For decades, Durham Academy’s Middle School managed to thrive on a campus that didn’t quite make sense. Middle School students have been king of the castle — i.e. the sole occupants of the Academy Road campus — since 2002, but the campus was far from ideal.
Durham Academy Magazine
FEATURED STORIES
NEWS FROM CAMPUS
In the face of daunting challenges and dizzying change, some communities have the ability to not just survive, but thrive.
Five takeaways about how DA helps students navigate the college admissions process and find their college and career path — and equips them with long-lasting life skills.
Lori Reade: “We talk about being moral, happy and productive. Well, what leads to happiness? Hypothetically, we hope that you're doing something that you love.”
In the year since Durham Academy launched the IJF — an outgrowth of the Strategic Vision’s Goal 3, “Innovate more boldly” — 22 out-of-the-box proposals from faculty and staff have been approved to move from concept to concrete.
Advanced Placement courses will be fully sunset in 2024–2025. In their place will be DA's most advanced, rigorous, globally relevant courses that emphasize depth over breadth and that teach students to synthesize complex information and apply knowledge and skills to real life.
In 2022–2023, sustainability efforts gained official status through an Innovation Journey Fund grant. We established a Sustainability Leadership Team and contracted with the Cloud Institute for Sustainability Education and GreenPlaces.
Elizabeth Wong '23 was among eight Upper Schoolers who explored interests at the first-ever TEDxDA event.
Since arriving at DA in 2015, the second-grade teacher has made her students more eager and able to learn.
It’s been a long time coming, but renovations to the Durham Academy Lower School playground are swinging into action.
Durham Academy’s magazine was first published in 1974. The annual publication features articles written by various members of the DA community, including faculty, staff, administrators, alumni and students.
We want to hear from you! If you are interested in writing for a future edition of Durham Academy Magazine; want to pitch a story idea or provide feedback; or would like to be added to the mailing list for a printed copy, please contact magazine editor Melody Guyton Butts.
ALUMNI NEWS
We held in-person reunions and inducted another fabulous class of alumni at our Athletic Hall of Fame ceremony in December. At April’s Spring Alumni Reception, we honored Kathleen Myers Gibson ’82 with the Distinguished Alumni Award, retired French teacher Wanda Moore with the Faculty & Staff Legacy Award, and Chris White ’92 with the Alumni Service Award. Having alumni and friends back on campus made these events even more special.
Oldham, who has done humanitarian work for three decades, is now helping to lead efforts in the heart of Ukraine conflict.
Masaki Okawa '77 attended Durham Academy for only one year, but those nine months represent decades' worth of impact on his life.