The merger in 1992 of the former Durham County School System and former Durham City School System created Durham Public Schools, which serves approximately 34,000 students. Within Durham Public Schools there are twelve high schools that range in size from 140 to approximately 2,000 students:
- Jordan High School, Northern High School, Riverside High School, Southern High School, and Hillside High School, are all comprehensive high schools. Hillside, renowned before integration as the Southeast’s most outstanding high school for African-American students, is the site of Durham’s International Baccalaureate Programme.
- Durham School of the Arts and the School for Creative Studies magnet are 6-12 school focusing on the arts.
- Specialty schools include: Hillside New Tech High School, City of Medicine Academy, Middle College High School at Durham Tech Community College, Southern School of Energy and Sustainability, J.D. Clement Early College High School, and Durham Performance Learning Center.