Riverside High

Riverside High is one of the high-enrollment secondary schools in Durham, North Carolina, one of the schools within Durham Public Schools, with 1,900 students on its rolls from grades 9 through 12. That puts it 150% above the typical public school in North Carolina, which averages around 761 students.

Across the 55 schools in Durham Public Schools (31,797 students total), Riverside High accounts for its share of the district's footprint.

On the student-mix side, Riverside High logs that 38% of students identify as Hispanic, with the remaining enrollment distributed across several groups. Beyond that, the school lists 28% Black, 26% White, 5% multiracial, 3% Asian. By comparison, Durham County as a whole is about 16% Hispanic, so the school skews noticeably more Hispanic than its surroundings.

In terms of school funding signals, Riverside High reports 94 full-time-equivalent teachers, putting the student-to-teacher ratio at about 20.3:1. That figure is higher than the state norm's 19.6:1 average. An estimated 100% of students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, which schools and policymakers use as a rough income-mix signal.

Adjusting for the school's free-and-reduced-lunch share, Riverside High tracks the demographic baseline. The model predicts 48.4% given the school's FRL share; actual proficiency is 34.2%.

Around the school, census data for Durham County shows median household earnings sit near $82,316, roughly 55% of adults have completed at least a four-year degree, and census figures put the poverty rate at about 8%. Riverside High is one of 74 public schools in Durham County (combined enrollment of about 46,109 students).

The closest other public school is Hillandale Elementary, roughly 1.3 miles away. Counting just inside five miles, 8 other public schools cluster around Riverside High. Ranking that nearby cluster on reported proficiency puts Riverside High at 7th of 8; the average score across the group is 50.7%.

The campus sits in a metropolitan setting.

Five-year trend. Over the past 7-year window, the student count expanded 4%: 1,826 students in 2018 compared to 1,900 in 2025. Black enrollment moved from 40% to 28% across the same window. The student-to-teacher ratio widened from 17.3:1 in 2018 to 20.3:1 today.

On allk12, posts here usually surface around fundraisers, lost-and-found posts, and report-card season. Anyone with firsthand experience at this school can post or comment.