New Hampshire Job Corps Center — Local services in Manchester

I was a student of the New Hampshire Job Corps Center for 7 months. First thing first the center has a ZERO tolerance policy against violence and drugs.

I started in June of 2016.

July One of the first things I witnessed were the hazings. I was lured into another dorm room with the promise of "Rare Pokemon" (Pokemon Go was still very popular). There are 4 guys to a dorm room. I entered their room in which they closed and locked the door. Locking a dorm room door is a BIG no no. 1 guy guarded the door, 1 guy spectated from his bed, and 2 guys started whipping me on the back of my thighs with job corps issued belts. After it was all set and done I went back to my room and took pictures of the bruises. I still have these pictures.

September I was sitting in the common room of my assigned dorm filling out a weekend pass. When all of a sudden I hear a huge bang from down the hall. Knowing that 2 of the students in that room do not get along whatsoever, I sprinted down the hall and swung open the door. I see the bigger guy (6'2" 250lbs) standing over the small guy (5'4" 130lbs) who is laying on the bed obviously hurting. The big guy comes to the door way and the smaller guy stands up and I asked what is going on. The smaller guy said he was shoved into the wall. While attempting to defuse the situation the big guy got very irate again and pushed, with both hands, the smaller guy who then tripped and landed on the bed. Remeber that zero tolerance policy I mentioned? The big guy should have been terminated IMMEDIATELY. But instead was not punished in any way other than moving rooms for the night.

October I personally did not see what happened so I cannot and will not say what happened. The bigger student from the previous month got into another altercation with a different student who was sent to the hospital for neck injuries. This student was FINALLY terminated from the program and not allowed to return.

January-February It took me a long time to realize it, but the MOST staff at the center are very, very incompetent. The center is extremely compartmentalized. The Center Director Tamer Koheil, while in a meeting with me, my counselor and a handful of other staff. Insultingly referred to my counselor as "Your name". He didn't even know her name nor did her care to learn it. Your counselor will lie straight to your face and then deny it or try to change what they had already said.

I implore you not to send your son or daughter here. There are other, better ways to help your child grow both mentally and physically. I can't remember a time were I wasn't miserable...

My son is enrolled there and I am a high school teacher of 20+ years with an MEd. My comments are derived from conversations with my son. He has told me that the school is in many ways what you make of it. He is enrolled in the culinary program. He has stated repeatedly that the Chef is a great guy and works with the kids who want to learn and that he has learned quite a bit in his time there. He has also stated that the majority of students do not take the program seriously and that those who in his words, "bash the program" are often the ones who put no effort in and just "screw around" during the classes. He has made some good friends there and also mentioned he has learned quite a bit about life in general. He has met many students of different backgrounds and has figured out that many people out there have it tough, but those that work at getting out of those situations can succeed in a program like this. He loves the job training aspect.

As far as academics go he is less impressed. It is mostly online learning with some coaching from the staff. This works for him but is difficult for many.

He states that the food (outside of what they get to do in culinary class is mediocre at best. He uses much of what he earns to buy food from outside of the program.

The program is not for everyone, but does support those students who want to put the effort in. He will get his diploma through their program and be ready to move into a job as a cook right away if he chooses not to take a second training program or enter the military.

Could they do some things better, sure. All schools can. I think that much of their success or failure has a lot to do with the attitudes of the students there. Those who want to make it can, those who don't want to or aren't willing to put the effort in won't. It is a strict program, not...

DON'T DO IT!!! STAY FAR AWAY!!! They lure you in with false promises. It's everything but what they advertise it to be. They say it's a free education but in reality you pay for it with your sanity. It's pretty much like prison the beds break your back, the food is disgusting I got sick off the waffles they were so rubbery you couldn't even chew it, had a turkey sandwich for lunch and almost choked on it cause it was so dry that it was hard to swallow, you're put in a ridiculously small room with 3 other people mind you they put me in a room with all minors i was the only adult, no privacy at all, staff are incompetent and don't do anything to help you solve problems they just bounce you from one staff member to the next, wellness is absolutely horrible the nurses and the doctor are brutal and don't care. I was having panic attacks when I was there and they refused to let me have my anxiety medication and the doctor kept harassing me about high blood pressure and tried to tell me i had a high level of protein in my urine sample and said i was diabetic. I took this information to my urologist and primary care doctor both in which told me I was fine. These people apparently get their degrees out of a cereal box. If you like being woken up by staff opening your door at 6:30 am and yelling like your in military school and you like gross food and horrible roommates and poor medical treatment and don't care about privacy then this is the place for you. I wasted 3 months of my life in this place and found out the hard way that they lied about a lot of things just to get me in their program. If theres anything good that came out of the whole thing for me its i made a couple decent friends in there and made the smart choice to leave their program. You heard my experience now the choice is yours if you want to go...