The Comparison of AP Exam Preparation between North and South

Students are currently preparing for the May 2025 AP exams, and the rivalry between Nashua High School and Nashua High School South is never-ending, leading some to question which school prepares best for the test.

When students were asked how they feel their teacher prepares them for the AP exam, most said they tend to prepare more on their own with resources from the College Board.

Wilkeiry Rosa Marte, a senior at North, mentions how she likes her teacher’s teaching style being in slideshow format. The teacher hands out packets that they can look back on to help study for the AP exam.

Calvin Song, a Senior at South, says his AP statistics teacher “makes units make the most sense”. His teacher creates units based on “The Practice of Statistics” chapters, rather than the typical College Board units.

In Song’s opinion, quieter teachers tend to teach better and help students understand things on a conceptual level.

Ananya Pinnamaneni, senior at South, describes her AP statistics teacher as having an organized, detailed, and understandable teaching style. As for the teacher, posting all the notes online helps with studying for the exam.

Alex Paquin, North senior, says, “I feel prepared for the AP exam within the units already covered.”

Paquin and Rosa Marte share the same AP Statistics teacher at North, Mrs. Samantha Leone.

Leone says she shows free-response questions starting in unit one. “At the end of every unit, we will have what I call a FRAPPY, so it’s Free Response AP Problem Yay,” Leone said. She gives her students practice throughout the course in preparation for the exam.

Leone shared her mean score from the past AP exam in 2023-2024, which was a 3.83. The global average during this period was 2.96.

South AP stats teacher Jeffrey Durnford, talks about how he starts to thoroughly prepare for the exam three weeks before. In these three weeks, he gives resources and practice tests, grading these tests like the College Board. This prepares the students by showing what they know and what to study.

There are similarities from both teachers when it comes to teaching the content. North and South students could be taking different actions to improve their scores as well.