direct support professional

licensed practical nurse

board certified behavior analyst

special education teacher

registered nurse

Shrub Oak International School

What is the best part of working at the company?
My experience at Shrub Oak International School was disappointing and, at times, disheartening. While the organization promotes itself as mission-driven and values-based, my experience did not reflect those principles in practice.

The school emphasizes training in the Arbinger Institute and promotes an “outward mindset” approach. However, there was a noticeable disconnect between what was taught and how leadership and staff interactions were actually handled on a daily basis.

Professionalism and respect in communication—particularly within HR—were lacking. Interactions often felt dismissive and unnecessarily harsh rather than supportive or solution-oriented, which made it difficult to feel valued as an employee.
There also appeared to be broader organizational concerns. The school offers high salaries, which may initially attract staff, but there seemed to be challenges sustaining this model. High turnover was noticeable, including among individuals in higher-paying positions, which raised concerns about long-term stability and overall workplace culture.
Based on my experience, there were inconsistencies between the organization’s stated values and its internal practices. I would encourage prospective employees to ask detailed questions about culture, leadership, and retention before accepting a position.

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Professionalism and respect in communication—particularly within HR—were lacking. Interactions often felt dismissive and unnecessarily harsh rather than supportive or solution-oriented, which made it difficult to feel valued as an employee.

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
The workplace environment was characterized by a constant sense of uncertainty and fear of termination. This atmosphere made it difficult for staff to feel secure or supported in their roles. As a result, overall morale was consistently low, and there was a noticeable lack of trust between staff and leadership.

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
A typical day often involved navigating multiple layers of stress, including concerns about personal safety and job security. There was an ongoing fear of being physically injured due to the nature of the work, combined with a persistent sense of uncertainty around job stability. This created an environment where staff were frequently on edge, making it difficult to feel secure or fully supported in their roles.

The good:

Free lunch if you fill out the form
PTO policy isn't bad and not too much hassle if days are requested in advance
Active environment

The bad:

Shady management and tactics
Lackluster training
Supervisors are relatively MIA and never on the same page
High turnover rate

Summary:

Shrub Oak International School is not a place I would recommend to anyone who is a hard worker, as they punish the hard working and reward the lazy. People who work hard don't get any incentives. They just throw them to the wolves and hope they come back leading the pack without much training outside of CPI. The PTO policy, while not terrible in terms of hours racked, is pretty meh overall. Supervisors decide when days can't be taken off, so if you have anything important to do, I suggest you put the PTO in ASAP. They don't break the hours up into sick days and they don't offer mental health days, which is absurd considering the amount of stress this job provides from both students AND staff. In addition to that, the amount of shady things that the school covers is alarming and the amount of relations had at work from staff on the clock is disturbing. If this were a public school, it would've been shut down a long time ago.

It wasn't all bad, as the free lunch and free gym is nice, but if you don't pick up your lunch without an excuse, you'll be punished for 2 weeks by not being allowed to put in an order.

All in all, for a field that many say is a rewarding field, my time at Shrub Oak felt anything but rewarding. Save yourself the headache and look elsewhere.

The staff that you work with at a teaching or aid level or fantastic. When I worked there, we were collaborative together to benefits the knees of the students who are on the spectrum. Typical day depends on which student you are supporting and accordance to their independence level and age. But for the residential students, it typically looked like getting up for breakfast, getting to class lunch class and then back to the rooms at the end of the education day shift. Supervisor in the education department are fantastic all the way up to the supervisor of the supervisors for the department. However, administration above what would be considered the principles level really really needs to spend a day in the classroom in order to help promote independence and create policies that actually benefit the students. Besides the behaviors, I honestly believe the hardest part of the job is making sure you’re there on time not only that you get there on time And that you relieve the previous shift on time. I believe is the most enjoyable part of this job is Building relationship between yourself and the students as well as between yourself and the other staff.


The lunches are provided for free.  They include a couple different salads and sandwiches. 

