The Next Street - Norwich Driving School

Fantastic experience: David was my daughter’s driving instructor and he was excellent at teaching her the skills she needed to prepare her for her driving test. He made it a comfortable and easy experience.

Fantastic experience: Loved the driving instructor, he was really helpful, easy to understand, he explained everything you’ll need to know and more! Will definitely recommend for anyone!

Fantastic experience: Mr. Lombardi is So helpful with his teaching. Definitely gonna ace that test :D

Fantastic experience: I had the best experience with David at the Next Street Norwich! He was very informative and calm, which allowed me confident behind the wheel. He is the best and I appreciate all he does!

Fantastic experience: Instructor Dave (Norwich) and Dale (Willimantic) were both very calm and encouraging. Only issue with The Next Street is trying to get drive time & road test scheduled.

Fantastic experience: David was a great instructor and explained all the concepts very clearly. I would recommend

Fantastic experience: I recently took two classes with David at the next street in Norwich and he did a fabulous job on teaching me, instilling confidence and prepping me to drive. I passed my test with next street and I couldn’t have done it without David! He’s a good teacher!!

Negative experience: I am a student who has been driving for about a year, I took the eight hour courses and succeeded with everything and then I get to go and take my driving test In Willimantic, ct and I get in the car I say hello to the driving instructor. She says hi in a very mild and rude tone. I get in the car do everything correctly. I go to back out of the parking lot and she tells me to back into a handicap parking spot, which is a mark off of the test, and being a 16-year-old child. I’m going to listen to the trusted adult in the car, we get down the road we pull into a church. I back into the parking spot perfectly I get out. We go down the road and stop facing a one-way street and she tells me to take a right when the one-way street is going left so I listen to her and she stops the car abruptly says are you paying attention? You must not be paying attention we’re going down a one-way road. You’re going the wrong way you need to back up into the other road and turn the other way. Meanwhile, she just told me to go that way and then we get back to the next street building and she goes you parked perfectly. You just went the wrong way on the road. And I looked at the paper afterwords and only 2 marks were crossed off when the paper says 3. And she still failed me. And she marked off things I didn’t do like rolling through the stop sign when I literally stopped at the sign before the line and counted 1…2…3 before I went.

Fantastic experience: Dave is an amazing instructor! He’s patient, clear, and makes learning fun.

Fantastic experience: Dave was a fantastic instructor. He was knowledgable, patient, calm and informative. My son said the lessons went smoothly and I could tell he learned many hints and tricks along the way. Dave took the time after the lesson to compliment my son - telling him all he did well- and letting us know what to work on for next time. Great communicator, highly recommend. (My son successfully passed the road test - thank you!)

Fantastic experience: David Lombardi was an exceptional instructor for my son. He had very positive things to say about his driving class and that many things just clicked during the drives, was more excited about driving after he was complete with the class. He felt much more comfortable driving on roads. I would highly recommend this service as long as Dave is a member of this team.

Fantastic experience: David was a great instructor made me feel very comfortable in the drivers seat and made sure i was doing everything correctly and safely

Fantastic experience: The class was very good, enjoyable, and helpful. David made the class incredibly smooth and easy for me. He taught me so much while keeping a good and happy learning environment. He made learning the road so much easier for me.

Fantastic experience: I had David for 2/3 lessons and each time I had him, he was patient, had a great attitude, and understood what I needed and what I had worked on, I believe that anyone that has the opportunity to drive with him, should, as he was a great instructor, and an even funnier one no matter the situation, and helped me with him just treating me like a normal person while driving, having conversations and enjoying the drive together

Fantastic experience: Dave is the best instructor I could have ever asked for!! I love how he is extremely informative and takes his job seriously but also will crack some jokes with you to make you feel comfortable. My confidence has gone up 100% since I’ve started taking lessons with him. Without him I don’t know what I would’ve done to gain more experience and be a more confident and safe driver. Would recommend and will recommend him to all my friends!!

Fantastic experience: I had such a great experience with The Next Street Driving School! David was incredibly patient and gave clear, helpful feedback that boosted my confidence each lesson. Dale always brought a calm, reassuring presence that made driving less stressful and more enjoyable. And Kat was amazing- super friendly and always on top of everything. I’m really grateful to have worked with such a fantastic team. Highly recommend!

