Charles E. Jordan High School 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 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. During the 2013/2014 school year only 38 out of 413 students were retained. Jordan has a rich tradition in athletics. The 2012/2013 athletic teams won seven conference championships. The school also has a nationally recognized men’s soccer program that has won 3 state titles.
History
The Charles E. Jordan High School education complex on Garrett Road opened in 1963. The high school at that time belonged to the Durham County School System along with Northern High School and Southern High School. Originally called Charles E. Jordan Junior-Senior High School, in its first year it contained grades 8 through 11. Now the school contains grades 9 through 12. During integration, There was less concern about Jordan High School because it had been attended by more affluent families of all colors. Githens Junior High School once shared buildings with Jordan High School beginning in 1966. An interior gate on a hall way divided the two schools. Githens contained grades. 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. Today Jordan High School rivals Riverside High School in size as one of the largest schools in Durham Public Schools.
