A lasting tradition for The O’Neal School is Class Trips. The Class Trip is defined as an excursion out of town with the students and teachers in your grade. Typically, it is overnight for three to five days, but not always. They are scheduled near the beginning of the school year and the main purpose is to provide an environment to encourage peer bonding as well as to strengthen relationships with advisors. The more a teacher knows about the student outside of the classroom, the better equipped they are to teach them.

The day had come to open Wallace O’Neal Day School for students. Over the summer months, the office at First Union Bank was busy with enrollment testing for students and hiring of teachers. Many publications have a variety of numbers for the quantity of students enrolled that first year. The quantity stated the most is 35. Everything was in place, except for one large item – a building. Mobile units to place on the acreage donated to the School by Mrs. Mary Elaine Meyer O’Neal had not yet arrived.

O’Neal’s Bradshaw Hall was dedicated September 5, 2002.  It was identified as the School’s multipurpose building, which remains true today, yet never really called by that term. Presently, it holds two art studios, McMurray Library, a dining commons, the Falcon Lab for tech classes, and The William J. Breitenbeck Administrative Center. All of these areas are connected by a sunlight-filled atrium.

This week middle and upper school students signed the School’s Honor Code. Next month, student elections will be held for a vacant seat on the Upper School’s Honor Council.

Tennis started at O’Neal in 1975 as a combined team. They traveled to courts off campus to practice and compete. In 1979 the teams divided, and O’Neal was able to compete in girls and boys tennis. In 2004, the campaign to build tennis courts on campus was chaired by Drs. Glen and Diane Subin, who’s sons all played tennis. Them along with other parents of the 2003/2004 tennis teams led the way in raising funds to build the six-court complex on campus. The Booster Club was also a generous donor to the effort.

As you enter McMurray Library in Bradshaw Hall, the focal point of the area is the large, tiered mobile sculpture hanging from the ceiling. The color and subtle movement among the levels gives a pleasing feeling to the space. And with most things, there is a story behind it.

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The annual fund is a catch-all term for general nonprofit fundraising. It helps to cover everyday expenses, while other fundraising efforts, like capital campaigns have specific purposes. For O’Neal, the Annual Fund helps to cover the annual operational expenses not met by tuition dollars.