 | Welcome to the Durham Academy website. We thank you for making an online visit to our school, exploring our campuses and seeing the programs and people that make us a strong and dynamic independent school community.
At Durham Academy, we believe that the richness of the learning environment matters. Therefore, we offer our students depth, choices, complexities and challenges, aiming to intensify their learning experience. It matters that kindergarten children are exposed to interesting literature as they gain reading skills. It matters that Middle School students can choose to study Latin and that homework pushes them beyond worksheets and into real creativity. It matters that Upper School students choose classes such as Bioethics, Film and Narrative and Advanced Placement Statistics, along with other AP courses.
We are not afraid of challenge. Most children thrive when confronted with developmentally appropriate but nonetheless serious and rigorous work. They invest themselves in their studies. They sense that their ideas truly matter and they enjoy more deeply the rewards that come with success.
A school needs to be a place of opportunity, depth and diverse role models. It should be a place where children can safely engage with the world and ideas, meet high standards and learn to take risks. A school should help children become confident and skillful thinkers and explorers. We want them to succeed in any subject they approach. We want them to be bold in the questions they ask and ambitious with the knowledge they seek, not only as students here, but also throughout life.
This is the kind of education Durham Academy has offered since its founding in 1933. It’s an education with individual attention in an academically rich environment. It’s an education that builds on children’s natural curiosity and asks for rigor and persistence. We do not hesitate to provide demanding challenges, but we also work to ensure that each child gains the skills and confidence he or she needs to succeed.
At Durham Academy, we help each child strengthen his or her unique talents. We go beyond the basics and help children reach a little deeper, try a little harder and understand a little more. Our aim is to help young people grow into leaders, independent thinkers and true originals — confidently, intelligently and individually.
We hope that you enjoy learning more about Durham Academy and how our school makes a difference in the lives of its students and alumni.
Edward R. Costello
Headmaster
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| Durham Academy admits students of any race, color, national and ethnic origin to all the rights, privileges, programs and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the school. Durham Academy does not unlawfully discriminate on the basis of race, color, national and ethnic origin in administration of its educational policies, admissions policies, scholarship and loan programs, athletic and other school-administered programs. |
| | Letters from Division Heads |