Diving Deeper Into the Human Mind: Redwood Introduces AP Psychology to its Curriculum

Teachers and students at Redwood High School share their opinions on the new AP Psychology course and discuss the class’ progress.

By: Isabella Guijarro

Redwood High School kicked off the 2024-2025 school year by introducing a new and exciting addition to its curriculum – an AP Psychology course. This class has gained significant interest from teachers and students alike, eager to explore the depths of the human mind.

By offering this course, Redwood aims to provide its students with a deeper understanding of the mind, preparing them for the academic challenges that lie ahead. The teachers of this class give their insight into this year by going over the topics to be discussed.

“As part of the AP exam they’re going to have to interpret research articles and read data. Did the study work? Did it not?” says, Mrs. Browning, one of the two Psychology teachers explaining what students can expect from the exam.

Ms. Jordan, the other Psychology teacher, says, “It’s such a broad field. We’re going to learn about anything from biological psychology, to cognitive, like how we think and learn. We’re also going to talk about developmental psychology and personalities. There are so many different aspects of psychology to keep students interested.”

As the school year begins, students at Redwood actively engage with the course material and share their insights and opinions on the impact of this new class.

Wen He, ‘26, says, “It’s good to learn about psychology because you don’t want to be that one person who doesn’t read the room. It’s a good thing to learn about, even if it might not be necessary it’s still useful in everyday life, you can use it [in] day to day interactions but you can’t walk up to someone and start doing calculus.”

Matthew Ybarra, ‘26, says, “I’m going to major in therapy and psychology in college later, so I figured why not take psychology now? Since I am going to major in it for college, because I need money, it’s something that I’m passionate about and would like to follow through later on.”

The addition of Psychology to the curriculum is a testament to the school’s commitment to academic excellence and its recognition of the importance of understanding the complexities of the human mind.

Maxine Smith, ‘25, says, “I really like so far seeing how different people are connecting, because the first day was really awkward and no one spoke, but since the progression of the class and now we’ve played games and talk to each other so its been really fun getting to know people and opening up.”

Elsa Wendt, ‘26, says, “I wanted to dive deep into how the mind works, because for my friends I’m kinda seen as the therapist friend, so I feel like I want to look more into that and back up everything I’m saying, and I think it is just an interesting AP in general.”

It’s an exciting time at Redwood as students and teachers explore the captivating field of psychology. The feedback from both teachers and students is increasingly positive as they encourage students to join.

“We are really excited about this course. It is the first year but we hope it continues,” says Ms Jordan sharing her and Mrs. Browning’s excitement.