Southern High School - Durham, North Carolina/NC

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Southern High School

800 Clayton Road, Durham, NC, 27703-2606 -

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tel: (919)560-3968

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Definition of Terms

Southern High School

School Level

High school

Grades Offered

Grades 9 - 12

County

Durham County, NC

Students & Faculty

Total Students

1574 students

% Male / % Female

49% / 51%

Total Classroom Teachers

95 teachers

Students by Grade

Grade 9 - 560 students

Grade 10 - 438 students

Grade 11 - 308 students

Grade 12 - 268 students

This School

(NC) School Average

Teacher : Student Ratio

1:17

1:16

Students by Ethnicity

This School

(NC) School Average

% American Indian	n/a	1%
% Asian	n/a	2%
% Hispanic	10%	5%
% Black	76%	31%
% White	14%	59%

Additional Student Information

This School

(NC) School Average

% Eligible for Free Lunch

29%

27%

% Eligible for Reduced Lunch

% Migrant Students Enrolled

n/a

n/a

(NC) Statewide Testing Performance

School Statewide Performance

View Education Department Test Scores

School District Name

Durham Public s School District

This School's Agency

(NC) District Average

Number of Schools Managed	46	12
Number of Students Managed	31,893 students	6,210 students
District Total Revenue	$287,793,000	$47,973,000
District Expenditure	$292,801,000	$45,994,000
District Revenue / Student	$9,024	$7,725
District Expenditure / Student	$9,181	$7,406
District Graduation Rates	73%	74%

Teaching art, retail acumen (The News & Observer)
posted on September 15, 2009 at 06:01:52 am
When Tony Johnson strolled into the SeeSaw Studio on Geer Street on Monday morning, it was with the laconic gait of your typical 18-year-old. Asked what he'd been doing since graduating from Southern High School in June, he mumbled, "Living life."
Some schools watch Obama speech (The News & Observer)
posted on September 9, 2009 at 09:03:41 am
Many Triangle schools were cautious about airing President Barack Obama's education speech Tuesday, requiring written parental permission for students to watch a taped version later this week.
News Release (HQ): Administrator Jackson to Visit North Carolina for "My Education, My Future" Event (The Auto Channel)
posted on September 9, 2009 at 04:37:17 am
*CONTACT:* EPA Press Office press@epa.gov 202-564-6794 *FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE* September 3, 2009 *Administrator Jackson to Visit North Carolina for "My Education, My Future" Event ** WASHINGTON - *EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson will visit Durham, North Carolina's Southern High School on Tuesday, September 8 for a "My Education, My Future" event.
Durham school watches speech with top Obama official (News 14 Carolina)
posted on September 8, 2009 at 10:01:57 pm
DURHAM â€“ A Triangle high school played host to a special guest Tuesday during President Barack Obama's speech to the nation's students. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson was on hand at Southern High School in Durham to answer questions after the address.
Obama tells students to take responsibility (WRAL.com Raleigh)
posted on September 8, 2009 at 08:44:20 pm
Take responsibility for your education. Go to class and listen. Don't let failures define you. That's the advice President Barack Obama gave schoolchildren Tuesday.

View all past news stories

Southern High School is located in Durham, North Carolina, USA. Southern is a 4A school in the North Carolina School District. Southern has prominent football, baseball, and basketball programs as well as the Symphonic Soul of the South Marching Band. There are currently 1574 students. Southern is academically, one of the lower performing schools in Durham. The state has threatened to close the school on account of its test scores, which are below 55%.
Southern has recently been going through a point where they have a lack of teachers. As a result, professors from North Carolina Central University (NCCU) have been brought in to fill the teaching vacancies. It is speculated that Southern is having a hard time recruiting teachers because of its reputation as a poor school. NFL quarterback David Garrard went to Southern.
History
Hope Valley School was constructed in 1927 to house grades 1 through 11 and was the first public educational facility in Southwest Durham County. Structural changes and additions were made to the Hope Valley School facility in 1941 and 1952.
Hope Valley School was subsequently downgraded to an elementary school with the opening of the then new Southern High School in the Fall of 1956.
The NAACP sued the Durham County Schools for integration of the schools. The Durham County School Board had an integration plan accepted by the Federal District Court in Greensboro in 1968 stating that all high schools and junior high schools would be integrated in the fall of 1969. Due to space limitations and the need to purchase mobile units to accomplish integration at the elementary school level, the Federal District Judge in Greensboro gave a year delay for the integration of the elementary schools.
The principals of Durham County's high schools were all employed during legal segregation. A lot of discussion took place by whites and African Americans in the Durham community about how successful the process of integration would be in Durham County. Many knew there would be problems at Southern High School, because the Southern High School mascot was the Rebel, and the high school used the rebel flag (later changed to the Spartan). The principal at Southern High School during this time was Sidney Ray.
There was less concern about integration at the Durham County School System's Jordan High School because this high school had been attended by Durham's more affluent families, both black and white.
Northern High School was at the opposite end of the spectrum having one of the most rigid principals in the Durham County School System and was the site of one of the reported problems.
After integration Southern High School was a majority white enrolled high school through the 1980s. Today the school is majority African American enrolled.
The school was moved to the current location in 1993 when the construction of the pharmaceutical company then called Glaxo Wellcome Inc (now called GlaxoSmithKline). built a new building near Research Triangle Park on the site of Southern High School.
Notes
External Sources
Southern High School's Official Website

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