PACE Weekly Newsletter - August 17 2007
 
 
We have 2 items for you this week.
 
1)  Thank you to Our Representative and House Republican Leader Tom Cross - Thanks to the sole efforts of Representative Tom Cross, $5 Million for Gifted Education has been added in the House and Senate Budgets!  Now, the budgets need to be approved by the governor.  Given the current political climate over the state budget, the $5 million funding would not have been possible without Representative Cross' great care for the education and future of the children in our school district and in the state of Illinois.  We are most grateful to Representative Cross.
 
Parents and students, let Representative Cross know how much you appreciate his efforts to get gifted funding in the budget. 
Contact him at tom@tomcross.com;
Address: 316 State House, Springfield, IL  62706;
Phone: (217) 782-1331 in Springfield, (815) 254-0000 in Plainfield. 
Thank you.  It means a lot to the future of our children.        316 StateHouse
 
2)  CLEP Exams for High School Students - High school students can take nationally standardized CLEP tests, which allow them to earn college credit. Similar to AP credits, CLEP credits can satisfy prerequisites or reduce the number of courses needed for a college degree.  CLEP exams are the most popular credit-by-examination tests.  They are more convenient than AP exams because CLEP exams are offered more often and the test are given online.  For example, online exams are offered once a month at nearby colleges like North Central College.    

 

Benefits of taking CLEP from the College Board, http://www.collegeboard.com/student/testing/clep/about.html -

 - Save Money.  Compare the cost of CLEP, just $65, to hundreds - even thousands - of dollars in tuition.

 - Make college more interesting.  Test out of general education classes and move right into advanced courses.

 - Get credit for what you already know. 

 

There are 2,900 colleges that grant credit and/or advanced standing for CLEP exams, and each individual college has its own credit-by-examination policy so visit the college websites or contact the admissions offices to find out specific details.  North Central College awards awards up to 28 credit hours for demonstrated competence obtained through CLEP, http://www.noctrl.edu/x16998.xml.  Northwestern University accepts up to 11 credit hours, http://www.scs.northwestern.edu/ugrad/credit/clep.cfm.