Durham Schools Awarded $11M Grant for Magnet Schools

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Durham Public Schools will get $11.4 million over five years from the U.S. Department of Education to support the district’s Growing Together plan.

The plan includes:

• Funding to strengthen the sustainability theme at Southern School of Energy and Sustainability, with an eye toward improving academic outcomes and boosting enrollment.
• Funding to support revising the magnet theme at The School for Creative Studies to more closely match Rogers-Herr as a regional year-round option. The goals here: Improve academic outcomes, raise enrollment, and reduce crowding at Neal Middle School.
• Strategic efforts to increase diversity among students and staff at all DPS Montessori schools.
• More specialized training for exceptional children’s (EC) teachers to make Montessori instruction more accessible for EC students in all Montessori schools.
• Funding to secure remaining training and materials to furnish all classrooms as Montessori classrooms at Little River Elementary.
• Funding to support transitioning Lucas Middle School to a Montessori school and to support collaboration with Lakewood Montessori Middle School.

“This grant is quite a boost to our overall efforts to promote and increase diversity and access across our district,” said DPS Superintendent Dr. Anthony Lewis. “With equity as our core value, it is crucial not only that we design and administer quality programming but ensure that all students, regardless of their residency, have access to the great schools that their parents and families choose for them.”

DPS also has been invited to apply during the 2025 grant cycle to secure funding for the International Baccalaureate (IB) programs at Shepherd Middle and Hillside High schools, and to support the district’s dual-language immersion magnet programs.