News

If you think the interests that grab a teenager’s attention in high school don’t really have an impact, talk with Brendan Bradley ’01 and you may change your mind.

Julie Lythcott-Haims — former dean at Stanford University and parenting expert — will speak at a virtual Durham Academy Upper School student assembly on Friday, Sept. 18, and then again at a virtual event for parents with her on Wednesday, Sept. 23, at 7 p.m.

While the start of school typically means busy afternoons with our fall athletics teams, we have had to make numerous adjustments for student-athletes and coaches. Our athletic trainers, coaches and staff were hard at work over the summer helping to shape the new normal of socially distanced practices, temperature checks and mask-wearing. We welcomed groups of students back to campus in late June for structured summer workouts, and by mid-August, 10 sports had conducted over 100 total workouts involving close to 200 student-athletes. 

The National Merit Scholarship Corporation has recognized 14 Durham Academy seniors as semifinalists in the 66th annual National Merit Scholarship Program.

Durham Academy shifted from students in classrooms to Durham E-cademy with almost warp speed last March. In contrast, the transition to DA Hybrid was marked by a summer’s worth of preparation.

The Quiambao family joined Durham Academy last year, but they were already familiar with DA and knew they wanted to be a part of the school community.

Do you visit Amazon or grocery store several days a week? Wouldn't it be great if all of that shopping helped out our school? DA Parents Association has established affinity programs with local and online stores, including Amazon and Harris Teeter. Every time you pay, DA will receive a percentage back at no additional cost to you!  

As the new school year opens, Durham Academy welcomes 16 new faculty and staff members to our school community.

Susan Ellis, who teaches physical education at the Middle School and coaches varsity girls soccer and JV girls tennis, is the 2020 recipient of Durham Academy’s F. Robertson Hershey Distinguished Faculty Award. The award was presented Monday at DA’s opening faculty and staff meeting. Watch a recording of the award presentation via Facebook.

This summer, every school and every city in America has the opportunity to become more equitable and more just. Every organization in the world will be transformed by the COVD-19 pandemic. Each will emerge either stronger or weaker as a result, but none will be the same.

As of late May, Rossilli had sewn and sold more than 250 cloth face masks, raising nearly $2,000 for organizations that are providing families support in the face of the pandemic. 

Families were able to tune in to a virtual version of each ceremony broadcast on Vimeo Live, and were then invited to visit campus for car parades to give their kindergartners, fourth-graders, eighth-graders and seniors a chance to celebrate as a class and have a sense of closure.

You and your generation — the global Class of 2020 — will solve problems, create beauty and build relationships like no generation before you.

The Durham Academy community celebrated the 111 members of the Class of 2020 on Senior Day, May 8, which kicked off with a video message from Head of School Michael Ulku-Steiner.