Fusion Academy- not what we expected
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Anonymous
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Yes. And No. our experience was that the curriculum was excellent. And uniform. The homework and grading platform cogent and useful. Though not without its bugs.
An hour of individual attention and training by a mid level or even junior teacher was worth much more than glancing attention from a seasoned veteran who might be frustrated with my kid. It’s a trade off. Our experience at a few campuses is that many of the teachers are surprisingly devoted and excellent. No I don’t work for fusion. The issue for the teachers is that they don’t get paid much for lesson prep so the ones that have been there awhile and know the curriculum tend to be better. I think the model is fantastic for certain kids. If they encouraged a bit more social activity did just a bit of group projects and had more aggressive homework cafe accountability in place it would be truly extraordinary. In meantime OP work directly with teachers and front desk staff to hold DC accountable and do checkins throughout the day in homework cafe. They will help but you have to be explicit about what you ask for. |
Anonymous
Given their model, that makes sense though. It'd not like you have a full day of scheduled classes with 13-15 kids. It seems like it's closer to a tutoring gig from a the teacher's perspective. |
Anonymous
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Fusion is trying to draw a line between what’s an academic issue and what’s a behavioral issue that needs attention from the family and possibly a healthcare provider. They’re setting an appropriate boundary.
Yes, there are some things a school can do to increase extrinsic motivation. Scaffolding work that feels overly challenging to the student, giving rewards (short breaks for games, fidget toys), offering choice (order of learning activities, novel that will be read). Teachers also try to form relationships with students so that there’s some social motivation to do well. However, some students still won’t engage with the work. At the end of the day, there’s no magic to it; schools don’t have access to the perfect words that make your child comply when he won’t at home. As well, school budgets and environments mean that they are limited in the meaningful rewards they can offer to students. Fusion cannot evaluate whether the causal factor is poorly managed ADHD, a severe self esteem issue, pathological demand avoidance, or simple opposition. Schools can neither diagnose nor treat such conditions. They are getting in touch with you so that you can seek other supports as necessary and so that you understand why your child is not progressing as quickly as you or they hoped. While Fusion does specialize in helping complex cases, some students will need outside service providers as well. That is not an uncommon need for students with challenging or complex profiles. |
Anonymous
This makes more sense. One person pushes the school here but it did not look good when I looked at it. |
Anonymous
I think you are correct but strong experienced teachers can make more on the side from private tutoring gigs than from the Fusion model. So who is working at Fusion? Maybe teachers who are looking for a part time gig? Or young people who are not sure what they want to do. Or people looking to get into teaching and want to try it out |
Anonymous
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It’s tough when students absolutely refuse to do work and are smart enough to realize there is really nothing a school or teacher can do. You can’t make a student pick up a pencil and write or read or do math. You can encourage them, reward them, cajole them but in the end there are some kids who will dig in their heels.
Is there a consequence at home for not doing work at school? Are screens taken away? |
Anonymous
| My child was in a support program located near a Fusion Academy. Some of the other kids from DC's program also participated with Fusion. Apparently the families were not impressed with the program. I don't remember specifics except because there were already financial and time investments elsewhere, Fusion was not worth it for some families. |
Anonymous
We are at Fusion for the first time this year, and the bolded above are my biggest concerns. The teachers we've had so far have been great at getting my DC to engage *in* class. But they all seem a bit unrealistic about DC's ability to work independently *outside* of class, and the HW cafe model isn't as implemented well enough in practice to overcome this. There is basically no accountability in HW cafe unless I specifically ask the staff to check in with DC about a specific project - most days he watches youtube instead. I've mentioned this to the teachers as well, if they can have him do as much as possible in class - even if he's doing it by himself, with a teacher sitting next to him its much easier for him to do it - even if it means we end up paying for an extra session or two at the end because it takes more time. But they are still assigning homework. (And we went to Fusion in part to get *away* from homework battles at home, so no I'm not doing that anymore.) I also wish they pushed the social involvement more, perhaps made some activities mandatory. Right now it's too easy for DC to put his head down and ignore everyone else until it is time for class. I can suggest activities until I'm out of breath but I'm not there to actually push him to do anything. |
Anonymous
Can you share more about how you are accomplishing this? I think a setup like this would be beneficial for my sophomore dyslexic DD. |
Anonymous
Most families who send their kids there have kids who are struggling and fusion is not set up to handle any of the mental health or behavioral issues, but the appeal is the 1-1 tutoring but I would think you'd be better off hiring someone yourself with a curriculum or online school. The low pay isn't going to attract good licensed experienced teachers and tutors. |
Anonymous
Not that poster but some public school systems offer virtual and/or early college so kids can take classes at community college and get HS credit for it. Usually, it starts jr. year. I'm not sure how parents homeschool high school kids in higher levels and usually homeschooling is kids doing an online class or self taught class which in less kids are really smart and motivated that sounds like a set up to fail (or you have parents who can actually teach). |
Anonymous
| maybe it depends on the campus? We have had an AMAZING experience for my daughter. literally a game changer and life saver. |
Anonymous
Agreed. We had a very positive experience at the Rockville campus. My high schooler was even a little ahead when he moved to a new school mid-year, which really helped smooth the transition. The set-up at Fusion helped restore his confidence. |
Anonymous
Do you mind if I ask which campus you had a great experience with? We are looking at dc but I’m not sure if he might have more social interaction at the Tysons one… |
Anonymous
| Different poster but we’ve had a very good experience at the Tyson’s campus. I feel like there is a lot of contact with the school. The homework cafe leaders also reach out. |