Redwood Day’s Signature Programs are where specialized instruction meets real-world application. These distinctive experiences transform learning into leadership, allowing students to apply and expand their knowledge far beyond the classroom walls. Whether they are using Oakland as a living laboratory, opting into high-school-style Advanced Topics electives, or building social-emotional courage through our Equity and Inclusion work, every program is designed to cultivate the agency and intellectual skills your child needs to thrive.
8th Grade Advanced Topics: Mastery and Momentum
Eighth grade is the powerful pivot point where students transition from foundational learning to specialized inquiry. Our Advanced Topics Courses drive this shift, allowing students to explore a high-school-style elective model.
These courses empower 8th graders to opt into intensive areas of study that match their driving passions and future ambitions. From investigating complex social issues to mastering technical skills and achieving creative excellence, students thrive in the Optimal Learning Zone, where faculty experts push them to unlock their full potential.
Our advanced approach transforms learning into preparation. Graduates emerge with the agency, intellectual courage, and project management skills needed to thrive in the most rigorous high schools.
Hella Oakland
This course will examine Oakland through various lenses, including education, housing, transportation, culture, and government, to understand how these forces have shaped the city from the 20th century to today.
Songwriting: Hooks, Harmonies, Hits!
Students will develop comprehensive songwriting skills and create original songs of varying lengths in this course. Students analyze the lyrics, harmonies, melodies, and structures of popular songs and employ various strategies to write effective original lyrics, melodies, and chord progressions across a range of song types.
Leadership
This course focuses on the practical application of leadership principles and personal growth inspired by Abby Wambach's book "Wolfpack," which explores the themes of empowerment and finding one's voice.
Basketball & Volleyball: Train Hard
This yearlong course is designed for students who enjoy being active and are ready to work hard, improve their skills, and challenge themselves. Over the course of the year, students will spend the first semester focused exclusively on basketball and the next semester developing their skills in volleyball.
Garden to Table
In this course, students develop a wide set of culinary and agricultural skills. In-class activities focus on basic kitchen skills, techniques, recipe following and development, as well as workflow practices and restaurant-style dishes.
Passion Projects
In this Advanced Topics course, students transform their interests into meaningful, student-driven projects that showcase creativity, critical thinking, and research skills. New for the 2026–2027 school year, students have the unique opportunity to see their passion projects funded through Oakland as a Classroom grant money.
Printmaking
In this course, students will discover the rich tradition and endless possibilities of printmaking through hands-on exploration of diverse techniques and artistic expression. Students will explore a comprehensive range of printmaking processes, including drypoint, linocut, gelli prints, stencils, screenprinting, and monoprints.
Ecology
In this course, students learn about such topics as evolutionary ecology, population biology, species interactions, biological communities, and conservation biology.
Economics in Action
In this Advanced Topics course, students explore how economics shapes everyday choices, businesses, global relationships, and the ways societies use limited resources. Through discussions, simulations, collaborative challenges, and project-based learning, students develop economic thinking, creativity, communication, and decision-making skills.
Theatre Arts
This course is grounded in collaboration and explores playwriting, stagecraft, monologues, and character work, and includes deep dives into theatrical genres such as horror, mystery, and sketch comedy.
Built to Matter
In this hands-on course, students learn to build things that actually work. They combine everything they’ve learned—digital fabrication, woodworking, design thinking, and user testing—to create. This course is about solving problems, making things, and building skills students will use for years to come.
Journalism and Sports Writing: A Comparative Study
In this course, students explore the world of sports journalism with particular attention to writing styles and perspectives in men's and women's sports coverage. Students study articles and reports by prominent sports writers while analyzing differences in coverage and narrative styles between men's and women's sports.
Learning to Learn
In this course, students unlock their unique learning potential by understanding how their brains work and developing personalized strategies for academic success. Students explore their individual learning profiles in greater depth while examining the science behind neurodiversity. The course provides opportunities for students to develop strengths in their areas of interest while building skills and tools to address challenges.
Sculpture: Materials and Techniques
This studio-based course introduces students to the fundamentals of three-dimensional artmaking through hands-on exploration. Students will learn structural mechanics and practice building solid, balanced forms using diverse materials, including clay, cardboard, plaster, fabric, and found objects.
