Pros
If you're deciding where to conduct your school-based CF year, CW is the best company to work with. Because: 1) Great supervision and support. You see your supervisor regularly in-person and they are available to speak with any time you need. They are very experienced and give great feedback and amazing guidance. They get to know you as a person and as a professional so every CF experience is catered to your expertise and personality. If you wish to specialize in a certain area of Speech Therapy, they can develop a plan for you. Plus, they chart and organize the your accreditation pathway for ASHA and CSHA with you. 2) Lots of resources and competitive salary. You don't have to worry about tests, protocols, or materials since you can grab some from CWs own library and online resources. When it comes to pay, they are open to discussion about compensation. In addition, ASHA membership is also reimbursed. 3) Plenty of opportunity to connect with fellow CFs and other CW colleagues. I found this to be a plus, personally, because it's important to be an active member of both the company and the district you are serving. Building rapport among professionals in our field goes a long way. There are pre-beginning, beginning, middle, and end of the school year events. Furthermore, CF to SLP in CW is a super smooth transition.
Cons
While working with CW has done wonders for me, here are a few things you may need to consider: 1) Mostly school-based CF only. Medical-based or private practice not currently available. 2) Schools are in carefully selected school districts. On the top of my head, the school districts CW works with are: Mt Diablo, Lafayette, Walnut Creek, Pleasanton, Dublin, Livermore, San Lorenzo, San Jose, and Milpitas. CW serves a lot of the East Bay and Greater East Bay. They also work with one school district in San Diego. So, if there is a specific school district you want to work in, you will need to discuss with CW if it is possible. 3) If you have an aversion receiving constructive feedback or participating in group activities, you will need to work around this if you want to work in CW or in the field of speech therapy in general. Regardless of the above, CW is really worth checking out.
