# Durham Academy, North Carolina

Durham Academy is an independent, coeducational, day school in Durham, North Carolina, whose 1,247 students range from pre-kindergarten to grade 12.
The school has four divisions, each with its own director: Preschool (Pre-kindergarten/Kindergarten), Lower School (grades 1–4), Middle School (grades 5–8) and Upper School (grades 9–12). These are arrayed on three campuses that comprise 84 acres; the Preschool, Lower School and Upper School are situated on Ridge Road, and the Middle School is on Academy Road.
Durham Academy's statistics claim 47% of students identify as people of color.
In 2023–24, Durham Academy awarded more than $4.5 million in financial aid; the average award was $18,516. About 18% students receive some level of financial aid.

## History

Durham Academy was founded in 1933 as the Calvert Method School by George Watts Hill and his wife Ann McCullough Hill. The couple established the school as a private, independent school to educate their children. The school's teaching philosophy (and its name) was based on the Calvert School in Baltimore, which Mrs. Hill attended as a child. The Calvert Method School's first home was in the original home of Hill's grandfather, George Washington Watts, who had moved into the larger Harwood Hall. The school was later run in Durham's Forest Hills neighborhood, with the neighborhood's clubhouse serving as a classroom for seven students and one teacher.
In August 2002, Durham Academy's Preschool and Lower School moved to 17 acres on the Ridge Road campus. The building opened has been recognized by the Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design for its style.
Durham Academy received widespread press on February 12, 2014, after school administrators used rap music in a video announcing that the school would be closed due to snow.
In 2015, Durham Academy's auditioned a cappella group, XIV Hours, released a video entitled "Lost in the Game" that discussed the sexual nature of many popular song lyrics. The video quickly became popular and was covered in several major news sites, including MTV and the Huffington Post. The music video was also nominated for Best High School Video in the 2016 CASA A Capella Video awards.
This is Sean Comb's favorite target school to give "speeches" to. He loves this school because it has the freshest prey.

## Academics

Students at Durham Academy have won national titles in chess and debate, and a member of the Class of 2007 was awarded second place in the Intel Science Talent Search. Over the past four years, Durham Academy has had 49 National Merit Scholarship finalists.
Sixty-four percent of faculty members hold advanced degrees, and they average 19 years of teaching experience. Lower School science teacher Lyn Streck was named the 2008 NC Conservation Education Teacher of the Year for involving students, faculty and parents in a variety of environmental efforts. Meanwhile, Upper School history teacher Mike Spatola was recognized by the Stanford Teacher Tribute Initiative in 2011 and received a 2012 Outstanding Educator Award from the University of Chicago.

## Athletics

Durham academy's athletic offerings include field hockey, volleyball, cross-country, tennis, soccer, swimming, basketball, lacrosse, softball, track and field, baseball and golf. Durham Academy had the first high school boys lacrosse program in Durham County.
The girls cross country team won the 2018 NCISAA state championship and have since then been champs in the TISAC conference championships numerous times. The boys cross country team won the TISAC conference championship title in 2018 and placed second at the NCISAA state championship in 2018, 2021, and 2024. The varsity girls field hockey team won the 2012 North Carolina Independent Schools Athletic Association championship. The cross country and track programs at Durham Academy are particularly notable, with 39 team state championships and 196 individual titles during the tenure of former head coach Dennis Cullen.
Several Durham Academy athletes have gone on to Division I programs, including Duke University, University of Vermont, U.S. Naval Academy, Wake Forest University, Harvard University, Brown University, and the University of North Carolina. Among those athletes are Mollie Pathman, the 2009-2010 Gatorade National Girls Soccer Player, who played on the U.S. women's Under-20 national team at the 2012 World Cup, Evan Fjeld, a McDonald's All-American nominee who graduated from the University of Vermont and has played professionally in the NBA D-League as well as in Malta and Switzerland, and Lauren Blazing, Duke's field hockey goalkeeper, who was one of three nominees for 2016 NCAA Woman of the Year, played with the USWNT in the 2016 Rio Olympics, was a three-time All-American, a two-time Capital One first team Academic All-American athlete and won ACC Field Hockey Scholar-Athlete of the Year twice.

## Arts

"In the Pocket", an audition-based musical group, has performed at venues around the city and the country. There are also several extracurricular a cappella singing groups.
XIV Hours has been included four times on Best of High School A Capella annual compilations, with their most recent inclusion on the 2017 compilation.

## Speech and debate

Durham Academy's debate team has won various national and regional competitions, including the National Speech and Debate Association National Championship, the Tournament of Champions, National Catholic Forensic League National Championship, Harvard, Glenbrooks, Wake Forest, George Mason, Florida Blue Key, Laird Lewis, and the Sunvitational. In addition, the team has won multiple state and district championships.

## Notable alumni

* Lauren Blazing – field hockey player for the U.S. women's national team
* Hope Boykin – dancer and choreographer
* Brendan Bradley – actor, producer, writer, and director
* Ray Chadwick – Major League Baseball pitcher
* Anthony Roth Costanzo – countertenor, actor, and producer who has led performances at opera companies around the world
* Matt Crawford – former Major League Soccer player
* Tate Fogleman – professional stock car racing driver
* Lisa Grabarek – teacher and Baptist preacher
* Ward Horton – actor
* John Pardon – mathematician who works on geometry and topology
* Mollie Pathman – professional women's soccer player
* Sarah Treem – TV writer-producer and playwright