Blog post image depicts a person walking up a pathway with five checkpoints. From bottom to top: (1) Take two child studies classes, (2) Get permit: apply for the Assistant or Associate Teacher Permit, (3) Attend Become a Teacher Job Fair, (4) Take two more child studies classes, and (5) Graduate wiith a West Valley certificate: Child Development Permit Preparation Certificate of Achievement.
A new path to a meaningful career in education is available now to older learners at West Valley College. Take four designated child studies courses — two in fall and two in spring — in our Senior Guided Pathway to Teacher Permit Program for a quick on-ramp to working with young children in preschool, transitional kindergarten or afterschool assistant and assistant teacher roles.
Fall courses start Oct. 12, and scholarships are available for up to 25 older students through a grant from the Carol S. Larson Fund of the Silicon Valley Community Foundation.
Completing the program earns participants a West Valley Child Development Teacher Permit Preparation Certificate, a state assistant teacher permit, and paid experience working with young children at the WVC Child Development Center (CDC), plus the opportunity to participate in Commencement in May.
Funding through the grant helps pay for students’ state permit fees.
The support doesn’t end there. In spring, participants will meet prospective employers at the college’s Become a Teacher Job and Resource Fair.
Learn more at the West Valley Child Studies Pathway to Teacher Permit website or contact Child Studies Department Chair Laurie Dotson at laurie.dotsonFREEWEST_VALLEY.