Field Experiences
Student Resources
When you apply for placement, you will be asked to select three preference regions as well as your top choice district within each of those regions. Review our placement area map to see a full list of the districts where we place student teaching candidates. The districts you can select for elementary education practicum preferences are indicated with an asterisk. When you select a region on your field placement application, only the districts we place students in will appear.
Repeat this process three times to provide your top three preferences. You may select the same region more than once if your top three school districts are in the same region. However, if one of your preference areas is Kittitas Valley, you are required to indicate at least ONE other region in your set of three since field placements are limited in the Kittitas Valley region. Please make arrangements for short-term housing and/or transportation given the possibility that you may need to complete your field experience outside of Kittitas Valley. You will have the option to indicate specific schools or teachers who you have worked with in the past who have indicated an interest in hosting you. We will take your preferences into account when seeking your placement, but we cannot guarantee placement with a specific area, district, school, or mentor teacher. Our district partners strictly forbid the seeking of placements by students, so do not contact schools and teachers yourself. Let us do the work for you.
Requests for placements outside our designated areas will be considered only when capacity permits. You may discuss these requests with your placement coordinator once they begin the placement process.
Please note that availability of placements can vary each quarter, and that we receive varying numbers of applications each quarter. Spring generally receives the most applications for Student Teaching placement, followed closely by fall, and with the fewest applications submitted for winter. Please review our policy on placement restrictions.
Example Request:
1.) Wenatchee Valley
- Eastmont School District
2.) Wenatchee Valley
- Cashmere School District
3.) Lower Grant County
- Moses Lake School District
Transportation
Please note that teacher candidates are responsible for arranging their own housing and transportation. List only areas that you can travel to in person as you complete your application.
Yakima-to-Ellensburg Commuter Bus Information
The Yakima-to-Ellensburg commuter bus service and the ELlensburg-to-Yakima Commuter bus service stops at:
- Ellensburg - CWU SURC, Safeway and Super 1 Foods.
- Yakima - Yakima Firing Center Park and Ride (near the Selah rest area), the downtown Yakima Transit Center, Yakima Valley Community College and the Yakima Airport.
Full schedules of the commuter route can be found at Yakima Transit, and tickets can be purchased at the CWU Wildcat Shop. For more information, call Yakima Transit at (509) 575-6175.
Mattawa Shuttle Van
Shuttle vans run between Ellensburg and Mattawa. Many teachers from the Wahluke School District commute Ellensburg to work and back each day. Student teachers placed in Mattawa may want to take advantage of this transportation. For information, contact Joanie Butterly.
Cle Elum-Roslyn Bus
A commuter bus is available daily between Ellensburg and Cle Elum. Please review the schedule and information page
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