New England Culinary Arts Training

NECAT’s curriculum is designed to prepare students to meet the needs of employers looking for qualified Cooks, Prep Cooks and Line Cooks. The lessons are designed to accommodate all learning styles and address the challenges our adult learners often face when re-acclimating to a school setting. Annually, we enroll 8 cohorts of 20 students, for a total of 160 students each year. Class is held Monday through Thursday, 9:00 am to 3:00 pm, for 24 hours of training each week

Our engaging and experiential 14-week curriculum teaches the full range of technical and “soft” skills required by employers. Students spend the first half of the program primarily in the classroom and cold lab observing chef demos, learning food science, studying for and taking their ServSafe exams and practicing knife cuts. They also spend time developing job readiness proficiencies such as their elevator pitches, interviewing, and resume writing and online job applications. Additionally, computer literacy and financial literacy are taught. Finally, we provide training to help them improve the critical behavioral and attitudinal skills necessary to secure and retain employment, largely through Social Emotional lesson plans and Case Management.

Students spend the second seven weeks in the kitchen, implementing their training through hands on lessons, cooking and serving lunch every day, supporting NECAT’s catering activities and completing at least 2 off-site culinary stages (working a shift in a professional kitchen as a form of interview) to practice their skills in a real-world setting and to test out different work environments before selecting their permanent jobs. Most students secure their jobs from these stages, or from the career fairs that we regularly host at our Center. We find that the kitchen provides a unique and highly effective learning environment for students, as it requires extraordinary levels of teamwork, communication and accountability.

In addition to training, students also receive ample support from our Student Services Director, Social Emotional Facilitator, and Case Managers to access to any community resources they need to overcome the challenges facing them outside of NECAT.