Education & Classes in Montville Center

For more than 30 years, the passionate instructors at Learning Center have taught pupils with a flexible schedule of night and day classes in subjects ranging from dance and language to fitness and business. During craft workshops, aspiring artisans may spend three hours creating fused glass pendants ($49, materials fee of $10 not covered), while writing courses include a five-session healing poetry class ($95), in which students learn whether to ingest a book of Wordsworth or Byron to treat bed-ridden cases of writer's block. Females ward off would be assailants in Self Defense for Women ($35), and entrepreneurs acquire the skills needed for starting an online retail business ($45, materials fee of $5 not included) during a three-hour intensive course. Mind and body classes shepherd students along the path to inner harmony, culinary workshops unlock kitchen skills, and a smorgasboard of technology courses impart the secrets of training a computer to bark on command.

Professional School of Bartending has taught the art of cocktail creation to more than 10,000 bartenders since the school's inception in 1977. Inside the lounge-inspired training facility, instructors teach the necessary bartending skills ranging from exotic and traditional mixology to responsible customer service.

Graduates of the comprehensive program benefit from a lifetime job-placement-assistance program that has blossomed from a regional effort to a coast-to-coast hunt thanks to the school’s recent partnership with ABC Bartending. Besides ensuring a smooth transition from graduation to career, the school has an open-door policy that leaves the light on for all graduates: former students can repeat any class free of charge helping them to revamp their mixology skills or recall how to skewer an olive without making it scream. Professional School of Bartending also streamlines local businesses' day-to-day operations by lending out its training methods and expertise through its consulting services.

Cofounded by the legendary Hollywood dancer himself, the Fred Astaire Dance Studio hosts a team of seven veteran instructors who specialize in ballroom and Latin dances ranging from the rumba to the waltz. Students can build their cache of moves in private lessons with personalized curricula or practice with their peers in the convivial atmosphere of group classes. High-octane Zumba classes help to combust calories, imparting Latin-inspired choreography in an atmosphere that is festive but doesn’t expose students to dangerous swarms of flying champagne corks. Youngsters build their poise in dance classes that cover five different styles, ranging from ballet to hip-hop, and engaged couples prepare to glide elegantly across the dance floor at their nuptials with wedding-oriented classes.

The professionally trained fencing instructors at Rhode Island Fencing Academy & Club seek to develop their students' mind, body, and character through participation in the centuries-old sport. During the academy's classes, students of any skill level may choose to learn on all three Olympic weapons: foil, sabre, and épée. The one-hour sessions generally last for six weeks and each builds on prior material to help students improve their skills on the strip. Two meetings are composed entirely of competition with fellow classmates, allowing students to show off their newfound skills, and the last session is a class tournament.

Rhode Island Fencing Academy & Club, which originally operated as a two-location enterprise, consolidated into one 12,000-square-foot full-time professional fencing studio in March of 2012. The air-conditioned facility features 15 electric strips and zero chandeliers from which swashbuckling fencers may swing. Though the sport finds its roots in the practice of sword fighting, modern fencing is much safer, and the academy has advanced equipment and instructors that hold CPR certification just in case.

Competitive ballroom dancers Martin Ramsauer and Chris Sabourin have been blazing across the dance floor since childhood. After years of experience at Fred Astaire studios—a national franchise cofounded by the legendary toe-tapper—and their competitions, the pair opened their own branch to share their decades' worth of experience with others.

They now helm a team of experienced instructors—including an award-winning Serbian dancer ranked on the World IDSF list of top couples—that shepherds students of all ages and skill levels through lessons that span the dance-style spectrum. Their low-pressure, customized private sessions allow enthusiastic teachers to fine-tune individual students' techniques and form, using their expert eyes and mechanical dancing shoes preprogrammed to do the Charleston. Patrons can learn how to cavort through classic waltz and foxtrot romps or swivel through the modern steps of salsa, swing, or samba. For dancers hoping to hoof it up in a social setting, the group practice parties provide a one-night extravaganza of instruction, demonstrations, and amateur firewalking.

When Jennifer Hill was a baby, her mother sang to her. When she was 2, she began singing full songs in tune. Throughout her childhood she sang at fairs, school musicals, and local sporting events, where she would belt out the traditional pregame rendition of "Welcome to the Jungle." She went on to receive a scholarship to the University of Hartford's Hartt School of Music, and currently she's the frontwoman of the jazzy rock outfit Jennifer Hill & Co. Music has stitched through the entire fabric of her life, and for more than a decade, she has worked to help students discover the joy of creating beautiful noise.

Jennifer tailors each private lesson to the individual student and welcomes all musical styles and genres in order to encourage young artists to pursue their unique voice. Whether a student's passion is to tumble a jazzy melody across the piano keys or pen an infectious pop song, Jennifer lends students the confidence and expertise she has accumulated in more than 25 years as a performer.