March Alumni of the Month: Danielle Purifoy

DPSF’s March DPS Alumni of the Month is Danielle Purifoy, JD, Ph.D.! A proud graduate of Northern High School, Danielle’s journey through Durham Public Schools also included Holt Elementary, Hillandale Elementary, and Carrington Middle School. Today, she is an assistant professor of Geography and Environment at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a faculty project lead for the UNC Environmental Justice Action Research Clinic.

Danielle credits her time in DPS with shaping her deep commitment to public resources, education, and community investment. She reflects on the impact of dedicated teachers who instilled in her a love of learning and critical thinking. The diversity of her school community and the opportunities she had helped set the foundation for her interdisciplinary work in geography, law, and environmental justice.

Danielle’s advice to current DPS students: “Trust yourselves enough to follow your own curiosities. You don’t need to set anything in stone for your life, especially right now. Feel free to experiment, try new things, learn new skills. Be adventurous!”

Read our full interview with Danielle below!

DPSF: Tell us about you - what DPS schools did you attend? What are you doing now?

Danielle: I attended Holt Elementary from grades 1-4, and then Hillandale Elementary for 5th grade. I also attended Carrington Middle School and Northern High School. 

Today I am a licensed attorney and a professor at UNC Chapel Hill Department of Geography and Environment. I also write essays and articles for various media outlets whenever possible. 

DPSF: What does DPS or your school community mean to you? How has it helped shape you into who you are today? 
Danielle: DPS was formative for me. I attended school right when Durham City and County schools merged, and in hindsight, it was a critical era for the school system. It was a time when there was still enough investment in career teachers and less turnover in the classroom. We really need to support our public school teachers! I was so fortunate to learn from several people who had devoted 20-30+ years to teaching, and they were passionate about it. The student body was vast and diverse across class, race, ethnicity. I think the way DPS shaped me the most was by instilling in me the importance of investing in public, readily accessible resources, from libraries and schools to parks and trails. We can't have an educated, well-governed, and free society without them.  

DPSF: What’s your favorite memory from your time at DPS?

Danielle: There are too many to name just one, so I'll give you one from each school level. 
At Holt, we had a Black History Month play in 3rd grade, where we had to cosplay as a historic Black figure. I was one of Aretha Franklin's background singers, and we performed "Respect." 

At Carrington, it had to be those many Saturday mornings we spent traveling to Saturday Academy for STEM workshops at UNC Chapel Hill. This was part of the Math Science Education Network (MSEN) pre-college program. We would play games and sing on the bus. 

At Northern, it was the late nights our editorial team spent every month doing the layout and final edits to the school paper, The Round Table. 

DPSF: Is there a teacher who influenced you most along the way? What's their name and how did they make a difference? 

Danielle: I can't name just one teacher, because there were several who made an impact. But I'll give you two. 

Anne Gregory's second grade class, and the way she taught us to teach each other math. One of us would complete a math problem on the board, and if they got it wrong, she would have the class come up with the correction. As a teacher now, I recognize how generous she was. Her method uplifted us all because everyone could contribute, and everyone knew that we were there for them if they made an error. 

Nancy Duffner taught me 10th grade English and was my faculty advisor and teacher for the school newspaper, The Round Table, from 10-12th grades. She was one of the biggest influences on my life in high school. We learned literatures from across the world, and she taught us how to be good writers and readers. When 9/11 happened, she gave us space to process the moment as people, and as journalists. We were able to be supportive to each other as many students at our school were targeted for harassment in the aftermath. We were given the opportunity to observe the news coverage and to ask questions about how the event was being discussed in public. Our editorial team from our senior year is still in touch with each other, and with Ms. Duffner. 

DPSF: What’s one piece of advice you would give to current DPS students?
Danielle: Trust yourselves enough to follow your own curiosities. You don’t need to set anything in stone for your life, especially right now. Feel free to experiment, try new things, learn new skills. Be adventurous! 

Are you interested in becoming a DPS Alumni of the Month? Find more information here: https://www.bullcityschools.org/alumni