Ligon Middle School (North Carolina)

High school

The groundbreaking ceremony for John W. Ligon High School was held in November 1951.^[2] The school opened in 1953, replacing Washington Graded and High School as the only all black secondary education institution in Raleigh, North Carolina. The overall building costs amounted to $1 million, making it the largest school construction project in the state at the time.^[3] It was named after John William Ligon, an educator, local pastor and interim principal at Washington.^[4][5] The school's books were supplied secondhand from its white counterpart, Broughton High School.^[6] Ligon was seen as model for black education throughout the state, attracting a large number of students and an educated teaching staff from the local black colleges.^[7] By the late 1960s it possessed a higher percentage of teachers with graduate degrees than any of Raleigh's three white schools.^[8]

Middle school

Ligon served as the city's only black high school until 1971, when it was desegregated and subsequently converted into a junior high school.^[9] In the late 1970s, officials considered closing the school, but this was met with opposition from alumni and Ligon continued to operate.^[6] In 1982, Ligon was formally consolidated into the new Wake County Public School System and became involved in the Magnet Program. The Crosby-Garfield school in Raleigh merged into Ligon at the same time.^[10] Between 1994 and 1995, computers and laserdisc players were installed in many of the school's classrooms. 360 students were educated on the use of ClarisWorks, HyperStudio, and MacGlobe software. Teachers were trained in the areas of data management, email, and multimedia.^[11] In the early 2000s, the school underwent major renovations and expansions, including the construction of new hallways, a baseball field, and additional classrooms.^[12]

Future

At a school board meeting on December 16, 2025, three options were presented for the school's future. Option 1, renovating the building, would cost $102.3 million and take more than four years, with students moved to mobile classrooms on the campus. A disadvantage was that the magnet program would be disrupted. Also, the school would still be small and have traffic problems. Option 2, rebuilding in a new location, would cost $148 million and take more than 4 years. Option 3, a new building on the current athletic fields and tearing the old building down, would cost $121.8 million and take less than 4 years. Alumni oppose this option even though much of the original building is gone already.^[13]

Admissions

In the 2008–09 school year, only 34% of applicants received admission.^[15]

Electives

Ligon has many extracurricular courses and electives. These include foreign languages, which include Spanish, German, French, Japanese, Chinese, and American Sign Language. Ligon also offers courses in physical education. These would include, Archery, Tennis 1, Tennis 2, Basketball 1, Basketball 2, Basketball 3, Racket Sports, Sports Variety, Golf, Soccer 1, Soccer 2, and Fencing. Ligon also has electives that can be as specific as Flash software and Visual Basic programming. Many electives involve students in running the school, such as technical theater, yearbook, and LTV (Ligon Television).^[16]

Performing arts

Ligon offers multiple courses in piano, orchestra, band, dance, chorus, and acting.

Two of Ligon's string orchestras, Silver Strings and Ligon Philharmonic, performed in Carnegie Hall, New York City, NY.^[16]

Sports

Ligon's colors are blue and gold, and their teams are referred to as the Little Blues.^[3]

Ligon's sports teams include:

• Volleyball
• Softball
• Football
• Men's and Women's Soccer
• Men's and Women's Basketball
• Track and Field
• Cheerleading