Hillside High’s Dr. Logan named Durham’s Principal of the Year. It’s his 2nd time.
The principal of Hillside High School, which this year is celebrating 100 years of educating Durham’s children, has been named the Durham Public Schools’ 2023 Principal of the Year.
William Logan — Dr. Logan, as the kids call him — said he finds joy and purpose in teaching young people how to navigate the world.
“My favorite part of the job is watching people grow and learn and become who they’re becoming,” Logan said in an interview inside his office, balloons from Monday’s celebration floating behind him.
It’s Logan’s second time winning the award during his 19 years at Hillside.
He first won the title for the 2014 school year. In the near decade since, Logan said, he has gained a deeper sense of what it takes to be an effective leader.
“Much older, much wiser,” he said with a smile. “I thought I knew a lot then.”
Superintendent Pascal Mubenga called Logan a “visionary.”
“Under his leadership, Hillside was a 2020 Magnet School of Distinction, and he continues to improve outcomes for his students innovatively and resourcefully. He is a champion-maker, and he champions all students,” Mubenga said in a news release.
Alysia Davis, a senior, said being a student at Hillside is fun and supportive.
“It’s just a different environment over here than any other high school, like we have sororities and fraternities. We have all these different clubs. We have a great theater program. Our arts program is amazing,” she said. “So I feel like being a student here really gives you the opportunity to be anybody that you want to be. There’s a community for you regardless.”
Biology teacher Dominique Washington said Logan recruited her five years ago and has helped her grow as an educator.
“He picked me up as a baby, straight out of college. I’d just graduated a month prior,” Washington said. “Ever since then, there have always been programs and things to grow the staff and students here, and I feel like I’m on a wonderful journey.”
“I’m really intentional about that,” Logan said. “Tapping people for opportunities where I know they can thrive.”
Logan, who is from South Carolina, has been in administration at Hillside since 2004. His career as an educator stretches back 25 years.
“I have loved it. I still love it. And I think I’ll continue to love it largely because of the impact that it has on our society,” Logan said.
‘We coach and prod and push’
Hillside has consistently had graduation rates above DPS averages during Logan’s tenure, according to statistics released annually. The school’s students typically achieve about 77% college acceptance rates, Logan said.
And then, there’s the scholarships, with annual totals in the millions. Over the past decade, Logan said students have earned more than $100 million in scholarships.
“We’ve actually created a culture around the whole idea of students competing for scholarships, and so it has gotten to a point now where each class wants to outperform the previous class,” Logan said.
Parents are into it too, he said.
“There’s so many dollars out there and so many opportunities. We just want our students to take advantage of them and so we coach and prod and push,” Logan said. “Because they’re teenagers and children and you know, that’s not always the first thing on their minds, but that’s why we’re here as adults: to make sure that we’re reminding them of their priorities.”
“I remember seeing on social media, the class last year, they were like, ‘Oh we got $20 million.’ I was like OK, by the end of the year, we’ll beat you,” Davis said, laughing. “So we’re all striving to get there.”
The class of 2023 has already exceeded $14 million, she said. Davis, who’s tied for third in her class, said she’s hoping to study computer science at Duke University or the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
“I think it’s just nice that going to Hillside, you know that there’s people that you can reach out to. There’s connections that you can make for yourself,” Davis said. “Somebody went to Duke last year. People go to schools like Howard and Spelman.”
COVID has proven difficult, Logan acknowledged.
“I think it’s just important that we meet students where they are,” Logan said. “Ultimately, we want them to understand how to learn... Because those are going to be the things that help you to overcome.”
100 years and counting
Hillside was one of 300 historically Black high schools in North Carolina when it was built in the last century. Only five of those schools remain open and Hillside is the oldest, according to DPS.
The school’s student body is over 96% Black, Hispanic and mixed race today.
The first Hillside was built on a hill about three miles north, where Umstead and Roxboro streets meet. The school moved into its current building on Fayetteville Street in 1995.
DPS says the name comes from its original location, beside what was then the city’s Black park, Hillside Park, and from the land donor, John Sprunt Hill. Hill was a lawyer and banker whose early 20th century philanthropy was pivotal for both Durham and Chapel Hill, according to historians.
“It’s definitely rich in history,” Washington said of the school. “The strides that we’ve made, everything that we’ve overcome. Beautiful. Amazing.”
Highlights from Logan’s tenure include:
Creation of an on-campus bank to support financial literacy
90% promotion rate among Freshman Academy students
Increased enrollment in International Baccalaureate and Advanced Placement courses
AVID School of Distinction recognition
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