North Bennet Street School

You have been warned. I was in the carpentry class this year 2015 and it was one of the biggest forms of time wasted in my life besides the fact that what we learned did not live up to the hype and tuition cost the teacher was a real jerk and highly unorganized and by jerk I don’t mean rough around the edges I mean racists and demeaning (making jokes about lynching black people and selling slaves even called one of the females students a bi@#$ to her face!) now if that does not bother you fine, but the lack of professionalism will, we didn’t even get to finish the end of the year big project (building an addition) all we did was frame it and we was promise that we would finish it. They say they help you find jobs but really all they do is post up a bunch of employers that are hiring. Only there favorite student (s) gets the inside hook up. They do make you a resume and that’s about it. They did have a job fair this year and crazy thing is representatives from the companies barley knew anything about the school at least the ones I talk to anyway and the other half that was supposed to be there was not, (but that’s not that big a deal in retrospect) what’s more important is that we was rushed in most of everything that we did. it was obvious that nothing was really planed out and there was literally tons of days where students left early because we was just sitting around in the class doing nothing. There were days where the teacher would leave the class for like a half hour in the middle of us doing something for the first time. He was always on his phone texting ALL THE TIME. Don’t believe me ok; if your thinking about going to the school ask them a few questions (1) did the students last year finish their major end of the year project (2) What was the general consensus of the teacher (They made us all submit reviews of the teacher and barley anyone had anything good to say FACTS) (3) Was there reports of racist/​sexist and unprofessional comments made by the teacher? If so what was the repercussions (I’ll tell you right now he just got one day off of work but they call it a suspension). (4)How many students complained that the teacher was on his phone too much and left the class too often Now you might say hold on their that sounds like a bad teacher not a bad school well here is the second part…
I was literally told by the school president that this was a «business» in what context you ask. I was asking if they would fire the teacher for all the things I mentioned above about the lack of professionalism and lack of learning. He was more concerned about the image the school would have if they did that. (but not the image of being a resist/​sexist school I guess) 2 days (swear to god) before graduation I was told that because I brought everything to the forefront about what was really going on in the school I was now in their words «magnified» and could not graduate because I miss to many days of school how many days I asked «40 days of unexcused absences!». Now ask yourself this if that was true would they wait 2 days before graduation to let me know that… NO! They was trying to punish me for coming forward and I was not having it… long story short I called them out on it and explain that this is blatant form of discrimination and ask them prove to me that I miss that many days, they then decided to give me my diploma
If you’re a board member or someone who holds stake in the school please inquire about everything I have said in this review especially the stuff about the teacher making slave jokes, calling a female the B word, not finishing out the end of the year project, and what was done about the situation and most important of all ask to read the teacher & school reviews, we all made one and I’m sure the administration has copy’s. Nothing I said here was an exaggeration or misleading. I wish that I learned carpentry by joining the union or worked under a contractor/​company and learn while I earn. At this point I hope something changes for the carpentry program so others don’t have to go through what we all did. save your hard earn money and precious time it’s not worth it. It’s one thing to say there’s one bad apple but when the administration sits back and lets the bad apple spoil it for everybody its everybody’s fault. They hired someone who only had 2 years teaching experience for a school like this… think about it.

My experience with the jewelry making and repair course was similar to Kami F.‘s, in that often my questions were ignored or dismissed. Many times, when they were answered, they were answered through the clenched teeth of the head instructor. I hung in there almost to the end of the first semester, but toward the end of the semester I was not allowed to go to the assistant instructors for help, but was told by the head instructor that I would be allowed to see only her. There were often long lines to see her, however, but I was required to wait, even if the assistant instructors were free. When I fell a few days behind the other class members I was called into the head instructor’s office. She told me I «would not be welcome» to come back the following semester because I «was struggling» to keep up. Later, after I began to write a number of bad reviews, I was told the school had also wrongfully accused me of «verbally abusing» my fellow classmates – something I would NEVER have done! This accusation was new to me as I had not been charged with such misconduct during my attendance there!

I took jewelry classes here a few years ago, and I really enjoyed it, it was very comprehensive and fun, until the teacher pulled me aside after class one day, and told me that if I kept asking questions during class time I wouldn’t be welcome anymore. She said that I was interrupting everyone else’s learning, and if it wasn’t covered during class, I could look up the answers at home. I was shocked. I’d spent a lot of money on these classes, and I’ve never had a teacher tell me to stop asking questions. Ever. I was pretty upset, and needless to say, I didn’t go back.

Wanna learn how to woodwork? bookbind? make jewelry? reupholster furniture? Or perhaps you want to expand upon your already excellent locksmithing techniques? NBS is where you can do all that and more.
Me? I’m a bookbinder. I was doing okay learning on my own, but I was quite sure my techniques were amateurish and could be improved upon. Turns out I was right. During my first class I finally learned how to properly sew a signature (signatures are the sections of paper that make up a book). It seemed so simple once the instructor just showed me (why do illustrations in instructional books suck so bad?). The second class? Proper backing. My half-​assed way worked perfectly good, but now I can be assured my journals won’t fall apart with continued use. By the end of my third class I had completed two books and was ¾ the way done with my third. With two weeks to go I want to bang out two more books– and one will even have words. Fancy.
The workshops are pricey, but you are getting very good instruction in well-​equipped studios (with small class sizes so if you have questions your instructor can actually help you). And, if you are even more adventurous or need a career change, you can go for a full blown «degree» in a variety of trade crafts: violin making, cabinet and furniture making, piano technology, amongst others.
If you aren’t the handy/​artsy type you should at least stop by their storefront– they sell works completed by students, past & present. Everything from blank journals to violins to exquisitely crafted furniture (there’s a chair in there right now that I must have).