teacher

behavior technician

special education teacher

program specialist

board certified behavior analyst

The New England Center for Children

Work/Life balance? Not here. You will be heavily pushed into working overtime every week. You will receive no support for working the additional hours even though burn out is inevitable with a job like this. You will receive emails and voicemails to come in early or on your day off. You are expected to read your emails off the clock and are given no time to do this on your shift. You will be forced to take on a “role” that you will NOT be paid for and will be expected to complete the work by deadline no matter if you have to take it home. 
The salary is not great and recently they have been shown to provide higher salaries to staff that have just started, but when senior staff ask for a raise we are practically scolded and made to feel guilty. Sure, the master programs are discounted, but anywhere you go does that. The programs are elongated and take an extra 1-2 years to complete than the 2 years it actually takes. They WILL NOT accommodate your school schedule! But enrolling in a program is heavily encouraged to receive any form of a promotion. If you’re not in a masters program you should expect to stay in your position for the entire duration working here. 
Breaks are like hitting the goldmine here. Working a 13 hour day? You will be lucky to get 30 minutes to yourself. We are often scheduled to go to meetings or complete work during our breaks. And yes, it’s considered a break anytime you are not with students. When this was questioned and complaints were made we got pushback from supervisors and HR and given the option to have a 30 minute break (unpaid) and making it up at the end of your shifts or 1 hour breaks (paid) that you will still be required to work during. We were treated as if we were being unreasonable. With the lack of support here, working without breaks makes the days feel so much longer. 
Promotions are political and based on if you are well liked by your supervisor. The process appears to be based on a points system but your supervisor has the power to prevent you from receiving any promotions. This is frequently done when supervisors want to keep staff/managers to avoid needing to retrain. Want to transfer to a different team? Hope your supervisor doesn’t block your transfer request too, yeah they can do that. The good this about this is that you have to really really mess up to get fired from here!! So show up, don’t even do the bare minimum, and they will keep you just to be a body. Your managers will be expected to pick up the slack with no additional support or pay. When they don’t pick up that slack they will get the typical necc supervisor treatment of micromanagement, micro aggression, bad schedules, etc. Toxic workplace that will leave you looking for a therapist when you leave. 

I work in the public school partner classroom and I feel unappreciated at work, overwhelmed daily and completely burnt out. My salary is very low considering the work and daily tasks I complete every day.  NECC does not pay their staff fairly. I have no lunch break and barely have time to go to the bathroom at work. The classroom I work in is cold and unwelcoming. For example, NECC doesn’t provide staff a place to put their jackets, bags and personal items in a safe spot while on shift at work. Staff has no other option but to lug their bags, winter jackets and lunch from desk to desk with the current student they are  working at the given time. That may seem like a small issue however it makes me feel very under appreciated that NECC can’t allocate a small spot for staff’s personal belonging in our classroom. It’s very easy to show small gestures of appreciation to staff by simply providing them a place to safely store their personal belongings throughout the day and not on the floor of the classroom around students who have aggression and can potentially damage our personal items. If you want to get experience in the public school sector this job is great however be prepared to get paid too little, be burnt out and dread coming to work most days. On a positive note, NECC truly provides amazing services and support for individuals with autism which I admire. That is one of the only things I like and appreciate about NECC as a whole. That being said, NECC needs to treat their employees better. I do not recommend NECC partner classrooms to anyone wanting to feel appreciated at work, and to be compensated with a fair salary.

The masters programs are great, but once you’re in you are an indentured servant that gets treated like nothing  because you can’t leave without paying back all of your tuition. 
Illegal practices as far as sick time (asking for doctors notes even when you have sick time built up) and breaks (making you be in trainings or meetings for your one break of the day). Moving up is all about politics, nothing to do with how good you are at your job. Everything is about playing favorites. Executives and HR are more concerned with making the school appear nice to outsiders than worrying about the morale and mental health of their staff (they worry about things like which students are allowed in the executive building and making sure protective equipment isn’t showing in pictures, because heaven forbid executives have to see a kid with autism in their building and the world would end if we acknowledged that we have to wear gear around our students). They’re so desperate for people at this point that they are hiring and keeping incompetent staff that get the good staff hurt and put on paperwork. Some staff get feedback for not smiling enough while other staff are allowed to mess up time and time again with no consequences. 
Overall, unless you are getting your masters here, I would not recommend working here. And even then.. get your masters and get out! 
For a company that claims to care and promote behavior analysis, you’d think that they would be better at applying behavior analytic principles to their staffing issues, but they either don’t care or they’re too cheap.

This school is amazing in providing for their students and their students families. If you are interested in special education or Applied behavior Analysis this would be a great place for you to work. They  provide great trainings and offer opportunities for their employees to advance their education as well. I learned a lot while working here and you form great relationships with your co-workers, as trust and teamwork is essential while working in the residential department of the school. Management was always available, although many employees ( myself included) felt that at times we were overworked and undervalued. An vague example being you were mostly chastised for a mistake rather than praised for constant good work. To be fair this depended on what team you worked on and who the main clinical supervisor was. The hardest part of the job was helping to train and teach new hires ( there was a high overturn rate). The most enjoyable part was far and away the kids I worked with, the trainings and clinical opportunities as well as friendships I made through long hours with certain coworkers.

