J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College serves as a gateway to teacher education. Students can complete their first two years of teacher preparation courses, receive an associate degree at J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College, and then transfer to a four-year college or university. In Virginia, most individuals seeking a license to teach should earn a Bachelor’s degree in an arts and sciences area.  Many four-year institutions require prospective teachers to obtain their professional education studies during a fifth year of study resulting in a Masters Degree. J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College offers Teacher Preparation Specializations of the Associate degrees in Science, Social Sciences, and Liberal Arts for prospective teachers that transfer to Virginia’s four-year colleges and universities. J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College advisors work closely with students to ensure optimum transferability. The College also has transfer centers where catalogs and transfer guides for many four-year colleges are available.

General Education Requirements for the Community College Student

The Virginia Board of Education has established the following general requirements for initial teacher licensure. The candidate must be at least 18 years of age; have earned a baccalaureate degree from an accredited institution of higher education with a Board-approved teacher education program; possess good moral character; have satisfied requirements for a teaching endorsement area; have met general and professional studies requirements (including student teaching), and have obtained passing scores on the Praxis I: Academic Skills Assessment in Math, Reading, and Writing and the appropriate Specialty Area test (Praxis II). The teaching license provides the prospective teacher with a credential to serve as a teacher in Virginia while the endorsement describes the subject area or grade levels to which the prospective teacher may be appropriately assigned to teach.

Students seeking licensure at the elementary level (grades PreK-3 or PreK-6)   may major in a wide range of disciplines. However, some majors such as English, mathematics, history, and the sciences have greater relevance since teachers will teach these subjects to their students.

Students seeking licensure at the middle school level (grades 6-8), should select one of the four basic content areas--mathematics, a science, history/social science or English—as a major.  Two concentration areas are required for middle school licensure, so elective choices should emphasize a second content area.

Students seeking licensure to teach at the secondary level (grades 9-12), major in the area in which they will seek endorsement. Possible majors include biology, chemistry, computer science, English, French, German, history, mathematics, physics, political science, and Spanish. 

Special education students may choose a major from the humanities, social sciences, or sciences. 

If possible, community college students should choose their bachelor’s degree major by the end of the first year at the College in order to ensure that the students’ course selections at J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College meet as many of the four-year institution’s requirements as possible.  

Students who have decided on their teacher licensure endorsement area and selected their four-year transfer institution should contact their advisor to explore whether a Teacher Education Admission Agreement exists between the Virginia Community College System and that institution.  The advisor can provide further information about the requirements and benefits of the agreement.    

Special Activities at J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College for Teachers

J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College is committed to assisting in the preparation of high quality teachers for the community. The College offers various opportunities to current and prospective teachers:

Virginia Teaching Scholarship Loan Program–Tuition Now, Service Later The Virginia Teaching Scholarship Loan Program is an incentive to students interested in pursuing a teaching career in a critical shortage teaching area. The critical shortage teaching areas are determined annually, but usually include fields such as special education, mathematics, earth science, career and technical education, foreign language, English as a second language, middle grades, library media, art, and reading specialist.  Males preparing to teach in the elementary grades and people of color in all teaching fields are also eligible.  More information is available from the Virginia Department of Education.  

Visit Reynolds’ Center for Teacher Education site for more information about Teacher Education.