Durham Unified

The three schools in Durham Unified serve students from kindergarten through grade 12: Durham Elementary (K–5), Durham Intermediate (grades 6–8), and Durham High (grades 9–12). In 2025–2026, their average results were 61% in English language arts, 43% in math, and 47% in science. The averages exceeded state results by 11, 5, and 11 percentage points, respectively, making the clearest area-wide strength that the schools’ averages were above the state in all three subjects.

Which school leads depends on the subject: High had the strongest all-grades ELA result at 69%, compared with 58% at Intermediate and 55% at Elementary; Intermediate led in math at 50%, ahead of High at 41% and Elementary at 38%; and High led in science at 53%, followed by Intermediate at 48% and Elementary at 39%. Elementary’s overall results hide a notable fifth-grade concern: fifth graders scored 41% in ELA and 18% in math, respectively 8 and 18 points below state results for that grade. By contrast, Intermediate exceeded the state in ELA and math in each of grades 6–8, and High’s grade 11 results were above state results in all three reported subjects.

Results improved year over year at all three schools in most subjects, but Elementary science fell 6 percentage points, from 45% to 39%. High had the largest gains, rising 19 points in ELA, 13 in math, and 16 in science; Intermediate improved in all three. SchoolDigger’s 2025–2026 rankings placed High highest among the three at the 83rd percentile, followed by Intermediate at the 79th and Elementary at the 61st. High also had the lowest student-teacher ratio (16.4), but Intermediate led in math with a ratio of 19.1; Elementary’s ratio was 22.9. All three reported free/reduced lunch eligible figures for 2024–2025: 38% at Elementary, 39% at High, and 40% at Intermediate. These are observations about the schools, not explanations for their results.