| A.L. Brown High School | |
|---|---|
| Location | |
| 415 Street Kannapolis, North Carolina, 28083 USA |
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| Information | |
| Type | Free public |
| Established | 1952 |
| School district | Kannapolis City Schools |
| Principal | Kevin Garay |
| Grades | 9–12 |
| Enrollment | 1350 |
| Campus type | Suburb |
| Color(s) | Kelly green, White |
| Nickname | Wonders |
| Rival | Concord High School |
| Website | http://www.kannapolis.k12.nc.us/ALBrown/index.html |
A.L. (Alfred Luther) Brown High School (also sometimes referred to as Kannapolis or simply Brown) is a comprehensive public high school in Kannapolis, North Carolina. It is the only high school in the Kannapolis City Schools district as well as the city of Kannapolis. As of the 2005/06 school year, the current enrollment is 1,350 students.
Brown was recognized by DPI as a "School of Distinction" under the state's ABC standards for public education for the 2003–2010 school years.
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During the expansion of the Cannon Mills Corporation during the 1920s, James William Cannon donated a piece of land just east of the town for a school. Centerview School was constructed in 1924, about the same time that the first Concord High School opened. Later in the early 1930s Centerview School was renamed J.W. Cannon High School, after the town's founder. A few years later Cannon High School was destroyed by a fire, then later rebuilt. In 1951 A.L. Brown High School was constructed southeast of J.W. Cannon and opened in the following year. Cannon High School then became J.W. Cannon Junior High School. In 1974, A.L. Brown was almost destroyed by a fire started in the attic; fearing auditorium damage, graduation was moved to the primary gymnasium. Then on January 10, 1982, James William Cannon Junior High School was completely destroyed by a fire.
Many additions have been built on to Brown and there is a separate vocational building as well as a free-standing gymnasium. During the 2006/07 school year, a newer gymnasium/PE facility opened on campus. These free-standing buildings give A. L. Brown its unique character. Instead of a traditional single building like most high schools, Brown has a small, college-like atmosphere with numerous buildings around a central courtyard. All of the buildings on the campus are built in the Colonial Williamsburg style of architecture. All of the buildings are brick with white trim, modeled after most of Kannapolis.
The $8.1 million, 50,000-square foot STEM ((Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) Academy, designed to resemble the nearby North Carolina Research Campus Core Lab, will hold its grand opening on September 25, 2011. The top two floors offer modern science labs, while the second floor will house communication classes. The basement has a health center and an international welcome center.[1]
A.L. Brown's athletics teams are known as the Wonders. The school is an AAA member of the North Carolina High School Athletic Association (NCHSAA) and competes in the South Piedmont Conference (SPC). The school sponsors interscholastic football, volleyball, tennis (boys and girls), cross country (boys and girls), basketball (boys and girls), wrestling, swimming (boys and girls), baseball, softball, golf, which the 2006 team won the SPC Conference for the first time in school history, track and field (boys and girls), indoor track and field (boys and girls), soccer (boys and girls), and most recently a lacrosse team. The Varsity football team won titles in 1989 and won another 3A State Championship in 1997. The dominant years of the late 90's featured a team with one All-American (Drew Maher) one D-1A player and one NFL practice squad player (Maher). The Varsity football team has posted 33 consecutive seasons at .500 or better. In the 2010-2011 football season the wonder varsity team posted a record of 13-2 making it to the 3rd round of the play-offs. the wonders were led by senior quarterback Martel Campbell. After a great junior year Campbell put up even better numbers his senior year. Campbell will be attending Davidson University in the fall. The A.L. Brown football team has 474 wins and 168 losses since 1952. Ron Massey is currently 108-30, a 78.7% winning percentage, into his 11th season in 2010. Mike Newsome was hired in 2011 from Butler High School.
They also host an NJROTC unit that is successful. In the last four years the Cross Country team has battled from the conference cellar to be a constant contender for the regional crown, finishing 2nd in the region in 2003 and 2004, those years they finished 7th and 6th in state, respectively. In 2007 the men's team finished 5th in the state championships. The team continues to grow strong and have developed to be a more competitive team. In 2010, the mens and women's track and field team were the SPC Conference champions and would later win the regional title, ultimately ending in 4th place at the NCHSAA 3A Track and Field Championships.
A long-running tradition, The Battle for the Bell is a football game between A.L. Brown and Concord High School. The teams play for a coveted railroad bell that was donated to the school in 1924; The game began in 1931. The Kannapolis/Concord game is the longest continuous high school football rivalry in the state of North Carolina. Concord leads the series at 39–37–4, but since 1975 Kannapolis has won 24 out of 36. At the end of each game,the losers of the game perform the traditional exchange of the bell which occurs at midfield. A week before the concord game A.L Brown will display the bell in the courtyard for all students to ring in spirit of the Wonders. The winning team paints the bell transom in their school colors for display during the entire school year. In the '08 season Kannapolis beat the Concord Spiders 56–6, the biggest defeat in the series. In 2009 Concord upset Kannapolis 10-13, possibly the biggest upset in the series history.
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