Let's Hear it for Durham Public Schools!

As a Realtor^®, one of the biggest battles I fight regularly is that of Durham schools.  There is a stigma around that casts Durham Public Schools in a bad light, particularly compared to other school systems in the area.  I’m here to tell you that it just isn’t true.  Statistically, perhaps the numbers for Durham don’t add up to those of Wake or Orange County, but it is important to dig a little deeper.  For instance, on average, the SAT scores of Durham lag slightly behind those of other area school systems, but there are a higher percentage of Durham students taking the SAT than other area school systems (which would tend to bring the average score down).  Statistics need to be investigated closer than what is just seen on the surface, but I’ll discuss that more in a future blog.

What I really want to focus on is my experience with Durham Public Schools, as well as an opportunity to brag about my daughter, Samantha.  You see, we moved to Durham when Samantha started 3^rd grade.  She has always been in public schools, and, in spite of what I had “heard” about Durham schools, that was where she was going to go.  For the most part, it was a great experience.  Yes, there were a few trouble spots, including a school with some administrative problems (since resolved), but that was all part of the learning experience.  I doubt there are many, if any, schools that don’t have some problems.  But the core of teaching and learning was solid.  I’m willing to bet that, if you ask any teacher, they’ll tell you that they love to teach kids who WANT and ARE WILLING to learn.  The kids that the teachers have to “babysit” are the ones that burn teachers out.  Anyway, Samantha was one who WANTED to learn.  I like to think that I, as her parent, had a lot to do with that.

Samantha graduated from Jordan High School with a respectable GPA, and she was in the top 15% of her class.  But she had earned 14 “Advanced Placement” credit hours for college while in high school.  14 credit hours is almost a full college semester!  Now, realize that the AP exams are standardized tests, so they are the same for kids in Wake County, Orange County, Virginia Beach, Los Angeles, etc.  In my opinion, Durham Public Schools served her very, very well.

Another thing that high school (and middle and elementary) did for Samantha was teach her HOW to learn and study.  Following high school, Sam went to the University of Georgia. I’m ecstatic to say that, this Friday – December 17^th – she will graduate with honors from UGA.  She will have earned here Bachelor of Business Administration degree in just 3-and-a-half years!  In that time period Sam has interned for a financial planner for 1.5 years, and served as Treasurer and Licensing Chairman for her sorority.  She has accepted a position as a Business Analyst with Accenture (one of the “Big 4” consulting firms), working out of their Boston office.  I’m also happy to say that she received 4 excellent job offers, and she had a difficult time making a decision – but she was in the enviable position of not being able to make a wrong choice, as they were all good opportunities.

Okay, I know I’ve used this blog to brag about my daughter, but I just want to make the point that not everything is at is appears.  I firmly believe that Durham Public Schools played a huge role in setting Sam up for her great success in college, and that the same can be said for a lot of the other students in Durham.

For those who feel that Durham schools are less than stellar, are they saying that the parents of the 32,566 students currently enrolled in Durham Public Schools (K-12) have made a mistake trusting Durham schools to give their children a good education?  If so, as I mentioned at the start, they’re wrong, plain and simple.  And I’m sure that the vast majority of parents of the 7,518 graduates of Durham Public Schools over the past 4 years are as proud as anyone of the accomplishments of their children.  I know I am!

And, as an aside to the educational rant of this blog, let’s give kudos to some athletic programs in Durham – primarily Jordan High School’s Boys Soccer team and Hillside High School’s Football team – who each won State Championships this year!  Congratulations Durham!

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I appreciate any comments you may have in response to my blog, or suggestions for future blogs.