Durham Public Schools showed considerable growth overall in academic performance in 2024-2025, but graduation rates declined, according to new state data released by the school system.
Last school year, 80.4% of DPS students graduated in four years, less than in the previous three years, and less than the state average of 87.7%.
Yet overall, Durham schools appear to be recovering from the adverse educational impacts of the pandemic.
Every year, North Carolina assigns performance grades ranging from A through F to public schools across the state. The grade is based on two components: achievement scores (80%) and growth scores (20%). Schools with overall grades of D or F are considered “low-performing.”
The number of Durham schools earning an A grade is moving closer to pre-pandemic levels. This year, 7.4 percent of Durham schools met that standard, similar to the statewide proportion of 7.6%.
Prior to the pandemic, up to a tenth of the district’s schools earned an A grade; post-pandemic, in 2023, that proportion sank to 3.8%.
DPS also reported three fewer low-performing district schools.
In 2025, 56.6% of Durham schools earned an A, B, or C rating, according to a news release from the school district. That’s an improvement from the low of 2021-22, when just 47.1% of Durham schools met that standard. But it’s still less than pre-pandemic levels and the state’s overall performance of 68.5%. It’s also less than in 2023, when 63.4% of Durham schools earned that rating.
In the area of academic growth — versus one-time scores — the district made significant strides.
Now, 15 Durham schools rank in the top fifth for academic growth among N.C. schools. Students made gains in math and other end-of-course proficiency tests compared with past years, and reading proficiency results were up in grades three through eight. The data also showed a 7.9 percent point increase in progress for English learners — students for whom English is not the first language.
The vast majority of the district’s 57 schools — 47 schools, or 88.9% of participating schools — met or exceeded DPS standards for year-to-year academic growth, the highest rate since the 2018-19 school year. Three schools — Lakeview School, Performance Learning Center, and Hospital School — did not participate in the data collection.
“I am proud of the progress that we continue to make,” Superintendent Anthony Lewis said in the news release, “…and grateful to the parents and community who place their trust in our ability to provide an education that is preparing them for life beyond graduation.”
