Davis High

On AP Calculus test day in May of 2025 at Davis High, months of preparation came down to one quiet morning. Students settled into the testing center, tense but ready, while their teachers waited outside, hoping their work together would pay off.

During testing, the room was silent—so still that even a shifting chair felt loud. Students were entering the final thirty minutes of the exam when everything suddenly stopped.

A fire alarm.

For a moment, no one moved. No one knew whether it was a drill or something serious. But following protocol, the entire group evacuated, leaving their unfinished tests behind.

Outside, emotions hit quickly. Some students cried, and many were in disbelief as they wondered what would happen with their incomplete exams. Assistant Principal Stacey Jackson contacted AP right away and learned that the retake would fall either during graduation or three weeks later. Many students—especially graduating seniors—faced a difficult decision.

The next day, teachers and administrators worked together to support students through their options. In Tracey Meade’s calculus classes, that meant sitting down with each student individually to make sure they understood their choices and felt confident in whichever path they took.

In the end, 75 students chose to submit their tests, while the rest opted to retake. When scores came back, the results were outstanding: 123 out of 126 students passed—a 97.6% pass rate, one of the strongest in school history.

For the nine seniors who could not attend the main graduation ceremony because they were retesting, Davis High hosted a small, personalized ceremony on the football field. Each student was given their own moment in the spotlight as a brief bio was read, including their future plans. They posed for photos and even got to throw their caps in the air—something impossible at the large indoor graduation held at the Dee Event Center.

Shortly after the first testing day, the cause of the alarm was discovered: a balloon had drifted to the ceiling and triggered a sensor. It was random, frustrating and completely unplanned. Yet students didn’t let that moment derail them. They regrouped, kept moving forward, and gained a little extra confidence in their own resilience.