320 Maple St
Raleigh, NC 27610

Wouldn't recommend if you're low-income or minority. Most of my teachers were amazing. Truly better than a lot of my college professors. Still, there seems to be a "popular teachers click" that runs the school. All of their students are in dance, theatre, or student government, so they get all of the awards and credit that go to graduating seniors. Seems like the same people always get the same opportunities. Half of these are the teachers' favorites and the other half is the old money, preppy students who own houses on St. Mary's. These kids aren't overtly unfriendly, but if you don't fit into their circle, you're not getting in. Their friendships were formed before birth. The school seems to favor these kids subconsciously. Were they ever more qualified than others, or did they become more qualified than others because they were treated as such? A lot of them are big donors to the school, I'll put it that way. The boys in this group are the ones who make fun of kids with disabilities or who are minorities. They take in a few token friends as pets. If you eat at the cafeteria or take the bus, you're automatically typecast. Everyone who is popular ( on the homecoming court and qoh court) gets all the roles and all of the cred. They are seen as the only talented people in the school, more or less, and everyone else is discouraged from trying. The students mostly worship these kids, and if you dare acknowledge this issue, people will gaslight you. Nobody uses the term preppy or old money, but everyone knows exactly who they are. These kids come from insanely rich families, they have their well-to-do accent, and they wear the same clothes. Different races and economic statuses aren't friends, which is really sad. I feel like they don't really encourage low-income minorities to try very hard, and the school has an issue with racism. I think if you fit into this demographic, you'd be better off at another school that sees you as an individual. I like that the school offers an off-site internship class in your senior year. The history department is also fantastic. The IB program seems insanely high-pressure, and the school in general has a very competitive atmosphere. Still, there are a lot of truly caring teachers who don't judge you based on who your family is. The new principle does not seem to care about students and is aggressive. Some of the teachers are straight up coasting and there's a mix of hard classes and insanely easy classes.

I don't really get the complaints about AIG at this school. Both my kids are dual-identified and had positive experiences at Ligon overall (some teacher turnover-- endemic in a state that pays teachers so poorly, not just a Ligon problem). If your child excels in math, they will be in a high-level math class appropriate to their skill. Call it AIG or call it "math 3"-- it's the same thing; smart kids who are at the same aptitude. Both of my kids were in cohorts of AIG students in their other core classes even if not all kids were technically AIG. Kids are identified AIG in third grade (with a lot of Wake parents getting their kids privately tested to push them into the program). Creating exclusive classes that leave out other high-performing kids based on someone's skill at test taking as an eight year old flies in the face of equity and does a disservice to all kids. These exclusive programs created a school within a school at Ligon for years; I'm glad they've changed their model. Ligon also has truly amazing and well-resourced arts programs. If your child is at all interested in music, art, theater, or dance the programs are excellent.

I'm so thankful for this school. It is a small, close knit school and each year it just keeps getting better and better. The staff cares deeply about the children and families and the future success of the school.