Durham Academy Magazine Winter 2020

The process of crafting Durham Academy’s 2015 Strategic Plan was neither tidy nor brief.

On Kyla Newkirk’s sixth birthday, her mother, Monica, made a request that set her on the path to empathy that has come to define her life.

To get to the coop created by Preschoolers in the Aftercare art enrichment class!

The 2015 Strategic Plan, more than any other in DA’s history, grew from shared values rather than pressing financial or physical plant needs — it focused on the DNA of DA through moral, happy and productive lives.

It’s an exciting time in the Preschool! On the heels of extending the kindergarten school day, the faculty has been working tirelessly to engage our youngest learners in thoughtful conversations and meaningful activities about belonging to and participating in both a local and a global community.

Recruiting, sustaining and nourishing “a faculty full of life-changers” topped our list of strategic objectives in 2015. That work remains even more poignant today.

This year, Middle School teachers prepared for a different type of math student to enter fifth grade: one who is steeped in Bridges, a curriculum that has allowed students in the Lower School (and soon the Preschool) to speak the same, comprehensive math language.

World languages teachers have been transforming the way Durham Academy teaches and students learn.

History is taking a comprehensive approach framed through the lenses of identity, history, power, economics and geography, rather than bookended timelines with memorized lists of names, dates and facts.

In education circles, we often hear the term “mirrors and windows” — the idea that we, as educators, can provide resources for children to learn about themselves and others.

Moral. Happy. Productive. The Upper School’s Cavalier Capstone program launched last May with happy in mind.

“There will be times when you walk into a room and no one there is quite like you.”

In May, 43 students embarked on a choice of one of four outdoor Cavalier Capstone adventures — backpacking, mountain biking, rock climbing or whitewater kayaking.

The Cavalier Capstone program completely transformed my perspective about the power of tradition.

For my capstone, seven of my classmates and I had the chance to travel through North India. Our 21-day trip had three phases: a challenge phase, a project phase and a rest and relaxation phase.

Miniature golf courses are known for their design aesthetics as well as the challenges that lie within those beautiful designs: waterfalls carrying balls off the green and windmills that tease you with the hole just on the other side.

A milestone was reached on Nov. 7: After four years of planning, design and construction, a reimagined Upper School campus was complete.

Kemi Nonez' commitment to creating inclusive communities started during her childhood in the suburbs of Washington, D.C.

The Preschool/Lower School parent book club is underway, with the Middle and Upper School parent book group to begin meeting in January. Author Julie Lythcott-Haims believes too many kids end up leading a “checklisted childhood.”

From opening car doors at morning drop-off to patrolling DA’s campuses all hours of the day and night, Durham Academy’s security team is working to improve safety with a community approach.

When we were interviewing for our chorus and drama positions at Durham Academy’s Middle School a few years ago [Karen Richardson in 2015 and Ellen Brown in 2016], one of the questions we were each asked was, “How do you feel about putting on a musical?” Both of us loved the idea!

The Seesaw digital portfolio platform allows students to document their learning in creative and engaging ways, such as videos, photos, audio recordings and drawings. Work from other apps, including green screen and slide presentation apps, can also be imported into the portfolio.

Alumni reconnected on campus, and classes ending in 4s and 9s gathered for a reunion party at Boxcar Bar + Arcade.

Six alumni were inducted into Durham Academy’s Athletic Hall of Fame on Dec. 6. This marks the fourth class of inductees for the Athletic Hall of Fame, which was established in 2013 and taps new members every other year.

From the time Nina Varela ’13 learned to read and write, she knew she wanted to be a writer. She is grateful to the Durham Academy teachers who “who encouraged me and took my writing seriously — even when I didn’t.” Her debut novel, Crier’s War, was released in the fall, and now she’s finishing up edits for the sequel and outlining her third book. 

As a coordinator for clinical trials at Duke Cancer Institute, Marco Reyes ’10 sees “the good in humanity” as patients participate in trials that may one day benefit people they’ll never know.

Durham Academy challenged Yates Sikes ’08 to think of different ways to problem solve. Now, as a mechanical engineer, he’s using that skill to innovate and modernize rail cars that impact riders in major cities across the U.S.

Mission-Driven, Durham Academy’s blog about everyday examples of the moral, happy, productive lives of our students, faculty/staff, families and alumni. 

Bernadette Cooper Vereen ’14 credits Durham Academy with equipping her with skills she has used to navigate college and the start of her career in maternal health and social work. Now a graduate student, she hopes to become a perinatal social worker and address racial disparities in childbirth outcomes, with an ultimate goal of opening a natural birthing center for low-income families.