My time at NECC has been incredibly special. I feel so fortunate to have such a unique role as the Social Media Coordinator. This position has opened countless doors for me. I’ve had the privilege of joining teams on community trips—whether it’s apple picking, attending the Special Olympics, going to the movies, and more. Through my work, I’ve been able to capture milestones that students achieve, sharing these meaningful moments with their families and the world.

This role has also allowed me to connect with various departments, offering my support and sharing their stories. I’m passionate about highlighting the unique journeys of everyone at NECC because it’s the people that make this place so extraordinary. The teachers here don’t just give their all to their students; they extend that same dedication to families and to themselves through their tireless efforts each day.

Working at NECC has been a constant source of inspiration. I feel as if I am living in an inspiration bubble and I'm so grateful to grow and thrive alongside the incredible teachers and students who make this organization so amazing.

The New England Center for Children has a great reputation. While the people here have done great work, what goes on a NECC is anything but impressive.

Here is what you can expect as an employee at NECC:

High-strung staff and supervisors that care more about their reputation than the kids. 

You pay $250/course for the grad program and NECC pays the rest. If you leave the company for any reason before completing the program you have to pay NECC back the entire amount they paid.

There are only limited opportunities for advancement, and they only hire up from within. It's more of a popularity contest than it is based on merit. 

Teachers can expect a schedule that consists of painfully long shifts and unbalanced, odd hours. 

New-hires are always treated like they are incompetent. Always. On all teams. Every single time.

A toxic environment.

It is not only common for parents to get lied to, it is actually something you are forced to do. If you say anything about not agreeing with it, you absolutely will be given negative feedback.

NECC is a wonderful place to work if you want to pursue your Master's in ABA or Special Education. The clinical experience is great, and you learn a lot about the special needs education system as well as behavioral analysis.

However, be prepared for low compensation for your efforts, inflexible work hours, contractual employment, limited opportunity to move up, dangerous work environments, and zero time to eat, drink water, or use the bathroom while working.

Management is very removed from the direct care teachers. They can be unsympathetic and cliquey. If you have a supervisor who does not like you, good luck moving up and advancing your career there.

Some staff members have big egos, and can be rude and minimizing to newer staff or less knowledgeable staff.

Work hard, and your efforts will be recognized. If you are good at the job, your students will respond wonderfully to you, and you will truly create positive change with those you work with. Best part about the job are the kids and watching them learn and grow.

I'll start with the positives: the students and staff are great. However, the ABA system as a whole is rotten (which I would never have learned without working here, so I guess I can thank them for that). Immediate supervisors are good, but the higher ups are so disconnected form their employees it's not even funny. CEO makes $500k+ a year while staff make poverty wages. Lack of diversity in management.

They say it's supposed to be 1:1 but since they're always understaffed that never happens. You don't get breaks, not even for lunch. Then they wonder why they have such high burnout and turnover.

They do not take mental health seriously and guilt you into not taking sick days. At one point the sick policy required you to actually call in and explain why you needed the day off. This is incredibly invasive. Basic benefits were $110/paycheck (bi-weekly)

*Might* be worth if if you are interested in the grad school program, but then again, I'd advise you to look into what the autistic community has to say about ABA first.

I felt mislead by some of the management. I was told I was a good candidate for a promotion every year, but didn't receive one for 3 years. I had to switch departments and was promoted the next year. Such decisions are made on the director level only, which means they may be someone who barely ever observed your work and isn't involved in your mentorship or training what so ever. Most of the directors have had enough turnover in recent years that this isn't the case, but there are certainly some who judge based on first impressions. NECC is a good place to learn, but not a good place (for most) to grow, as everyone in middle management is terribly over-qualified for their job and under paid. That being said, you will get some of the best experience and training any where. It's a fair trade if you are able to graduate from a masters program on a reasonable timeline--but many people take an extra 1-3 years.

This is a very challenging job. The students themselves are wonderful, but the ABA approach to working with them can at times feel too harsh and rigid. I would not recommend working here, as it is a very stressful job and staff are largely exploited with low wages and long hours. The approach to supervision here in my experience was very critical and unfeeling. I never felt supported or valued at this job. There is favoritism in advancement and a phoniness to the company’s efforts to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion. While there are certainly some truly kind people here, I am not convinced that much of the upper management truly cares about staff or students, but rather about making themselves look good to make a profit. That said, I did grow a lot from my experiences here and working this job has made all subsequent jobs feel much easier and happier. 

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Teacher 9 salaries reported	$46,422 per year
Behavior technician 24 salaries reported	$23.97 per hour
Special education teacher 4 salaries reported	$70,313 per year
Program specialist 4 salaries reported	$77,563 per year
Board certified behavior analyst 7 salaries reported	$73,364 per year

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