Fantastic experience: I don’t like driving in general, both because I was really nervous being on the road and it’s not fun for me. However, David made learning much less nerve-wracking, and pretty interesting. The breakdown of all the steps was very clear, and he easily adjusted his explanations when my height required changing some things. He’s good at giving advice and answering questions in a way that doesn’t grate and is honest about it in a way I find many teachers aren’t. He’ll talk to students about the unspoken rules as well as the law, which I found useful too. Don’t be put off by the price, the lessons are worth it.

Fantastic experience: Dave was amazing very comfortable to drive with good conversation!

Fantastic experience: Learning to drive with David has been such a great experience. He’s patient, calm, and super encouraging, which made me feel so much more confident behind the wheel. He explains everything clearly and never made me feel bad for making mistakes — instead, he helped me learn from them and improve every lesson. You can tell he really cares about his students and wants them to succeed. Thanks to David, I feel totally prepared and safe on the road. I’d 100% recommend him to anyone learning to drive!

Fantastic experience: Mr. Lombardi was a fantastic teacher. Super patient and knowledgeable. Gave alot of good information and made driving super simple and easy to get into

Fantastic experience: David Lombardi did a really good job he was very helpful and nice

Positive experience: Dave was a great instructor and made me think of a lot of useful tips.

Fantastic experience: Dale is really chill. He is one hell of a funny guy and knows his stuff. I feel way more confident about driving now.

Fantastic experience: My experience with Next Street was great! David was an awesome teacher and made the experience as stress free as possible and was very personable, patient, and gave great guidance

Positive experience: Place was a little hard to find but David, my instructor, was a great teacher with an excellent sense of humor! I will be returning for another lesson.

Fantastic experience: I had David as my driving instructor, and he immediately made me feel comfortable. He was also really funny, which made the whole experience enjoyable. I had a fantastic time learning with him!

Fantastic experience: The Next Street makes the process very easy and having David was great, he is seriously the best! He made learning to drive way less stressful and actually kind of fun. He’s super chill, explains things in a way that makes sense, and never made me feel dumb for messing up. I felt more confident every time I drove, thanks to everything he taught me. If you want to learn to drive, David is your guy

Fantastic experience: Kathleen, I had a great experience, i understood everything and was able to learn quickly

Fantastic experience: Kathleen was a great instructor and was very nice to me.

Fantastic experience: My daughter worked with David Lombardi for all of her sessions and he was an excellent teacher. He even helped her adjust her seat and mirrors in the car she would be driving after she got her license. She felt very comfortable as a female with David each time and this put both of us at ease!! Great instructor!

Fantastic experience: Two of our kids have gone through The Next Street and had very positive experiences. David was great to work with- my son felt comfortable, supported, and more confident and appreciated his guidance during his driving lessons. We definitely recommend The Next Street Norwich- just be sure you book your lessons early because they fill up fast!

Fantastic experience: “David was such a great driving instructor! He made me feel comfortable right away and was super patient throughout the lessons. He explained everything in a way that was easy to understand and gave me a lot of helpful tips. I’d definitely recommend him to anyone learning how to drive!”

Fantastic experience: Very positive experience, instructor was calm and gave constructive direction. Felt very confident with highway driving after the lesson.

Fantastic experience: Dave was a great instructor! So patient and friendly that I almost forgot it was a driving lesson. 10/10 would recommend him, especially if you’re nervous

Fantastic experience: Did a driving lesson with David L.. Awesome teacher and extremely funny. Learned a lot of tips and tricks in driving and got me ready for my test.

Fantastic experience: The next street driving school is definitely the place to go if you want to set your child up for success. My son’s teacher, Dave made him feel comfortable while navigating through Norwich. He taught him when he needed to be taught, and he let him stand on his own two feet when he needed to build confidence while behind the wheel.

Fantastic experience: David and Mike are awesome instructors, couldn’t have made the experience more natural and comfortable. This place is worth the money.

Fantastic experience: I took my lessons here with David, and he was a fantastic teacher. I passed my test on the first try. He was patient and had a good attitude, and clearly knew what he was doing. He was always on time too, and gave clear feedback on what to do to improve. Great driving school, if you're looking for one in Norwich then THIS is the place to go.

