Please celebrate with us as PISD marks the moment our incredible students accumulated 2,500 college credit hours, a number that translates into hundreds of college Spanish classes earned by passing the National Advanced Placement Spanish Exam (AP) or by passing the College Level Examination Program (CLEP) while still enrolled at Pampa High School. Both testing programs were designed in the 1960’s by the U.S. Government as a way to accelerate the training of our nation’s top students. 2,500 college credit hours by a single program is an extraordinary number that verifies why we have been named a “Program of Excellence” and is evidence our high school belongs at the top of all prep language programs in this part of the world. At a time when public schools face growing criticism from federal and state leaders and mediocrity in education has become the goal for many school districts, a collective of Pampa young people has spent 12 years breaking barriers while fiercely redefining how academic success is measured.
On February 26th and March 26th two groups from the Pampa High School Spanish Department made trips to West Texas A&M to take the National Spanish CLEP Exam to earn college credit. With a 100% passing rate, these Spanish 3 and Spanish 4 students earned 136 college credit hours, putting the 12-year program total for college credit hours earned at 2,525. This total converts to more than 631 4-hour college classes, an average of 52 classes per year since 2015! PHS students receive credit for these classes and do not have to pay tuition, don’t have to pay for books, and don’t have to attend these college classes because they tested out of them while they were at Pampa High School. At an average of $250 per college credit hour, these classes put PHS students a step ahead of their peers by saving them both time and over one half million dollars in total for their future college tuition!
To give the reader an idea of how impactful this program has been, an average bachelor’s degree takes 4 years to finish and will require completing 40-45 college classes. In the 12 testing years since the Pampa High School program started in 2014-15, PHS classes have earned the equivalent amount of college credit hours needed to acquire 14 college bachelor's degrees!
Students in the PHS “Program of Excellence” are taught professional writing skills, college level vocabulary, college level grammar, advanced listening skills, and how to comprehend college level reading selections. Even more, Pampa students are also trained to aggressively compete against difficult national exams, whether that be the National CLEP Exam or the National Advanced Placement Exam.
On May 14th another powerful group of Spanish 4 students will take the National Spanish AP Exam in addition to the two CLEP groups who have already tested for the year. This will add even more classes earned for college credit to the 12-year program total! However, the talent doesn’t stop there! A great group of 8th graders was tested for their Spanish abilities in late January, many of whom have already been placed in advanced Spanish classes for the upcoming 2026-27 academic year! The mark of a successful program is one that can reload with talent every year, maintaining its status as the standard by which all other programs are measured. GREAT JOB, HARVESTERS!
