The 21-22 school year has come to an end and the Class of 2022 graduation has gone down in history as the first class in the nation to graduate 100% with an Associate’s degree! What started 5 years ago as a vision by the community has now become a reality. The community became interested in the Roscoe Collegiate ISD model and began making visits to see just how Roscoe made college possible for its students. It was in 2018 that Throckmorton High School became Throckmorton Collegiate Early College High School. The Texas Education Agency granted the name change along with the Early College high school designation.

The graduating seniors, who were then freshmen during our first year as an ECHS, were with us every step of the way, through the trials and mistakes, and graduated 100% of our seniors with an Associate’s of Arts or Science from Cisco College.

Dr. Michelle Cline, TCISD superintendent, says “we could not have done this innovative and bold work without our partnership and support at Cisco College. They have been a phenomenal partner and have worked relentlessly to help our students achieve this goal.” Dr. Cline also went on to state, “Our community is the one to thank. They were behind this driving vision and have really paved the way for our graduates. We realized the public school system has not changed since 1947-it was in 1947 that the change was made to go from 11th-grade to 12th grade. Here we are, in a MUCH different world, advanced in the areas of technology, problem-solving, and rigor, and public schools have not made any change for going beyond 12th grade in 70 years. We also knew by 2025, 78% of jobs will require a college education. It was time we served our students to be equipped for this type of world by providing them a college education, debt-free, along with an industry certification, ready for immediate employment in high-paying, high demand jobs.”

This class of 2022 will also have 2 seniors who will remain in the TCISD PTECH Academy and begin their future college work at TSTC while working internships. In turn, TCISD will pay their tuition, fees, and books.

Cline states, “It’s another goal we have set-to have 80% of our graduates pursue degrees beyond their Associate’s degree and we are happy to have developed a system to allow students to do this at no cost to the student or parent. So far this class of 2022 will perhaps exceed that 80% goal, as 100% are college-bound.”