O’Neal’s ONV/Key Club was very successful with their canned food drive for the local food pantry this year, donating 1200 items in total. This is something that O’Neal does every year. It may be managed by a different organization or division, but it happens annually. Though all schools are good to serve its community, not only for the sake of the community, but to also introduce the students to the concept and the importance of giving. It is intriguing that community service at O’Neal started only two months after it opened with a food/clothing drive to assist the Moore County Welfare Department, only to follow the next month, December 1971, when all 41 students raised $95.04 to the United Fund of Moore County and asked it to be given to the Moore County Mental Health Association.

What do basketball games, pep rallies, homecoming parades, and community fun runs have in common? --- Cheerleaders! Records show O’Neal having a cheer team starting in 1974. There have been a few years O’Neal cheerleaders have not been on the scene, but for the most part O’Neal’s cheerleaders have the floor for our famous pep rallies. They perform awesome routines, especially for “Silent Night” and Homecoming games. They lead the way for homecoming parades and were the best motivators for O’Neal runners during the former beloved Reindeer Run held in Aberdeen every year. Most of all, those students who participate on an O’Neal cheer team have great memories to last them a lifetime.

Accreditation. It’s important. It is an all -inclusive evaluation of a school from those within the school community as well as from representatives of other schools. There are requirements for accreditation. It keeps schools in check and assists with its operations, especially independent schools who, other than state compulsory attendance laws, are not governed or monitored by a state board of education to determine standards, develop curriculum, admit students or hire teachers. The evaluation provides data and feedback to make continuous improvements in all areas of a school operation.  The accreditation is based on the evaluation of the school to determine if it not only meets the needs of the students and community, but also the standards of the commission.

In 1977, O’Neal celebrated having its first graduating class. Twenty years later, O’Neal was excited to claim its first Morehead Scholar. The Morehead Scholarship, and later changed to Morehead-Cain Scholarship in 2007, is the first merit scholarship established in the United States at the first public university in the United States - University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Among the largest and most competitive scholarship programs in the United States, the Morehead-Cain pays all expenses for four years of undergraduate study, including the cost of a laptop computer and four summer enrichment experiences.

When one looks back at this time of the year for O’Neal, they often remember food drives, the second grade Great Kapok Tree performance, the Parents Association Book Fair and Special Persons Day. Special Persons Day would often be the last day before Thanksgiving Break and many times, a half day. With focus on the Lower School, there is often a performance that includes all lower school grades and special persons are invited to attend. Afterwards, special persons join their host in their classroom for special activities as well as follow the normal class schedule. Refreshments are served. Some classes put on an extra performance, like the second grade Great Kapok Tree. Everyone gets to visit the book fair.

Among all of the perceptions of O’Neal, the one that never fades is its focus on academic excellence. Over the years, the School has had the opportunity to offer three consistent scholarships to rising upper school students, where two of them continue to endure.

Veterans Day, previously known as Armistice Day is a dedicated time to honor our active duty and veterans of the armed forces in appreciation for our freedom.  There was a time when O’Neal was in session on Veterans Day. It was seen as a great opportunity to invite other students to visit on campus whose schools were closed. Around 2010, the enrollment of military families started to increase.

If your spouse came home from an organizational meeting and told you that your house was offered up for a designer house showcase fundraiser to benefit said organization, what would you do? Curse into the wind or jump for joy?

Epic is a good word for Halloween at O’Neal. Creative juices flow with one-of-a-kind costumes, events and activities for all ages. There hasn’t been a time that O’Neal hasn’t celebrated Halloween, even the past two pandemic years.

“She was an angel for us,” remembers O’Neal’s founding Board Chairman Ted Taws. “She kept us alive in the early years.” He is referring to Elaine McAlpin Tate, whose three granddaughters and one great grandson are O’Neal graduates. Elaine Rockefeller McAlpin was born in 1905 in Manhattan, NY. She married Henry Clinch Tate in 1931. O’Neal’s Tate Gymnasium built in 1974 is named in memory of her late husband. Mrs. Tate gave to the School generously every year until her death at age 80 in February 1986. It was only a few months before her passing that O’Neal’s first lower school building was dedicated as the Elaine McAlpin Tate Educational Building at the School’s first Founders Day celebration on October 25, 1985. One can only assume that Founders Day in October was on account of the School moving from the Campbell House to its campus at this time.