Cannon School is made up of three separate "divisions":
Lower School: Junior Kindergarten-Grade 4
Middle School: Grades 5-8
Upper School: Grades 9-12
Campus facilities feature approximately sixty classrooms, two media centers, a multipurpose auditorium, a lecture hall, four computer labs and a technology center, four music suites, three art studios with a dark room and pottery area, six science labs, a full-service dining center, a dance studio, and two gymnasiums. Recent additions include an enlarged Upper School building with eighteen new classrooms, science labs, an arts wing, enhanced sports facilities that include a new track and athletic field with stadium lights, and a new entrance. Cannon School has developed a sister school exchange program with Tianli International School of Luzhou, Sichuan, China. Each year, since 2004, local families host Chinese students and teachers in their homes during week-long visits to Cannon School and other points of interest around the Carolinas. More than fifty percent of Cannon students live in the Lake Norman area while one in five come to Cannon from Charlotte, Kannapolis, and Salisbury; one-quarter live in Concord. Cannon’s nineteen buses cover four counties with pick-up points in the Concord, Davidson, Huntersville, Mooresville, University City, and Salisbury areas. Buses stop in The Point, The Peninsula, Greenfarm, River Run, Skybrook, Highland Creek, North Stone, and numerous other neighborhoods.
History
Cannon School was founded in 1969 as Cabarrus Academy. The school was located in the historic downtown Concord residence of local textile entrepreneur J.W. Cannon. In 1970, the IRS found that the school had a non-discriminatory admissions policy and was thus eligible for tax-exempt status. In 1994 the school relocated to its current campus in the northwestern corner of Cabarrus county, and in 1998 the Cabarrus Academy was renamed Cannon School. Originally a school for junior kindergarten through eighth grade, Cannon expanded throughout the 1990s and graduated its first senior class in 2002. Cannon School instituted an enrollment model in November 2006 that capped overall student enrollment at less than 1,000, but expanded the middle school and upper school.
Academics
Cannon School offers small class sizes with a 9:1 student/teacher ratio. More than half of Cannon School's ninety-five full-time faculty members hold master's or doctoral degrees. In 2009, 386 Advanced Placement exams were administered. The average combined SAT score of Cannon students between 2002 and 2008 is 1340, more than 200 points higher than Charlotte-Mecklenburg and Cabarrus public schools, as well as above the state and national average scores. Cannon students averaged above the 90th percentile in every category on the national Education Records Bureau standardized test for students in grades one through eight. Cannon School offers Mandarin Chinese classes in the Middle School and Upper School. The school provides before and after-school enrichment programs.
Technology
Teachers at every grade level engage in interactive instruction through use of iPad and iPad 2s, video, audio, multi-media, graphics, SMART Boards, or computer lab equipment. Middle Schoolers in the seventh and eighth grade have the opportunity to do the majority of their work on iPads which makes communicating between students and teachers a lot easier. Cannon's wireless laptop environment enables Upper School students to learn and communicate 24/7 on laptops provided by the School. In addition to computer labs, every Lower School and Middle School classroom has Internet access. The Upper School Library provides access to electronic research databases.
Arts
Junior Kindergarten-Grade 4 students receive extensive art and music instruction by full-time instructors in large, light-filled studios. Students in Grades 5-12 can choose from 11 choral and instrumental groups, and numerous visual arts, drama, and dance class offerings.
Athletics
The Cannon School athletic program fields more than thirty sports teams in the Middle and Upper Schools, including 18 varsity teams. Teams compete in football, soccer, tennis, basketball, swimming, track and field, cross country, lacrosse, golf, baseball, softball, cheerleading, and volleyball. Cannon's sports teams are known as the Cougars - their colors are maroon and gold. Cannon School began fielding Middle School and junior varsity football teams beginning in the 2008-09 school year and a varsity team in 2009-10. The Cannon School Cougars compete in the 3A division of the N.C. Independent School Athletic Association, and is currently a member of the Charlotte Independent Schools Athletic Association, along with Charlotte Christian School, Charlotte Country Day School, Charlotte Latin School, and Providence Day School. Though their opponents are predominantly other independent schools, Cannon occasionally schedules games with nearby public high schools. State champions 2001–2011 in basketball, cross country, tennis, softball, swimming, golf, and track and field ; four-time Wachovia Cup winner; individual recognition of students and coaches including Wendy’s High School Heisman nominations and All-Area recognition by the Charlotte Observer.