This place is obsessed with its image. As soon as you move past the lobby, a whole different story unfolds. Yes, the pay can seem pretty decent for the circumstances but only on a good day. Good days are few and far-inbetween. Some only care to put in minimum effort. Most of these people seem to be management. Not saying all are bad but the campus life Director is the worst I’ve ever seen and the others I’ve met holding various roles seemed complacent, overwhelmed or uncaring. I’ve watched this disorganization lead to poor working conditions, comically bad employee retention and thus substandard living conditions for the individuals residing here. Many supervisors are the crutch of this place, most administrative work being shoved off to them but because the persistence of short staffing, they’re usually occupied or can’t always effectively help you. I’ve seem many people get hurt here unfortunately and (god forbid) I’ve always had a bad feeling that something terrible is going to happen here. I hope it never comes to this.

Shrub Oak is a school that displays the appearance of being inviting and supportive, well orginized to its front line staff but is the opposite. Training was infrequent  and not sutabale for the student population. There are expectations made but no instructions on how do do meat those expectations . Then when its done "wrong" you are the problem. Staff when upset can simply walk into Human resources make accusations. With out proper investigation ppl will get fired. The only disaplanary actions are firing, no suspension, department transfers or demotion. no write ups ect. The turnover for DSP are high... high number of staff more willing to backstabbing to get positions than work. It is easier to get the position you want by getting co-workersin trouble then actually doing a good job. in the two years of existence there have been 3 directors of education. 3 clinical cirectors, multiple supervisor changes the only one that has not changed is Human resources 

What is the best part of working at the company?
10 hour shifts are available for the overnight workers.

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Some members if leadership, while seemingly supportive, were quick to react rather than respond. 

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Work environs can be haried. The culture by outward appearance would be in line with what one would expect from a place committed to assisting those children on the spectrum. Intentions are good, follow through might be a little lacking. 

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Sign in for your time/ pay.. get your assignment,  get a briefing from whomever you are relieving and assume your post. Sign into the app where all children are listed. Find the children in your charge and make relevant notes and comments.

What is the best part of working at the company?
Poor management, lack of respect or descent treat of their employees at least in the community life department DSP position.  

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Lack of training to deal with autistic children and young adults.  You expected to continue working even after being physically assaulted by a student. You have to take your break while you are supposed to be monitoring and assisting more than one child, teen, or young adult. 

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Chaotic, day to day to many people wanting to led. 

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Long draining and emotionally draining and stressful. No guidance from management of applications you have to download on your phone to document the child's daily activities

What is the best part of working at the company?
I learned a lot with working with individuals on the Autistic spectrum. The coworkers were very supportive . I had some very behaviorally challenged individuals and that taught me patience and perseverance over all. 

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Working with staff shortage towards the end of my time there.

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Prioritizes the students overall, with emphasis on regulations regarding the clientele.

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Get students up from bed, get them ready for breakfast then start their day at school. repeat for lunch, then back to class, then back to their dorms for the next shift to get the clients. Attended a lot of meetings and trainings as well!

Working here was mental and emotional turture. Learned nothing useful. The drug management and distribution practices are completely incompetent and professionally bankrupt. The nursing staff for the most part, with a few exceptions are unprofessional ,ignorant and a disgrace to the profession. Management is unresponsive, absent and incapable of providing cinstructive and balanced feedback. the workplace culture is demeaning as well as toxic with an utter lack of professionalism. The hardest part of the job is just being surrounded by such low quality and unresponsive leadership. The most enjoyable part of this job was interacting with the kids and the pay although the good pay is frankly not worth the trouble.

Most of the staff that works here have a genuine interest in helping the students, but the place is a revolving door. People come and go like is a sport and 90% of the employees don't last a whole year. 
Upper management is just unqualified, and employee retention is basically nonexistent. Extremely unsafe situations happen on a daily basis, due in part because of how ill prepared most of the staff is to deal with this type of environment.
I have a lot of respect for those who struggle with these conditions and still show up for work, putting their own safety on the line because of this. Being in a position where you can bring these issues up for debate and being ignored time and time again, to the point of being reprimanded, is extremely frustrating and the main reason why I decided to part ways with the institution. 

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Direct support professional 20 salaries reported	$21.78 per hour
Licensed practical nurse 3 salaries reported	$45.00 per hour
Board certified behavior analyst 2 salaries reported	$111,250 per year
Special education teacher 3 salaries reported	$87,000 per year
Registered nurse 6 salaries reported	$115,000 per year

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