John W. Ligon High School was founded in 1953, replacing Washington Graded and High School as the only all blacksecondary 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. It was named after John William Ligon, an educator, local pastor and interim principal at Washington. The school's books were supplied secondhand from its white counterpart, Needham B. Broughton High School. 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. By the late 1960s it possessed a higher percentage of teachers with graduate degrees than any of Raleigh's three white schools.
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. In the late 1970s, officials considered closing the school, but this was met with opposition from alumni and Ligon continued to operate. 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. 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. In the early 2000s, the school underwent major renovations and expansions, including the construction of new hallways, a baseball field, and more classrooms.
Demographics
After the racial integration period, Ligon heavily promoted diversity, which is still part of its goal. As of 2007, there were 157 Asian students, 376 African-American students, 496 White students, and 17 Hispanic students. In addition, students' differences in income and class are shown by the 24% of the school which gets reduced price or free lunches. A large number of its NC state-identified Academically Gifted students go on to the Magnet William G. Enloe High School.
Admissions
In the 2008-09 school year, only 34% of applicants received admission.
Ligon has many extracurricular courses and electives. These include foreign languages, which include Spanish, German, French, Japanese, and American Sign Language. Ligon will be starting Chinese again starting with the 2013-2014 school year. 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. Unlike most middle schools, who only have ten or so electives, Ligon has about 300 electives. Students can take three electives per quarter, unless they are taking semester-long, or year-long electives.
Performing arts
Ligon offers multiple courses in 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. Mrs. Ruth A. Johnsen is the conductor of both orchestras, along with Apprentice Orchestra.
Extracurricular activities
Sports
Ligon's colors are blue and gold, and their teams are referred to as the Little Blues. Ligon's sports teams include:
Shantan Krovvidi went to the National Geography Bee after winning the North Carolina state competition. On 19 May 2009, Krovvidi qualified for the final round. On 20 May 2009, Krovvidi took third place in the final round.
