Jackson Payne took his first college class when he was a freshman in high school. He arrived around 7 a.m. to Orcutt Academy High School.
The campus was quiet except for his 29 other classmates in the Early College Cadre program. Soon enough their professor showed up and introduced the group members to their first Allan Hancock College course.
“It was pretty cool to just be thrown right into it and be able to figure it out,” Payne told the Sun.
Before finishing high school, 26 Orcutt students graduated with two associate degrees from Hancock. One in arts and humanities and another in behavioral science. The program’s first cohort celebrated their achievements on May 22 at the Hancock graduation ceremony.
Bookworms
To watch a video and read more about the Early College Cadre program at Orcutt Academy High School, visit oahs.orcuttschools.net/ecc. Interested students can apply online.
Students applied for the program while they were in eighth grade and moved through it together. Starting in 2022, Hancock professors traveled to the high school to teach zero period. The high schoolers also attended summer classes at the college.
“I think it makes you feel a lot more mature and gives you a pretty cool experience to be with people who are in college themselves, or even older than that,” Payne said.
Certified Orcutt Academy educators also helped students earn their 60 credits by teaching concurrent enrollment classes like history, English, and Spanish.
For students like Payne, gaining a college degree in high school was incredibly valuable.
“It’s going to make the college experience a lot quicker and more manageable for me, as well as possibly save me some extra money,” Payne said.
The experience also gave him a taste of collegiate academic rigor, although he had a lot on his plate to begin with. He balanced schoolwork with his job at a bike shop, his commitment as an Eagle Scout, and his cross-country mountain bike races.
“It took me a minute to figure out the balance, but once I figured it out, it was pretty easy for me to sustain,” Payne said.
With all those accomplishments, the graduate hopes to study mechanical engineering in the fall.
As his high school career progressed, Payne said he got close with his classmates in the cohort. They spent a lot of time learning and growing together, navigating the hiccups that went along with being the program’s guinea pigs.
“It’s definitely a group of kids who will be connected forever just because we’ve been together, basically done everything together, for the past four years,” Payne said.
The cohort model is partly why Orcutt Academy Vice Principal Josh Ostini thought the program was so successful.
“They’re having that synergy and energy of working together towards a common goal,” Ostini said.
Every year the cohort had homeroom together with the same teacher. Ostini often popped in to check on the group’s progress and get to know the students. He said he saw them getting better at communicating and using teamwork to face adversity.
Orcutt Academy already offers rigorous academics, but this program adds another layer to the challenge.
“It’s brought a level of excitement,” the vice principal said. “I know some students will come in, and that’s something that draws them to Orcutt Academy.”
After its initial success, the high school is continuing with the Early College Cadre program. Students in all four grade levels are actively participating, and administrators recently selected the applicants who will graduate in 2030.
Hancock plans to bring the same program to Lompoc and Ernest Righetti high schools this fall.
Highlights
• The Lompoc Public Library is hosting a free yoga class for adults on June 13 from 10 to 11 a.m. Bring a mat or borrow one for the session, which will be held in the Grossman Gallery at the library, located at 501 E. North Ave. All experience levels are welcome, but yogis must be at least 18 years old.
• Calling all Warhammer fans and curious neophiles, too. Join a group at the Santa Maria Public Library to play the medieval fantasy tabletop game on June 3 from 3 to 6:30 p.m. Command armies, create mini models, and maneuver through combat zones. Children younger than 16 must be accompanied by an adult.
Reach Staff Writer Madison White at mwhite@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in May 28 – June 4, 2026.