North Bennet Street School

I would HIGHLY advise any person seeking a Preservation Carpentry degree to just do regular Carpentry. If Steve is still the year one instructor, you'll want to spoon your eyes out. He is a great craftsman and does good work, but he is a lousy educator and does not know how to read a room at all. The Introduction to architectural drawing part of the year was the worst experience of my life, and should be deleted or severely abbreviated. The Carpentry course has cooler instructors, you actually build stuff all day, not sit a bench and rub chisels on sandpaper. And then at the end of the year, the carpentry guys have a little crash course on what the preservation guys had to spend all year learning. Save your time, money, and sanity and just sign up for Carpentry. To give you an idea, in my class, 3 people switched after one week of Preservation Carpentry, and when I wanted to, I couldn't since carpentry was full. I would say the carpentry program is a FIVE star for sure, and the pres. carpentry COULD be a LOT better if , hopefully Steve isn't there anymore, and some of the brutally boring crap was less drawn out or maybe just like ONE day. After one year of preservation carpentry you will be a master of sharpening chisels, and cutting dove tails. that's it (just use youtube for free) and one year of Carpentry, you will pretty much learn how to build a house from the ground up, you learn stuff like, cutting rafters, building walls, headers, sills, framing out windows and doors properly, trimming out windows and doors, installing windows and doors, flooring, roofing, cutting valley rafters, making smaller projects like boxes and cabinets, and SO MUCH MORE. ONE star for Preservation carpentry, FIVE stars for Carpentry. I remember taking a tour of the carpentry area and seeing all the stuff they were building, some of which was the SAME as us, but in a way cooler, more fun and social environment. Please trust me. OH, the ONE cool thing about Preservation was taking a tour of all the historical structures around Boston, of which there are MANY. That was amazing, BUT something you can do yourself without the lamest tour guide ever.

Cannot recommend the Locksmith program until a new instructor is brought in. Eddy is not fit to teach. I could write a novel, but here are some highlights: -He was barred from going to graduation because several students felt unsafe around him -The WHOLE CLASS (9 of us) wrote formal complaints against him -Would threaten to expel students or not sign our diplomas if he didn't like us -Had meltdowns in front of the whole class. Would spend the first 2 hours throwing a tantrum (and not teaching) Go to Lockmasters Institute, hopefully they have competent trades people that are passionate about their profession. I'm an Afghanistan War veteran and Eddy felt the need to disrespect me in front of the whole class on a regular basis.

I’ve been in the Locksmithing program since September 2020 and have had an awesome experience thus far. Rob Dwyer is very personable and was extremely helpful throughout my entire application process. Bob at the front desk and Kristen at the gift shop are super nice people and I look forward to coming in every morning and greeting them. The program head, Barbara Baker, is an amazing teacher and has taught me so much in so little time. She takes the training very seriously and not only expects you to put out the best work that you possibly can, but she will motivate you to do so. Through her instruction, I have gained a large amount of confidence in myself and my abilities both in and out of locksmithing. My time at the school has gone so well that I made the choice to apply for their carpentry program and continue growing my skillset here.