| John W. Ligon GT Magnet Middle School | |
|---|---|
| Address | |
| 706 East Lenoir Street Raleigh, North Carolina, United States |
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| Information | |
| School type | Public (Magnet) |
| Founded | 1953 |
| Focus | Arts Academia Diversity |
| Principal | Gretta Dula |
| Vice principal | None Tina O'Neal Ronald Sharpe |
| Number of students | 1,095 |
| Schedule type | Seven 45-minute periods, with a 7-minute homeroom everyday before 1st period. |
| Hours in school day | 7:30am - 2:15pm |
| Information | 919.856.7929 |
| Degrees | |
| Website | ligon.wcpss.net |
John W. Ligon GT Magnet Middle School is a public magnet middle school in the Wake County Public School System located in the Chavis Heights neighborhood of Raleigh, North Carolina.
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Ligon was founded in 1954, right after the US Supreme Court's ruling on the landmark Brown vs. Board of Education, as an all African-American high school though it has since been integrated. In the 1980s, the school became a middle school. The school has undergone major renovations, including the building of new hallways, a baseball field, and more classrooms. [1]
After the racial integration period, Ligon heavily promoted diversity, which is still part of its goal. As of 2007, there were 157 Asian students (~15%), 376 African-American students (~36%), 496 White students (~47%), and 17 Hispanic students (~1%). In addition, students' differences in income and class are shown by the 24% of the school which gets reduced price or free lunches.[2]
In the 2008-09 school year, only 34% of applicants received admission.[3]
"To engage, educate and develop the gifts and talents of each child."
Ligon belongs to multiple school related organizations. Among them are:
In Wake County, Ligon is known for its wide variety of elective choices and extracurricular activities. A large number of its NC state-identified Academically Gifted students go on to Enloe High School, consistently ranked among the best high schools in the United States.
Students at Ligon are required to take a Math, Language Arts, Science, and Social Studies course each year, as well as two quarters of either a dance or physical education course. Students in the sixth grade are required to take Ligon Way, a course introducing students to middle school, and either Computer Skills or Keyboarding.
Ligon has many extracurricular courses and electives. These include foreign languages, which include Chinese, Spanish, German, French, Japanese, and American Sign Language, plus standard sports, e.g. Soccer, Basketball, and Tennis, and 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).[4]
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.
Ligon offers multiple courses in orchestra, band, dance, chorus, and acting. Two of Ligon's string orchestras, Silver Strings and Ligon Philharmonic, will perform in Carnegie Hall, New York City, NY this April. They will also be performing at Crabtree Valley Mall on Saturday April 9th. Silver Strings concertmaster is Gordon Ma and second chair is Rebecca Shen. Mrs. Ruth A. Johnsen is the conductor of both orchestras, along with Apprentice Orchestra.[4]
Ligon's mascot is the Little Blues, although some call them the Lynx.
Ligon's sports teams include:
Quidditch is a new afterschool sports club that has been added in the 2010-11 school year.
In the 2009-2010 season, Ligon's football team went undefeated.
Besides sports, Ligon has a wide variety of after-school clubs that meet regularly. They range from the Japanese anime club to the MathCounts club. These usually meet once a week, but it depends on the club. There is also VisPro (Visual Production / Computer Club) and Art Club meeting on Tuesday afternoons. In 2009-10, Ligon created the Chain Links club in response to Rachel's Challenge.
Shantan Krovvidi, ('10) went to the National Geography Bee after winning the North Carolina state competition. On 19 May 2009, Shantan qualified for the final round. On 20 May 2009, Shantan took third place in the final round, winning ten thousand dollars redeemable for college.[5]
Calvin Deng ('09) took home fourth place from the national math competition MathCounts. Ligon's Science Olympiad varsity team got second place (2011) at reigonals. They will compete in State competition.
Ligon also has a student council board, of 60 students, 20 per grade level. Ligon Student Council (LSC) organizes the school dances, helps teachers around the school, etc. This is a year-long elective that students may apply for.[4] At the end of each year, LSC has Student Body Executive Board Elections.
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