Starting Fall 2025, AP Psychology will be a part of the social studies curriculum, to be taught by psychology teachers Ganelle Smith and Jill Isenhart. Both teachers attended an AP Summer Institute last summer to learn about teaching the subject.
AP Psychology is being added for students who plan on majoring in psychology and choosing that as their career, or are just interested in taking an advanced psychology class. It will be a year-long course that will be similar to a college course workload and difficulty.
“I think that it gravitates to students who want to go into medicine or behavioral health,” Social Studies Department Coordinator Cari Erickson said.
According to Erickson, Creek was the only high school in the area that was not offering this course. “It didn’t make sense for us not to offer the course,” she said.
It covers more scientific topics, and how parts of your brain affect your social behaviors and development. The class will include more writing and will be more rigorous, like other typical AP classes.
Before the introduction of the class, the only psych related classes available were CP Psychology and CP Sociology, where students can learn more about group behaviors. Because of this, those interested in the pathway often felt a lack of opportunity to fully immerse themselves in the subject.
“I felt that there weren’t enough opportunities for people in psychology to really pursue it,” senior president of the Psychology Club Annabella Van Acker said.
Since students in the club didn’t have a large AP class to depend on, they chose to host events to demonstrate where psych students could get involved in the workforce, like the event hosted on November 12th. Psychology Professor Mitchell Handelsman was a guest speaker who talked about how students could explore a future in their careers.
AP Psychology has been in demand for a long time. Students who enjoyed CP Psychology were asking for this course, so that they could explore more about the subject for their future.
“I was really wanting more from [CP],” Van Acker said.
CP Psychology covers mental health, emotions, relationship development, disorders, senses, personality and sleep behaviors. Moving forward AP Psychology will explore the scientific side of psychology, and more. It discusses topics like intelligence, the history of psychology, motivations, therapies, brain exploration, and problem solving.
Like all AP classes, a college-level class is more of a commitment. However, teachers believe that students will appreciate this class, and dedicate their time to it.
“Students who really want to learn about [psychology] are willing to put in their time for the year long class,” Erickson said.
The course covers a deep exploration beyond the single semester course of CP Psychology. The lower level is for students willing to try something new, and is only the highlights of what you learn in AP Psychology.
“I’m glad we’re finally able to offer [AP Psychology],” Smith said.
