Charles E. Jordan High School

Charles E. Jordan High School (generally referred to as Jordan) is located in Durham, North Carolina, United States. It is one of seven high schools in Durham Public Schools. It is located on Garrett Road near Hope Valley Road in southwest Durham. The school mascot is the falcon. Jordan students come from many local middle schools such as Shepard, Sherwood Githens, Lowe's Grove, Immaculata, and Rogers Herr. Jordan's enrollment was 1,979 as of the 2017–2018 school year. Students at Jordan come from a broad swathe of southern and western Durham, covering neighborhoods of varying socio economic backgrounds. The school is fairly balanced between African American and White students but has seen a rising number of Hispanic students due to the influx of native Spanish speakers in Durham's population. In 2005, Newsweek magazine ranked Jordan 192nd in its annual listing of top high schools in the United States. In 2007, Newsweek ranked Jordan as the 307th best high school in America. This study was based largely on the ratio of Advanced Placement or International Baccalaureate Tests taken to the number of graduating high school seniors. Jordan High School is also known for its Freshman Academy. The Freshman Academy is a comprehensive freshman transition program for all first time (or non repeating) 9th graders. Each freshman is assigned to a Freshman Academy "team," consisting of a counselor and four teachers and subjects: English, Honors Biology or Earth Science, World History, and Health & Physical Education. Each teaching team serves approximately 110–120 common students
The Academy was created as a response to a large number of freshman retentions as 100 to 150 freshmen were retained each year, at that time. A student could easily fall between the cracks when his/her stakeholders were not communicating regularly about the student’s progress. During the 2003–04 school year, the staff began researching freshman academies across the state and the country. It was determined that the teaming concept used widely at the middle school level had merit on many levels and was the most practical way to address many of our transition needs. During the 2004–05 academic year, a pilot program was introduced including 40% of the Freshman class hand selected for the program, expanding it full scale in 2005–06. Since then the freshman academy has led to a significant decrease in retentions and has attracted students from all across Durham.

Charles E. Jordan High School opened in 1963. At that time, the school belonged to the Durham County School System, along with Northern High School and Southern High School. The school was originally called Charles E. Jordan Junior Senior High School in its first year, due to how it contained grades 8 through 11. Now the school contains grades 9 through 12. During desegregation, there was less concern about Jordan High School, because it had been attended by more affluent families of all colors. Jordan High School once shared its building with Githens Junior High School (now called Githens Middle School), beginning in 1966. An interior gate on a hallway divided the two schools. Githens contained grades (7, 8 and 9). In 1988, a new stand alone Githens Junior High School building was completed at 4800 Chapel Hill Road. Jordan High School then took the entire building it currently occupies. During the 1980s, Jordan High School was the second largest high school in Durham County after Northern High School. In 2022, with over 2,000 students, Jordan High School is the largest in the system. A ten year plan calls for Jordan High School to be replaced, possibly on the current 99 acre site.