History of Shankletown School
Submitted by Alice Stewart
Shankletown School, like many other rural schools, had it's beginning
prior to 1913 in the section of Concord
known as Shankletown. The building was composed of a single room and the
school was serviced by one teacher.
This arrangement was sufficient at that time for the enrollment of the school.
At this time all students attending school
walked daily to and from the school with no child having too far a distance
to walk.
The Shankletown area proved a growing one and before many years
a more desirable location was sought and a new
one room school was built. As the years passed and the demand made itself
evident, additional rooms were added
until the final structure contained a total of five rooms. These rooms
served approximately one hundred and fifty
children.
During the last years of the existence of the Old Shankletown
School, consolidation was being considered as a means
of improving the educational facilities for the Negro youth of the county and
in the meanwhile eliminate the one room
schools scattered throughout the county. The site selected was adjacent
to the old site and a new building was begun.
This building consisted of six classrooms and an auditorium. The structure
was the modern in the county and the state
at that time. This building, along with the old building, served the Shankletown
area with other areas being added.
The areas were: Silverdale, Moorehead, Pleasant Grove No 2, Bethpage and
Mountain View.
With this influx of students, an overcrowded condition existed
and the wooden structure was kept in use. The need for
additional space was acutely felt and during the latter part of the 1949 school
year, six additional rooms were added.
Four of these rooms were for grades one and two. These four rooms boasted
of drinking fountains and lavatories in
each.
The physical plant consisted of two buildings with a total of
seventeen classrooms. During the previous school year,
the Mount Pleasant school burned to the ground. This school was brought
to Shankletown for the 1950-51 year
term. Schools added were: Bell's Mission, Oak Grove, Harrisburg,
Benton and Drye. In addition to these schools
came the eighth graders from: Rock Hill, Bell Fonte, Cedar Grove No. 10,
and Ebenezer.
This school served the entire county with the exception of Logan and Craver
Schools. This was accomplished with the
aid of eight buses which averaged 419 miles a day.
During the first three years of it's existence, the school attainted the following:
A faculty of nineteen; each teacher with an "A" certificate;
two Master's degrees with two near completion; a total
enrollment of 664; the first approved State Operated Lunchroom for Negroes in
the county; the only State Approved
Negro Elementary School in the county.
Shankletown School served the county well under prepared and energetic
teachers until the onset of integration when
Shankletown closed it's doors and saddened the hearts of the community.
However the structure still stands and serves
as the Cabarrus County Administration Office.