Two Tampa twin sisters share more than almost identical looks. They also share a journey of academic success and the pursuit of a degree in a hard science, as well as a lot of support from their community.

The Academy of the Holy Names celebrated this week that Adriana and Alyssa Lyons earned the highest academic honors of the Class of 2026, graduating as valedictorian and salutatorian, respectively.

School officials said they believe that the Lyons twins are also the first in the Academy’s 144-year history to graduate as valedictorian and salutatorian of the same high school graduating class.

The Lyons academic prowess doesn’t end there.

When they graduated from the Eighth Grade Class of 2022, they both served also as co-valedictorian and co-salutatorian, officials with the school said. Additionally, the twins delivered over 500 hours of community service each, totaling more than 1,000 hours as a set of twins.

Adriana and Alyssa have been at the Academy of the Holy Names since they were in kindergarten.

“This is such a special moment for our school community,” Mrs. Jeane McNamara, AHN High School Principal, said. “Adriana and Alyssa exemplify what it means to be Academy women — intellectually curious, compassionate, faith-filled, and committed to serving others. In addition to their extraordinary academic accomplishments, they have dedicated hundreds of hours to service, including mission work in Guatemala during their junior year. We are incredibly proud of them and excited to see all they accomplish next.”

Sharing their journey will not stop with the academic success they just accomplished.

Both twins collectively earned approximately $287,000 in scholarship offers and merit awards, and were accepted to several highly regarded universities, such as the University of Virginia and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Ultimately, the twins decided to pursue degrees in Chemistry after being accepted into the University of Florida Honors Program, a spokesperson with Holy Names said.

Adriana and Alyssa are now celebrating a shared journey and their mutual support.

“One of the greatest gifts of the Academy was learning that success is never something you achieve alone,” Adriana said. “Having my twin sister beside me throughout this journey has been incredibly special. We have always pushed each other to work harder, dream bigger, and become better versions of ourselves.”

“She has always pushed me to work harder, think bigger, and believe in myself even during the moments I doubted myself,” Alyssa said. “We have spent our whole lives pushing each other to be better, and I cannot imagine this journey without her beside me.”

The Academy of the Holy Names, located in Tampa, was founded in 1881. It is a private Catholic school for boys and girls in pre-kindergarten through 8th grade. The academy also has college preparatory high school for women.

Back in 2022, another set of twins from Plant City High School also celebrated making it to the top of their class together.