Manchester Adult and Continuing Education

"Wouldn't expect much from the Manchester district - but since our summer camp was cancelled by the camp we had to find something affordable. Just very ordinary programs..."

"Manchester Adult and Continuing Education is an incredible program for students seeking achievement with their educational goals, certification, job opportunities, and ultimate success! Staff and students put forth all their professional and personal efforts to guide and support students in every way!"

"So many opportunities for certificates and programs. From CNA to Manufacturing. Its all up to you! The staff is friendly and the teachers/tutors really care about their students! You have Case Managers, Social Workers, and Academic Advisors! And the Director is as cool as can be!"

"Honestly the best summer camp in town! They also go above and beyond to work with my son. The classes are small and very well organized. My son tends to get overwhelmed if there is a lot of chaos and because of that he hated the schools town wide summer camp. Thankfully we found this camp and has has been going of the past 3 years. I wish they did a full 6-8 week summer camp! He has also taken a weekend course during the school year which was amazing and he still talks about it. Thank you to everyone who makes this camp happen!"

"I had a horrible experience last summer with Steam camp. The first issue was the fact that my twins were not put in the correct classes despite my father and I telling the director of the camp morning of on the 1st day and having a prior e-mail confirmation sent by the assistant director of the camp. I had the assist. Director change my kids and call me back to confirm the change. When she called me back I asked her a few questions, such as what were my twins doing. She sounded uncertain and nervous and this made me extremely uneasy. I decided to go check on my kids to make sure they were safe and in the correct classes. I found my kids away from their group without their teacher or any support staff directly with them. The teachers had no identification on them such as a name tag, lanyard or badge so I immediately questioned the two adults I saw who were apart of another camp using the same building. I was eventually approached by their teacher. I also noticed there was no security guard. I found this very odd. I did confront the staff about my concerns and was informed by the Director that the security guard could not make it due to an appointment he or she forgot about. I am unsure why she didn’t contact or have a back-up security guard come in. The assist. Director apologized about the incorrect placing of class and admitted she forgot to give the staff an updated schedule. It is mind boggling that a simple task and essential task was disregarded in this manner. It is crucial to have hundreds of kids in the correct class and to know where all the kids are. After addressing my concerns I decided to give this camp one more shot. I am a working single mother who did not want my children to spend their summers in front of a tv screen. In addition, covid has already ruined their preschool experience so summer camp before kindergarten was important for their development mentally, emotionally and physically. Unfortunately, this would be a mistake. When I picked up my children, I immediately knew something was wrong. They looked in distress and upset. Before I could even get to my kids my son asked me if he can have something to eat, that he was very hungry. I was so confused and asked him if he had lunch. This is when I was informed by both my son and daughter that they had not been given lunch. I was so upset! I immediately addressed this to the Director in which her response was that she had thrown away a bunch of sandwiches. My response was then other kids didn’t eat either. My 4 yr old babies went hungry because those in charge neglected to make sure they received lunch. As a result, I never brought my twins back to the camp. I met with our assist. Superintendent but there was follow up. To my knowledge at the time nothing was done. I found the staff to be extremely irresponsible of their duties. No child should go hungry! To run a camp with lack of safety (no security guard, lack of adult supervision (why were my twins alone away from their class and teacher)and no visible identification of staff, no prior instructions for parents in the event they need to check on their kids or pick them up early etc, for ex) visitor policy (I did not know of the policy or that there was a front office with staff during this summer camp/ no signs) putting kids in the wrong class and not giving them lunch is BEYOND COMPREHENSION & COMPLETELY UNACCEPTABLE. I decided to address my concerns to the Director of Adult Ed. Unfortunately, I was met with a lot of push back for referring to her staffs’ actions as neglectful. There was a lack of accountability both on her behalf and the Director of camp (who did not take responsibility in anything but rather blamed other staff members or said she did not know or remember in addition to some ridiculous excuses). I was spoken to like a child in part and also referred to as ignorant for not knowing something. The Director of Adult Ed has been an educator for longer than I have been alive. Not sure what happened to educating someone versus belittling them. I was also told I was exaggerating."