News

Twelve Durham Academy seniors have been recognized by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation as commended students in the 66th annual National Merit Scholarship Program, and three others have been named National African American Scholars by the College Board.

Frances Dowell has been writing since she learned how to put words on paper — poems, short stories, essays, novels, nonfiction. The little girl who grew up to become an award-winning author remembers writing “500 brillant beginnings that were never finished.” That’s one of the reasons why she is so passionate about helping young writers “get through that first draft all the way to the end."

Durham Academy administrators, athletics directors and consulting medical professionals have decided to delay the start of the 2020–2021 basketball season by postponing this week’s competitions vs. Wesleyan Christian and Grace Christian Academy.

The fall 2020 athletics season was unlike any other in Durham Academy’s history. Each game, match and meet was treated as a gift by the student-athletes and coaches — knowing how fortunate they were to compete, given the uncertainty cast by the COVID-19 pandemic.

With classmates, family members and friends watching from computer and phone screens near and far, four Durham Academy seniors formally committed to compete in college athletics on Wednesday. Quinn Shanahan will run cross-country and track at Butler University; both Jay Shanahan and Anna Catherine Wilson will run cross-country and track at Davidson College; and Jackson Brimfield will play golf at the University of Louisville.

Durham Academy athletics wrapped up the fall season on Wednesday with its annual fall athletics awards event in Kenan Auditorium. With DA's COVID-19 protocols limiting the number of individuals in attendance, the majority of student-athletes and all family members watched the live-streamed event from home.

Chris Mason remembers a piece of advice his father gave him: Figure out what you love to do and then find someone to pay you for it.

The final week of fall sports has wrapped up, and the Durham Academy Cavaliers remain in third place in the 4A division of the Wells Fargo Cup, which is presented to the independent schools that have the best overall interscholastic sports program at the end of the year in each of the four classifications: 1A, 2A, 3A and 4A.

The Durham Academy speech and debate program has had an active fall, with Upper Schoolers participating in six competitions in the month of October alone; five students being named Academic All-Americans by the National Speech & Debate Association; and the DA program being named one of the nation’s top 100 programs of the NSDA’s 3,000 member schools. In addition, the DA Middle School speech and debate program launched with 49 participants.

Do you have pumpkin that is ready to be discarded? The Upper School Sustainability Committee would like to help you do it sustainably! CompostNow bins will be set out by the drop-off points at Kenan Auditorium and Kirby Gym through Nov. 13.

The Comedy Show is an online-only event modeled on Saturday Night Live, produced, directed, written, acted, danced and played entirely by Upper School students.

Three fall Cavalier sports teams are still on the hunt for an N.C. Independent Schools Athletic Association state title. This weekend, Durham Academy volleyball and soccer will compete in the 4A state quarterfinals at home, while DA cross-country will head to Charlotte for the title meet.

DA has partnered with CVS Pharmacy to provide flu shots for children age 10 and older at on-campus clinics in November.

Durham Academy fall sports have hit the postseason with much to be proud of!

When the winds of COVID-19 touched down in North Carolina, the pandemic was met by Becki Feinglos Planchard, a 2007 Durham Academy graduate who has helped navigate the waters of how to safely reopen the state’s public schools.