A spirited hello from the Upper School! It seems like every week we have reason to celebrate (beyond the continued magnificence of the New England Patriots) and reflect, this week was no exception. On Wednesday, we had several of our 8th-grade students venture to the Upper School where they were able to shadow some of our students and attend Upper School classes. It was great to see our divisions mix and I am incredibly proud of our Freshmen for stepping up and being the mentors that we all knew they would be. We began with a tremendous presentation from the Academic, Student Life, and Athletic departments. It is our hope that the eighth graders came away as impressed with the Upper School as we were with them.
On another high note, our girls’ basketball team won their semi-final game against Carolina Friends last night and will take on Trinity of Raleigh tonight in the Tri-TAC Tournament Championship game! The tip is at 5:30 PM and we hope to see you there! Please arrive early, the game is expected to be a sellout. On another athletic note, this past Wednesday was National Girls and Women in Sports Day and we were proud to celebrate not only our basketball players but all our female falcon athletes this week.
On Thursday we had 44 students take the American Math Competition, a national competition. Participation was voluntary at the non-AP level and we had overwhelming interest. I believe this is a positive indicator of a cultural shift at the O’Neal School, as our Department Chair Jen Isaacs wrote to our math team: “It is clear that our students are proud of their growth and accomplishments in math and are eager to challenge themselves.” Kudos to our students and bravo to the teachers who inspire them.
Once again, as we look ahead to the exam period around the corner, please check individual class pages for reviews for each exam. Teachers have posted review sheets, practice problem sets, and many other resources to aid our students as the begin the process of review. A few moments spent each night will pay large dividends in the weeks to come. If you or your child cannot locate this information, please reach out to us immediately and we can ensure that they get any information they require.
I hope you all have a wonderful weekend.