Our Carpentry program encourages a commitment to excellence and a mastery of the craft. In 36 weeks, you’ll be able to jump-start your carpentry career and earn a return on your educational investment. Our small class sizes give you plenty of one-on-one time with your instructors, who are master carpenters.
In this program, you’ll learn how to construct and renovate residential and commercial buildings. You’ll use hand tools and machines, and learn the different practices of current and emerging industry standards. You’ll experience the importance of working together safely and efficiently on building sites to meet your clients’ needs.
Our Carpentry facilities are well-suited for lectures, benchwork, and small building projects. In addition, you’ll work off-site on construction that may include house additions, garages, or similar projects.
Perhaps one of the more misunderstood aspects of trades, particularly in carpentry, is the precision it takes to realize accurate and functional results. This is highlighted when taking on projects like stair building, which may seem deceptively easy to the untrained eye but is in fact somewhat complex. Read more about this annual student project from recent Carpentry graduate Amanda Gray CA '19.
In recent years, there has been an uptick in programs encouraging women to change their perception of the trades. These new and expanded strategies are an effort to help women see what was once a male-dominated industry as a viable career option. We explore the changing landscape of the building trades in this series – while also celebrating some of the talented women who began their careers at NBSS and are making an impact in their fields.
Before becoming enrolling in the NBSS Carpentry program, Michelle Her CA '18 worked as a United States Navy Seabee (Naval Construction Force), building gun ranges, warehouses, schools, and pavilions. Today, Michelle works as a carpenter for Columbia Contracting, performing the majority of her work in greater Boston. Meet another tradeswoman featured in our Women in the Building Trades series.
Woodworking Network featured NBSS in an article in the July 2019 issue of FDMC Magazine. They highlighted the work of two recent graduates, Abbie Smith CF '19, a US Marine Corps veteran, and Diego Rojas CA '17, PC '19, a first-generation American, as well as NBSS President Sarah Turner. Read the full article here.
Have you ever noticed a team craning up a Christmas tree to place on top of a nearly-finished building? Perhaps you've driven under a recently refurbished bridge and spied a large wreath at the top of its massive arch. In each case, this practice is part of a long history of builder's rituals dating back thousands of years.
When someone says it's time to raise the roof, it usually signals a celebration. But when a client asked Carpentry Department Head Brian Vogt PC '94 to raise the roof on a structure earlier this year, he knew any plans for party music would have to wait. An atypical project with some special elements yielded a fruitful off-site learning project for the students – and a pleased property owner.
"I felt carpentry and the comprehensive and specialized training at NBSS would be a springboard for me to become a master at my new trade."
Philip Benevides CA '13
View More Carpentry Alumni Profiles