Pennco Tech — Local services in Gloucester Township

If you are a part of the LGBT community, an ally, believe in equal rights or just believe that people should be treated with respect DO NOT promote this school. My friend started at Pennco Tech on 9/5/25 for the full time technician program. My friend just so happens to be transgender. When he interviewed at the school it went smoothly, the staff was welcoming and treated him no differently. The FA office staff was very supportive and made sure to do everything they could for him to be able to start. Unfortunately, his treatment from the staff and students changed quickly. On day one, 9/5/25 he was targeted by other students (who are adults). The students were using derogatory terms and hate speech. It was reported to Mr. Murphy and the students received “full write ups”. Sadly, the bullying towards my friend didn’t stop, it continued. It was reported and nothing was done. As a concerned friend I went to the school to advocate for my friend and met with Mr Gordon who is the school director. Initially when I mentioned the bullying Mr Gordon he had no knowledge of it and summoned Mr. Murphy to his office who confirmed the bullying and the “ full write ups”. When I voiced concern as the bullying was continuing to happen, I was told they needed “proof” that my friend was being targeted and bullied. Mr Gordon suggested my friend record the bullying, fortunately my friend had recorded an incident when students were kicking his chair and he asked them to stop only for them to continue to kick his chair. He sent the recording to Mr. Murphy and we were told it would be handled. On the next school day my friend returned to school and the students were making comments in front of him stating they were going to record conversations and send it to Mr. Murphy. The comments made my friend uncomfortable. He went to Mr Gordon who told him he was creating these situations in his head (even though on day one they wrote up several individuals for bullying and derogatory words). Mr Gordon then accused my friend of being prejudiced towards the bullies. Mr Gordon told my friend that if the other students knew about the recording then he was the one who told them (so my friend told his bullies that he recorded them) My friend left school. I received a phone call from Mr Gordon who informed me that my friend was in his office inquiring about withdrawing from the program. I told Mr. Gordon that maybe my friend not returning to the school was the best choice because they were not protecting him against the bullying. Mr Gordon told me that I am not the student's (my friend) family and he doesn't even need to speak to me but was out of courtesy. While on the phone with Mr Gordon and his superior, Mr Gordon told me that he wrote up the students and there was no more he could do without proof. When I asked if the staff or other students were questioned about the continuing bullying after my friend reported it, Mr Gordon told me no. So, they wanted my friend to investigate his own bullying. My friend decided that he was going to continue with the program and not allow bullies to drive him away from a career he wanted. On the next school day my friend returned to Pennco Tech for class and Mr Gordon told him that I said he wanted to withdraw from the program. My friend stated to Mr Gordon that I did not say that nor can I make decisions for him because I am not his family (that is exactly what Mr Gordon said to me the day before on the phone in front of his superior). My friend pleaded with Mr Gordon to let him stay and Mr Gordon forced him with verbal harassment to sign the withdrawal papers. Mr Gordon told my friend that they did not want me at the school with my concerns.

So basically they kicked my friend out of school because he was being bullied for being transgender. The school claims to have policies against bullying when it seems the only policy they have is to remove the person being bullied. The school did not protect my friend and frowned on me advocating for his equal rights to get an education to be part of...

I want to start off by saying that this is the best decision I made by far. I attended the day Medical Assistant day program but for those who are looking into where & why to choose this school to attend I will explain why it worked best for me.

Cost: I live near Atlantic City area and Pennco (blackwood) provided the best cost as far as schooling. The financial aid department was very informative

Staff: You will see that the first day of school until your last there that there is always someone there to speak with when you have any concerns about your schooling. After graduation and during school you are still provided with all the information you need to make sure you find employment. Keep in mind if/ when you graduate you still haven't found a job, you still have full access to Pennco and they do provide assistance. YOU'RE IN GOOD HAND.

Parking: Each department has parking available. Be there on time and you'll get the best parking which applies to anything in life.

Attendance: The policy is extremely helpful for those who have children or work FT jobs and go to school. I mean just like any other place, don't try to take advantage because you will soon realize missing a day of class is like missing 4 days. You want to be on top of your work.

Teachers: We have two teachers who are hands down amazing. They don't ever want to see you struggling or worried about any test let alone the CCMA. Mrs.Tullio & Mrs.Shultz are hands down the best teachers that you will have. You will be given all the information you need, all the study flash cards & all the correct websites that will also help you aside from the study material that they are giving you. I have learned enough and kept an open mind on how and where to excel after I passed the CCMA thanks to the help of both Mrs. T & Mrs.Shultz. I do want to tell you they mold you to perfection for the real world so do not worry at all when choosing this program. The clinical aspect, you should be mindful that clinical days are as if you are in the field, which means you will wear your scrubs, take blood pressure & ect. Your classmate is your patient and I loved that because you were able to take you clinical days and prepare yourself. Terminology, Mrs.T is huge of making sure she is including knew ways into the day to teach you. Games(terminology break downs) , flashcards, images and ect. Always something new and exciting when coming into class. You are literally in great hands.

I HOPE THIS HELPS WHOEVER IS CHOOSING TO ENROLL INTO THE MA COURSE...

This review is based on the bathroom situation. Mrs Tullio is an amazing teacher and Mr Murphy is very helpful. Some of the staff is great so I don't have any complaints regarding them. The bathroom situation though is horrible. The medical assistant program is close to the front bathrooms and they make us go all the way upstairs to a bathroom that only has 2 stalls, for the amount of girls that are there. The bathrooms are seldom cleaned. The water has lead and there's a foul smell in there always. The bathrooms in the front of the building we are in are locked and we aren't allowed to used them. Those are cleaned and always stocked up. The other bathrooms sometimes don't even have soap and aren't cleaned. When we approached the director to plead to allow us to use the front bathrooms he said there was nothing he could do. He said the staff complains of us dirtying the bathrooms but when we were allowed to use the front bathrooms because the upstairs one was clogged, we witnessed the staff being the ones to actually dirty the bathrooms. It's very disappointing to be put through this situation everyday. It's unsanitary and unsafe. Just the fact that director doesn't care about our well-being, even though we expressed some of us being older and needing a closer bathroom that's clean and reliable is very...