Fantastic experience: I took the full course at The Next Street and the entire experience was nothing short of amazing as a beginner driver. Glenn, my classroom instructor was very friendly and superb for pointing out what you need to absolutely know before you go on the road on your own. Furthermore, both Kathleen and Doug as my behind-the-wheel instructors were encouraging and helped me understand including practicing more about becoming a safe driver. And in the end, I passed and got my license along with becoming more confident in my driving skills. Thank you, The Next Street! (Btw doug is the new london driving instructor but it was still a good experience nevertheless)

Fantastic experience: Dale, Mike, and Kathleen were all super friendly, encouraging, and helped me to reinforce the principles, protocalls and practices behind responsible driving, and most significantly, become the safest driver I can be. The Next Street is truly a fabulous driving academy, with an excellent reputation, kind instructors, and high student driving exam success rates. Thank you sincerely and highly recommend!

Fantastic experience: Kathleen was an amazing instructor. Definitely promoted learning in a stress free and welcoming environment.

Negative experience: For the amount of money being charged they should pick the student up from their house or school or job. Very inconvenient. They also have very poor communication and not very truthful. Instructor also took student on highway before he was supposed to. A big negative!!

Fantastic experience: You in good hands especially tiara I got her as my instructor she was really nice and gave me confidence to drive and struggling with back in or parking give them a chance you will get your license really good school!!!!

Fantastic experience: I would truly like to take the time to thank Jessica. M for instilling the knowledge and safety of driving to our daughter LeLani. I first have to thank her for being a safe environment for our daughter, next being personable, kind and caring. Secondly thank you for being a teacher. You have become an important person in our lives that has helped us pave her way to adulthood. She felt safe, comfortable, confident and enjoyed being on the road with you. Most importantly you made us feel safe when she was with you. I cannot thank you enough for your inspiring notes on what she should practice while driving at home and your pure honesty with these children. I have 3 other children that I would love to have her be her teach. Kudos to having thee BEST teacher “The Next Street” I will be coming back to request Mrs Jessica M. And will be sending this to others for referral because of this experience ♥️ Get ready to be busy Jessica ~Respectfully Mr. & Mrs. Charles

Fantastic experience: If you are looking for a 100% A+ driving school in Connecticut, please please give The Next Street a chance! They are worth the time and money! I have had such an awesome experience with them and I am pleased of the progress that I have made so far! Also, I have been working with Mrs. Jessica Miller as my driving instructor and she by far is one of the BEST teachers! She knows how to make the classes fun and also shows what is needed for the DMV test at the ssme time. I am one that over thinks things randomly and she breaks me out of that every chance! She just makes driving fun and therapeutic at the same time.. just the learning is so fun! They have the right materials needed for your permit test and for the dmv license test! You can even study the permit questions for free randomly which also helped me ace my permit test. I just know that my licensing test will be a piece of cake ! The school also offers to place a reservation on using their school vehicles for the license test whether you are testing at the dmv or the school.Thank you The Next Street!

Fantastic experience: I had a class with Jessica , she’s amazing. I’m glad I had a class with her ❤️

Fantastic experience: Jessica Miller - thank you tons!!! your tips and skills were so helpful and helped me feel confident in practicing and passing my license test first try. you are the best!

Negative experience: Strange how there is no one at this location. I would think if you're having a Driving Lesson at this location, there should be a large sign saying "If you scheduled a Driving Lesson st this location, your instructor will arrive outside at the time of your lesson" We were wandering around thinking we were at the wrong location. I even called The Next Street and was on hold and then hung up on before I spoke to anyone.

Positive experience: Got my license test through the school in WILLIMANTIC. This driving school made it super easy to get it. Customer service on point! I had Jessica for most of my driving lessons shes super awesome teacher, great pointers and tips. Very encouraging too! Made me a confident driver . Had Tiara once and she was great as well too! THANK YOU NEXT STREET. I really don't know how I would of got it done or how long it would have taken for me to get it! Next street was pretty much the only driving school in Norwich that picked up their phone and if they missed your call you are the first person they call in the morning!

Fantastic experience: i had jessica for 2 of my driving lessons and tiara for my other 2! both were incredibly informative, kind, and helpful. i feel confident in my driving abilities because of their teachings! could not recommend the next street more ❤️

Fantastic experience: Robert P. Is fantastic! Very thorough, patient, and engaging. Of you take this program, we recommend driving lessons with him. Overall very happy with the program with the feeling that my teenager is better prepared for the responsibility of driving.

Fantastic experience: The Next Street is an excellent driving school. Robert did a great job teaching my new driver and making sure she was prepared to pass her drivers test. Very convenient locations made the entire process from beginning to final test an awesome experience for my new driver and for worry free for me!! Much appreciated thanks!

