Education & Classes in Needham

At Mass Firearms School, instructors certified by the Massachusetts State Police and NRA train students to safely and effectively use firearms. In a fully equipped indoor range, patrons can practice their aim without the heckling of wisecracking blue jays or world-champion darts players. The professional instructors lead participants through basic safety certification courses, as well as marksmanship, firearms law, and firearms safety classes designated for women only. To keep their aim true and their expertise up-to-date, the instructors at MFS refresh their skills through annual enhancement training to assure their students receive the best coaching possible.

Ask the coed instructors of Streetwise Cycle School to name their favorite roads to ride, and they'll describe places that would rival the pictures in Condé Nast—New England's meandering back roads, South Dakota's arid Badlands, and Oregon's lush Cascade Mountains. Certified by the Motorcycle Safety Foundation and upholding the training standards of the state's Motorcycle Rider Education Program, these instructors ready riders from beginner to advanced for their own open-road odysseys. Courses and private lessons in both motorcycle and scooter riding prepare riders to apply for their licenses. When they're not busy aiding current riders, Streetwise's team members also encourage new enthusiasts to explore motorcycling, arranging incentives through local dealers that include gift cards and discounts on diamond-encrusted helmets.

Located just outside Boston, Blue Hill lets aspiring pilots navigate both the busy airspace above the city and the more difficult flying conditions around the White Mountains. A full-scale flight simulator preps beginners before they can receive one-on-one lessons from an instructor in a two-seat Schweizer 300C helicopter, which accommodates both commercial or private flying tracks. The copter also ferries passengers above the city at dusk or carries riders home to the nest where flying machines roost at night.

From their nests at Plymouth Municipal Airport and Norwood Municipal Airport, New England Helicopter Academy’s Schweizer Model 300 helicopters lift fledgling aviators into the skies for flights ranging from introductory runs to intensive training courses. Combining the choppers’ precise handling with academy president Rick Smith’s rigorous training regimen, pilots-to-be learn to expertly handle real-life flying situations such as landing at uncontrolled airports, flying in inclement weather, and airlifting bananas to King Kong. In addition to serving as mid-air classrooms, choppers also treat students to sky-high sightseeing, with training flights often motoring over New England landmarks including the Cape Cod coastline and cities such as Boston and Providence.

American Real Estate Academy has been helping students master the intricacies of property sales for 40 years. Its carefully selected instructors lead classes for neophytes looking to get their salesperson license, learn the ins and outs of the business, and find out the startling truth about where houses come from. The academy boasts higher test scores for its students than the state average, and many students go on to successful careers. The academy also helps real-estate veterans step up to a broker license in preparation to open their own office and work for themselves. Continuing-education courses keep professionals up to date on current rules and regulations, fulfilling state-mandated requirements and keeping licenses active.

Professional bartenders teach in classrooms set up as fully functioning bars. The facilities present lifelike conditions for students to learn skills such as the proper shake and pour for a variety of cocktails, muddling raw ingredients, and getting the right amount of head on a draft beer. Courses also cover the technical elements of bartending, which may include setting up drink stations, understanding liquor laws and board-of-health requirements, and operating payment systems that accept both credit cards and gold ingots.