Ottumwa Job Corps Center

i just think its a good place to go to for kids to be fr with you

my brother has been going for a few days but he has yet to text to complain so idk why everyone is 1 staring

Both of my sons attended the Ottumwa Job Corps Center right out of high school. They both succeeded and graduated. They have successful careers and Job Corps provided the foundation for year success!!

TO ALL WHO ARE INTERESTED, READ THIS REVIEW!!!!

First, I’ll list all the good reasons why you should consider going to Ottumwa, Iowa Job Corps. First, it’s a new center. It’s only 5+ years old. There are showers and bathrooms inside your rooms and you get to lay in comfy beds. Not to mention, there’s a reading light above each of the beds, so you can turn on your lights to either read, do homework, or look for stuff because it’s made for the dark. The cafeteria food is delicious and they have a variety of food available. The educational materials that they provide are helpful and insightful. It’s also correct and the educational materials show you how to do the problems step by step. In each of the buildings there are water coolers to which they have fresh water inside of them, so you don’t have to drink disgusting tap water. The only reason that I gave Ottumwa, Iowa Job Corps Center five stars is because this is an educational facility and people who rate should only rate what it stands for and it stands for education. 10/10 for the education MATERIALS. Notice I said materials and not because of the teachings. Now, let’s go into the negatives.

Inside of the dorm rooms are cold because of the air cooling system. They don’t turn the heater on inside of the dorm rooms, even in winter, so you have to constantly be shivering and huddled inside of your blanket while wearing your sweatshirt. Most staff here will treat you like a child. It doesn’t matter if you’re 18 or 25. They will still treat you like a child and they will only treat you like an adult when you get in trouble. Dating is allowed here on center, but it is frowned upon by the staff and some staff will even congratulate you if you’re single. You will be put on concern or given a minor infraction if you kiss your significant other (even if it’s just a peck on the lips), hold hands, or even hug. Some staff say it’s okay to hold hands and give a quick peck to your significance other, while others say it’s not okay and they write you up for PDA (Public Display of Affection) which will place you on concern and you can’t go on any trips (even grocery store trips). If you’re not put on concern or given a minor infraction, some staff will yell at you saying that it’s PDA. That even goes for the adults. It doesn’t matter if you’re 18 or 25. If the staff catch you, you will get yelled at. The staff here treats the students with little respect. They treat the students here like they’re children. Not to mention up in security, they will take away items that aren’t even dangerous (like wallet chains and pans). Only some of the staff here treat the students with respect, but not all. They’ll even ban some trips because they’re “too dangerous.” We can’t play dodgeball because it’s “too dangerous.” The staff are unprofessional and act like children who think they’re superior and will get on to you about the littlest of things. Communication is unheard of. The students have complained that communication is horrible, but the staff will not listen. They’re polite to parents and visitors, but when it comes to the students? Nope. The teachers don’t teach the material, they just hand it out to you. If you ask for help too many times, they will yell at you. Some teachers will only grade specific items. They’ll only grade the warm up and tests that they hand out to you, but binder work? They tell you to put it in your folder. Not to mention, they don’t even tell you what you got wrong or what your grade is in the class. You have to figure it out yourself until you get it right. They say this program sits with the students and teaches them one on one. No, that’s false. You have to learn how to teach yourself with very little help from the teacher(s). The staff have their own ideas of what’s wrong or right. To end this review, the educational materials are amazing, but the staff are unprofessional and you get minor infractions for very small things. If you decide to come here, just know if you want a social life, you WILL get a minor infraction someday.

Compared to TCU here at Hubert Humphrey's Job Corp, Ottumwa gets five out of five. Great food, strict but not as extreme consequences for seemingly small mistakes, teachers are welcoming as are a fair portion of the students, and students show pride towards their Job Corp and its mascot. Thank you OJCC for helping me to get to where I am. I flew with you.

My son started as a new enrollee today. We have been so impressed with the program so far.

Had a nice visit with my son. Staff was friendly and informative

My son needed a place like this to help with the life skills thy teach and help him with skills he needs in the real world.

A wonderful educational system that gives a hand up to deserving young people!

Everyone there is wonderful and nice