Twenty Alexander High School students got an unexpected after-school surprise this month when administrators showed up at their front doors with yard signs celebrating their perfect scores on Advanced Placement exams.
AHS administrators delivered special "I Scored 5 on My AP Exam" yard signs on Aug. 13 to students who earned perfect 5s on their AP exams in May.
Valli Robinson, Alexander’s AP and Magnet Coordinator and Library Media Specialist, came up with the idea for the signs after seeing schools around the country doing it.
“Watching our students put in countless hours of preparation and then see 20 of them earn a 5—the highest possible score—has been incredibly rewarding,” said Robinson, who is an AHS alumna. “The AP exams are designed to challenge even the strongest students, and their achievement is a testament to their determination and the support they’ve received along the way. We wanted to recognize these students publicly to congratulate them on their outstanding score.”
Robinson said while 20 students earned at least one 5 on an AP exam, five earned two 5s (Yahmini Chandrasekaran, Emily McDonald, Ce'yonce Reid, Kenny Wang and Holly Woolverton) and one student—Angeline Moses—earned three 5s.
Alexander has a long history of recognizing students for their academic achievements, including a special display of the Top 10 students for each class in the main hallway and a Student Wall of Fame.
Robinson said during the 2024-25 school year, Alexander offered 22 AP courses, with more than 400 students enrolled.
In May 2025, 273 AHS students took a total of 480 AP exams. Of those, 66% earned a score of 3 or higher—the benchmark for passing—marking the school’s highest pass rate in over five years and surpassing the national average.
“These results are a reflection of the culture we’ve built at Alexander,” she said. “We set high expectations for all of our students, and our teachers across every discipline work hard to prepare them not only for AP exams, but also for life after high school. At AHS, it’s important that our students Belong, Have Fun, and Learn. These scores show that our students are truly learning—and we hope these signs brought them a sense of belonging and fun.”