Celebrating 50 Years

Cannon Through the Last Half-Century

Smack dab in the middle of Union Street, steps away from the bustle of downtown Concord, sits a grand white house. It was built in 1905 in the Queen Anne style, spans nearly 10,000 square feet, and features distinct turrets and a dramatic cupola. 65 Union Street North once belonged to J.W. Cannon, founder of the Cannon Manufacturing Company—but back in 1968, it had been sitting vacant for years.

At that same time, a group of local parents had come together to discuss the possibility of opening a new school. There seemed to be enough interest, so the committee set their sights on a location. Jane Liles approached J.W. Cannon’s son, Charles, about the possibility of using the house on Union Street as the site for the school.

And the rest, as they say, is history.

4 | CANNON | Winter/Spring 2020 From our roots as Cabarrus Academy on Union Street to our current 65-acre campus on Poplar Tent Road, Cannon School has experienced change and growth few could have imagined back in 1969. Read on to learn about the timeline of the last fifty years.

1970

1969 Cabarrus Academy opens its doors at 65 Union Street North on September 10, 1969. There are 89 students enrolled in the school, and Herbert Buttrick is the Headmaster.

1971 The Cannon Foundation deeds the house at 65 Union Street North to the school following Charles Cannon’s death.

1972 The first Cabarrus Academy senior class graduates eleven students; welcomes second Headmaster John Hughes. 1975 Cabarrus Academy eliminates Upper School; Walter Blanchard is named third Headmaster. 1976 Kindergarten is added.

1986 The Board votes to drop seventh and eighth grades, making the Academy K-6. 1980

1984 Cabarrus Academy achieves its first accreditation.

1981 Charles Elbot is named as the Academy’s fourth Headmaster.

1994 The school moves from Union Street to its present site at the Craig Acres campus on Poplar Tent Road.

1988 Richard Snyder is named the fifth Headmaster.

1992 In the midst of growth, the school buys 65 acres for a future building site.

1990

1998 The school changes its name from Cabarrus Academy to Cannon School and welcomes Upper School students for the first time in decades.

2000

2008 Cannon is invited to join the Charlotte Independent Schools Athletic Association; adopts “Go Beyond” as its motto.

2006 Matthew Gossage is named Cannon’s sixth Head of School

2005 The Outback is built.

2002 Cannon graduates its first senior class, consisting of fourteen students.

2007 Cannon adopts the educational philosophy of “Adaptive Expertise.”

2010

2018 Doors open to the new Middle School addition and The Mill @ Cannon thanks to the $4.8 million Imagine Tomorrow Campaign.

2014 Construction is completed on the Cindric Performing Arts Center, Andrews Strength and Conditioning Center, the Randy Marion Family Field House, Bryant Central Green, and enhanced coaches’ offices and locker spaces—all part of the Building Bright Futures Campaign, which raised more than $7.4 million.

2019 Cannon School welcomes seventh Head of School Christopher Jones and celebrates a half century of growth and progress.