O'Neal and Sandhills CC Partner to Offer Dual Enrollment

Starting in the Fall semester of 2025, The O’Neal School and Sandhills Community College have teamed up to offer a joint Career and College Promise Program. This partnership will allow O’Neal Upper School students to access free college credit courses taught by Sandhills Community College professors.
A signing ceremony to commence the program was held on Monday, December 16, at O’Neal surrounded by faculty, students, and trustees in addition to Sandhills and O’Neal staff and administration.

“This is a great opportunity for our students to gain college credit while in the Upper School,” said Dr. Dale McInnis, O’Neal Head of School. “I’m grateful to Dr. Stewart for helping us meet a demand from our students and families to supplement and enhance our already rigorous curriculum.”

Dr. Alexander “Sandy” Stewart, President of Sandhills Community College, added, “This is a natural partnership centered around students and opportunity. Anytime we can form partnerships to enhance educational opportunities for students in Moore County, we are happy to do so. Sandhills is pleased to be working with The O’Neal School for dual enrollment for high school students and college credit, and we look forward to working with Dr. McInnis and his team.”

Career and College Promise is a statewide program authorized by the General Assembly for all high school students in North Carolina. With the Sandhills Community College-O'Neal agreement, juniors and seniors can take up to four community college courses annually. These classes will be offered on the O’Neal campus and taught by Sandhills Community College faculty.

Program Highlights
  • College-Accredited Courses Offered On-Campus: Students will have access to high-quality courses taught by college professors on O’Neal’s campus, heeding to O’Neal’s small student/teacher ratio and in sync with O’Neal’s daily class schedule.
  • Focus on Upperclassmen: Courses will be offered to juniors and seniors although O’Neal can make exceptions for sophomores on a case-by-case basis.
  • Courses offered are tentatively set to be: Psychology and Public Speaking in the Fall. Sociology and Public Speaking OR Political Science (still undetermined) in the Spring.
  • Access to Resources: Dual Enrollment course registration will happen at O’Neal. In addition to O’Neal’s facilities and databases, students will also have access to Sandhills Community College amenities, including the Boyd Library, Dempsey Student Center, and free tutoring services.
  • Rigorous Standards: Students must meet all course prerequisites to include an unweighted 2.8 GPA and follow the same registration, drop-add, and withdrawal processes as other Sandhills Community College students.
  • Comprehensive Support: O’Neal’s director of college counseling will monitor student progress and provide guidance throughout the program.
“Our families and those inquiring families can know that we’re all committed to making the experience here at O’Neal the absolute best it can be,” says Dr. McInnis.  “Our offerings make it so that our students are competitive on the college acceptance front and that we’re the best value possible.”

Presently, O’Neal offers 21 Advanced Placement courses to qualifying students offered by the College Board by way of trained faculty and college-level curricula and exams. At O’Neal, 97% of AP exams taken last school year scored a 3 or higher. The addition of a dual-enrollment component only adds to O’Neal’s robust college preparatory program. 100% of O’Neal’s graduates are accepted to colleges and universities across the nation and abroad.

Families interested in the Dual Enrollment Program should contact Head of Upper School Sandy Boyd for details.  Email: sboyd@onealschool.org

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Southern Pines, NC 28387
Phone: 910.692.6920
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