these levels and to come up with solutions to make middle and high schools better.
Improvements are happening and continue to do so. Four of six traditional high schools have been listed among Newsweek magazine’s top 2,000 high schools for academic rigor. And three middle schools are among 29 in the state of North Carolina named national Schools to Watch by the National Forum to Accelerate Middle-Grades Reform.
Initiatives include the implementation of Professional Learning Communities, the placement of academic coaches and the establishment or expansion of programs geared toward helping students with academic and character development issues. The reform teams also have crafted written reform plans.
Achievement is improving at the middle and high school level.
