Fairview's original school was located in the northern part of Union County. The school was situated eleven miles north of Monroe on Highway 601 near the intersection of Highway 218. The school district is bordered on the north side with Stanley County and Cabarrus County. On the west side, it is bordered by Mecklenburg County and the Hemby Bridge School District. The east and south sides are bordered by the Unionville School District.

There are some conflicts in the records, as well as some misinformation, about Fairview's origin before 1900. However, we can be reasonably safe in naming the following one room schools from which Fairview had it's beginning: Furr, Little Mountain, Austin, Price, Hopewell, and McManus. Some of these date back to the Civil War days.

These schools were merged around the turn of the century to form four main schools, one in each direction from the present Fairview Elementary School. These schools were Brief, on the north; Belmont, on the south; Spruce Pines, in the east; and Jerome, on the west.

The original school plant, being an outgrowth of Unionville School, opened its doors to students as a twelve teacher union school in 1935 with Mr. Isiah Smith as principal. The first high school pupils that attended were from the four above mentioned schools. Fairview Elementary School graduated eight students that year. Mrs. T. L. Price is credited with naming Fairview School because she saw the location as "a fair view".

In 1936 the patrons of Fairview School added an agriculture classroom building to the plant. The Union County Board of Education gave permission to the community to tear down the old Jerome School and use the lumber to build the agriculture building.

Again in 1941 another addition was made to the plant in the form of a lunchroom. This was totally a community project although the Board of Education did in part finance some additions to that building. Seeing the need for a better athletic program, the community took on the project of building a gymnasium for the school. Mr. Grover Watson donated the site, and the gymnasium was built entirely by community funds in 1947-48.

The Union County Board of Education made funds available, and two classrooms and a library were added to the original plant in 1953.

The school year 1959-1960 was the last year Fairview was a union school. In 1960, along with New Salem and Unionville, the students in grades nine through twelve started attending Piedmont High School.

Fairview housed grades 1-8 through the Spring of 1974. Enrollment had reached a high of about 375 during those years. In 1975 the school system reorganized to a K-5, 6-8, 9-12 plan of organization. Fairview Elementary School became a K-5 school with the first kindergarten classes held in the Fall of 1975.

Physical plant changes continued to occur also. In 1965 a new cafeteria with a seating capacity of 120 was constructed. This replaced a building originally constructed by the community in 1941. With the approval of a 1973 bond issue several improvements were made. First, new restrooms were constructed. The auditorium was converted into a media center and two rooms were added, one to serve as a conference room and one as a work room. Major renovations were made in the basement classrooms also. Again during the 1992 - 1993 school year, renovations and new construction began to add another wing to the original school structure. Eight new classrooms were added to house the 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade classes.

In the fall of 1999, Mr. Porter Byrum, the owner of Park Road Shopping Center donated approximately 42 acres of land for the site of the new Fairview Elementary replacement school. This land was situated on the northwest corner of the county at the intersection of Highway 601 North and Clontz Road, with an appraised value of almost $430,000. As the old school building marked its 65th year, a new building was dedicated in September of 2001. The first group of students attended classes in the new building during the 2001 - 2002 school year. This group of students were a combination of children who had previously attended "the old Fairview", Hemby Bridge Elementary, and Unionville Elementary.

During the seventy year history of Fairview Elementary, thirteen principals have served the school and community:

• 1935 - 1944 Mr. Isiah Smith
• 1944 - 1946 Mr. John Burroughs
• 1946 - 1951 Mr. L. J. Gann
• 1951 - 1953 Mr. Carl D. Moses
• 1953 - 1955 Mr. Ralph Williams
• 1955 - 1960 Mr. George Williams
• 1960 - 1962 Mr. Larry McGinnis
• 1962 - 1968 Mr. Philip A. Kennedy
• 1968 - 1980 Mr. Bobby N. Shearon
• 1980 - 1999 Mr. Darrell G. Tomberlin
• 1999 - 2000 Mrs. Barbara Coleman
• 2000 - 2006 Mrs. Glenda Rape
• 2006 - Mrs. Kelly Thomas

Fairview's School Alma Mater:

We are the Fairview School,

Brave, Strong, and True.

We stand for sportmanship

In everything we say and do.

Oh! Raise our colors, wine and gold.

We'll win the fray.

Classmates of Fairview School,

We're loyal and we love you more each day!