Fantastic experience: I just passed my road test today, I had 4 hours of behind the wheel driving lessons with The Next Street, they were very helpful, if you want to take classes,DO MAKE SURE to take Robert Ponce’s class, he’s one of the best driving instructors you could have, very helpful and super chill, he had diagrams that he hand drew to help too!

Fantastic experience: I had a great experience with The Next Street. My instructor was Mr. Robert Ponce. Mr. Ponce was straightforward and pragmatic as well as patient and empathetic. I learned some great new skills, maneuvers, and mnemonics for driving with him. The experience gave me, a nervous driver, more confidence for my exam and future driving. Thank you, Mr. Ponce, and The Next Street!

Fantastic experience: We had an exceptional experience with the Next Street, and especially with the driving instructor in Norwich and Willimantic, Robert Ponce (though in truth all were good!). With COVID, we had to be flexible with where we could take in-car lessons, but we had no trouble cobbling together an experience that worked, and that frankly over-prepared our son for his driving test, which he passed with flying colors on the first try. Every staff person we interacted with was friendly and went out of their way to be helpful. Congrats on a wonderful program!

Negative experience: If I could give zero stars I would. Called to get information and enroll my son in classes, the lady was EXTREMELY RUDE the entire call and sounded super annoyed to have to answer any parent questions like she was too busy, when I finally told her she was being rude she said I said the word queer and she hung up??! Im still confused. Hopefully the company records calls and uses it as a teaching lesson because this woman shouldn’t be working with the public and I definitely wouldn’t entrust my child in someone’s care who sounds unbalanced. A shame because my son and 2 nephews were all going to spend 600$ to do the classes at the same time, but I refuse to give money to company who treats customers like this, save yourself trouble and take your business elsewhere.

Fantastic experience: I just received my license yesterday and everything was great because of the next street, big shout out to Robert Ponce my drivers instructor. He gave me so many tips and techniques that he brought me to a new level of driving. Thank you next street!

Fantastic experience: I just received my license and it was all because of this driving school! I was terrified to go and have driving lessons with a complete stranger. I had Robert Ponce, and he was so friendly and made me feel comfortable as can be! He gave amazing tips and tricks in order to become a better driver! He was very encouraging, enthusiastic, and overall just a great person to talk to! If you are thinking of a driving school, and a place for driving lessons, this is the place to go! Robert Ponce over prepared me and that made it so easy to pass my road test! From all the information you learn in drivers ed, to having the lessons with Robert, you will feel comfortable and confident when taking your test! What an amazing experience at this school and would recommend it to anyone!

Fantastic experience: Rob Bonce (The Next Street- Norwich CT) was an AMAZING teacher! Very helpful and by the end of the classes I felt very prepared for my test. I now know not only what I need to do but why I need to do it. Very informative/friendly and made the classes fun!

Fantastic experience: Bonnie McDonald is an amazing instructor, very laid back but also a great educator. The location is a negative but Bonnie takes the safety of the class seriously and will not hesitate to act if needed. Overall a great class with a great instructor. Highly recommend the 30hr course.

Fantastic experience: The class so far has been great and Bonnie has made the experience wonderful by making the class educational as well as fun

Positive experience: Good instructor and good people in the class. I enjoyed my time in the classes and learn quite a bit. Only thing I could say is that the location of the Norwich could be better.

Fantastic experience: Pretty cool to be honest lol

Positive experience: Bonnie is a great instructor and comes up with different ways to help you learn the lesson but if your doing the 30 hour adult classes. you have to be one of the first people to sign up for a ride with her bc if not ur taking rides weeks later.

Fantastic experience: Makes all other driving schools look like garbage. Great place. 10/10. Would learn how to drive again.

Fantastic experience: Bonnie is a great instructor: she’s patient, moves the classes along quickly and gives a lot of anecdotal examples that helps you retain the information.

Fantastic experience: Chill and nice environment.

Fantastic experience: This is a great driving school and the driving instructor is one of the best around

Fantastic experience: Bonnie has spiders

Fantastic experience: Bonnie is fantastic and actually makes drivers ed interesting

Fantastic experience: Ur great

Fantastic experience: I guess I'll leave a five star review because Bonnie is a slightly above average driver's ed instructor

Fantastic experience: Really engaging and fun learning environment. Bonnie is the best!