Visual & Performing Arts Teachers:
Welcome to Washington!
Teachers, Get started here:
In Washington State, you can earn teaching certificates in Dance, Media Arts, Music, Theatre, and Visual Arts. In some districts, various arts classes are also cross-credited as Career-Technical Education. In some districts, the K-8 general teaching certificate also allows teachers to be hired for elementary art. There are several pathways to adding new certifications once you have an initial teaching certificate.
Before you begin job searching, apply for your Washington teaching certificate with the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction. Apply as soon as you are able because OSPI often has thousands of certificates to process.
In the meantime, you can find more introductory information on OSPI’s certification pages and arts pages, and on the Washington Education Association’s website.
Are you a professional artist who wants to help in schools without a teaching certificate?
Many rural and small districts rely on community partnerships with teaching artists to deliver visual and/or performing arts for their students, especially in elementary school.
ArtsWA has great programs for Teaching Artists: TAT Lab (Teaching Artist Training Lab) and Wolf Trap (Institute for Early Learning Through the Arts). We highly recommend plugging in with them!
Connect and Grow together:
*Sign up for our ArtsEd Newsletter, and follow AEW on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram.
*Join other discipline-specific experts in the Washington Art Education Association, Washington Music Educators Association, Washington State Thespians.
*Contact office@artsedwashington.org for questions about dance, media arts education, or Career and Technical Education (CTE)!
*Explore other Washington education information with these Related Resources.