Central Cabarrus High School

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Central Cabarrus High School

Established	1966
School type	public school
Principal	Robert Marshall
Location	Concord, N.C.
Enrollment	1,800
Athletic Conference	ME-CA 7 4A
Colors	Forest green, gold
Nickname	Vikings
Rival Schools	Jay M. Robinson, Northwest Cabarrus, Mount Pleasant
Homepage	Official Site

Central Cabarrus High School, commonly referred to locally as Central, is a comprehensive public high school located in Concord, North Carolina. With an enrollment of approximately 1,850 students, it is the largest high school in the Cabarrus County Schools system. It opened, along with Northwest Cabarrus High School, in 1966.

1 School History
2 Academics
3 Athletics
4 Notable Alumni
5 Principals

[edit] School History

Central Cabarrus High School was formed by joining three area high schools: Bethel, Harrisburg, and Hartsell. In its beginning, Central was home to 850 students and 45 teachers. The focal point of the new school was the C.A. Furr Planetarium, the only school planetarium in the state of North Carolina. Central boasted a space age classroom during a space enthralled time.

Mr. M.L. Barnes, for whom the theatre is named, was the first principal of Central Cabarrus. At the time, Jay M. Robinson was the superintendent of Cabarrus County Schools and Joseph N. Fries, the assistant superintendent. Inaugural coaches and long-time Central staff included head football coach, Lloyd Jordan, basketball coaches, Earl Mason and Georgia Roberson, and track coach, Gary Drinnen.

Born in Central's first year of operation were publications, The Centarune, the school yearbook, and The Norlande, the school newspaper. The paper was revived for the printing of the first issue in many years in 2006 by a group of students. Mr. Euell Gary Brady served as the first librarian with 8000 books and 125 periodicals. "Dear Ruth," Central's first theatrical production was directed by Mrs. Marjorie Hudson. Director Neil Wilson led the first band which consisted of 40 members, and Mr. David Stantz was the first chorus teacher.

On October 31, 2006 the school's greenhouse was burned down. The cause was arson and the person responsible has been caught. A few surrounding campus buildings were also destroyed.

The theater department, under direction of Thomas Bradley, recently performed the musical Hello, Dolly! and received great reviews, gaining much attention by the press, including being the front cover of the newspaper Independent Tribune.

[edit] Academics

Central's academic curriculum falls in line with the North Carolina Standard Course of Study in all core subject areas. The school also offers a variety of Advanced Placement courses.

Central has been consistently recognized as a "School of Distinction" under the state's ABC standards for public schools.

[edit] Athletics

Central's athletic teams are known as the Vikings. The school is in the 4A classification of the North Carolina High School Athletic Association and competes in the ME-CA 7 Conference ("ME-CA" stands for Mecklenburg and Cabarrus, the two counties represented in the league). The school sponsors boys' cross country, football, soccer, basketball, swimming, wrestling, baseball, golf, track and field, and tennis; and girls' cross country, soccer, volleyball, basketball, swimming, softball, tennis, track and field, and cheerleading.

Central Cabarrus primarily has three rivals consisting of J.M. Robinson, Mt. Pleasant, and Hickory Ridge. Central Cabarrus having contributed 800 of the 1000 students to Hickory Ridge.

Central has arguably the most successful athletic program of the five high schools in Cabarrus County. Most visible of all athletic programs is the school's softball team, which has won five state championships (3A classification in 1993, 2000, and 2001; 4A classification in 2004 and 2005). A May 2006 loss to North Davidson in the 4A softball playoffs broke the Lady Vikings' win streak of 83 games. The 2006 season ended with the softball team ranked 2nd in the nation after several weeks at the number one spot according to the NFCA poll. In addition to softball, Central's boys basketball team has reared numerous college prospects and won the 3A state championship in 2000. The men's tennis team has gone from not having a team in 2003 to making the state playoffs in 2004, 2005, 2006, and 2007. They also had a doubles team in the State Chanpionship each of those years (2004: Shoaf/Keller; 2005, 2006, 2007: Warber/Warber). The girls tennis team won the MECA-6 conference in the fall of 2006 and made the state palyoffs for the second year in a row. The baseball program has made the state playoffs the last ten years. The volleyball team has also consistently made the state playoffs each year. The cheerleading squad, which is co-ed, has won numerous State and National Championships.