Best Public Schools in Zip Code 27709

Zip code 27709 in Durham, North Carolina, is home to just one school—Durham Early College of Health Sciences—a high school serving grades 9 through 12, so for parents in this area the entire educational landscape centers on this single specialized early college institution within Durham Public Schools.

Durham Early College of Health Sciences is an academically strong school that consistently beats district and state averages in every tested subject. In 2025–2026, its Biology proficiency rate was 81.8%, compared to 58.5% statewide; English II reached 69.8% versus 64.6% statewide; and Math I came in at 50.0%, still above the state’s 42.1%. The most striking result is Math III, where a perfect 100% of tested students scored proficient—an extraordinary figure next to the state’s 68.9%. Even the year before, Math III proficiency was 85.3%, well above the norm. The school earned 3 stars from SchoolDigger and ranked 211th out of 662 North Carolina high schools, placing it in the 68th percentile. That is a strong position, though it marks a noteworthy decline from 2021–2022, when the school earned 5 stars and ranked 27th out of 621 high schools, reaching the 96th percentile.

Parents should know that this school serves an exceptionally high-need population—98.17% of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch—yet still produces impressive outcomes. The health sciences focus and early college model likely attract motivated students and provide extra support, which may explain the strong proficiency rates even with a relatively high student-to-teacher ratio of 23.4 to 1. While academic performance is robust across most subjects, Math I is the weakest area, and English II’s edge over the state is thinner than in other subjects. Since there is only one school in this zip code, there are no local schools to compare it against, so these results should be viewed as an in-depth profile of a single specialized school rather than a snapshot of a diverse educational community. Despite the ranking drop since 2021, Durham Early College of Health Sciences remains above the statewide median in every tested subject and represents a compelling option for families in the area.