Durham Public Schools history

The first class graduated from the ninth grade of Whitted School in 1896.

In 1901, another black school, West End, was built.

The Whitted School, which was in poor condition, burned in 1921, and students had to attend double sessions at East End and West End Schools.

The "Park" was dropped from the name Hillside High School in 1943.

The class of 1944 was the first to graduate under the 12-year system.

And so, in 1970, Durham County Public Schools, which was comprised of about 20 percent Black students and 80 percent white students, had no schools with less than 30 percent white students.

Hillside was relocated to a new building in 1995.

With an overall enrollment of almost 2000 students and led by its two largest programs (the Freshman Academy and the Advanced Placement Program), the school emphasizes not only academic excellence but also students graduating with options.

In 2008, which is when Rita Rathbone in the Education Post said charter schools really began to grow, there were 7,401 white students in Durham Public Schools, about 24 percent of total students.

In 2015, researchers at Duke University found that charter schools have increased the resegregation of public schools in the state.

The Accelerating Digital Equity Campaign launched in June 2020 with the goal of raising at least $1.5 million to address equity needs as the Durham school district shifted to a remote learning environment.