Fusion Academy: Success Through One-On-One Education, with Tainah Georges | EDB 321
Fusion Academy’s Tainah Georges explains how they use a one-student-to-one-teacher model that allows students to achieve academically.
Fusion describes itself as: “the world’s most personalized middle and high school, with 1-to-1 classes that match your student’s pace and preferences, so they can learn better, dive deeper, and never get left behind.” Their Mission statement: “Guided by a fundamental belief in the immense potential within every person, our mission is to help each student flourish – emotionally, socially, and academically – through positive, mentoring relationships and a personalized education experience.” Michelle Rose Gilman founded Fusion Academy out of frustration with the status quo, and a need for personalized education in her community. What began with one campus in Solana Beach, California in 1989 expanded to add a Los Angeles campus in 2010 through the help of what is now Fusion Education Group. Since then, Fusion has expanded to over 80 campuses across the country and changes the lives of thousands of families each year.
For more about Fusion Academy: fusionacademy.com
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Note: the following transcription was automatically generated. Some imperfections may exist.
HACKIE REITMAN MD (HR):
Hi, everybody, welcome to another episode of Exploring Different Brains. I’m Dr. Hackie Reitman. And today we have Tainah Georges who is the Director of Outreach for Fusion Academy. Welcome.
TAINAH GEORGES (TG):
Thank you.
HR:
So tell us about Fusion Academy.
TG:
So Fusion Academy is a middle and high school, private, and we have well, we have 83 campuses, but I oversee the outreach and admissions now, for the Boca Raton location, we are known for our classes being taught one on one. So every single class is one student, one teacher, we have super flexible schedule. So class Cocytus, earliest 7:30 In the morning, and as late as 7:30 at night, and because of that, we’re able to accommodate a lot of students that maybe athletes competing on a national level that a traditional school schedule wouldn’t work for them. We’re also able to work with students that need that one on one maybe on the spectrum, or, you know, maybe not, but just need that one on one in order to learn. And soon as that, you know, maybe a traditional setting just doesn’t work for them, we’re able to accommodate them, because all that class is a one on one.
HR:
So Fusion Academy really practices with different brains talks about that. Everybody has a different brain, and you really, really have one on one and per classroom.
TG:
Yes.
HR:
And what are the some of the types of students who would seek out Fusion?
TG:
There’s a variety, and especially after the pandemic, we found that there’s a lot of challenges in learning, you know, and I think that has to do with the fact that the students were home for a long time learning, you know, in front of a computer. So now they’re able to come into the classroom, but some of them had challenges in going back into the school system, with 2530 kids in the classroom. So at student like that fusion would be a great option, because it would be one on one with that teacher. And if there are learning challenges, then they would be able to sit with that teacher and that teacher can actually still teach the curriculum, but teach it in a way that they can understand. You know, they mean.
HR:
I want our audience to understand that this is one classroom, one teacher, one student, really.
TG:
For every single subject, so then the students go from classroom to classroom, you know what I mean to that different classroom for their classes? And yeah, one teacher, one student.
HR:
Okay, so now walk us through the process. Some of the people watching or listening to this, a student wants to enroll. Tell us the whole process.
TG:
Very simple process, they would give us a call now that I’m in the admissions role as well. They would most likely speak with me would try to get the to know the family, the students and then the next step would be to schedule a interview with our Head of School. And during that interview, the head of school would explore more and getting to know more about the students to see what kind of classes they’re looking for. If they’re remediating because we have some students that are remediating and that’s why they come to us. Or if they just want a full time schedule, whatever the case may be, and then we send you enrollment papers and they enroll and they get started.
HR:
How did you come to be come part of Fusion team?
TG:
It’s been a journey. It’s been a journey. I’ve been in admissions in education since 2007. I think I started and just been working in in the admissions role recruiting students and post secondary, I’ve learned I’ve worked in private high schools, recruiting students. So I’ve been in that education setting recruitment setting for years. But most recently, I worked at the Dan Marino Foundation, which was a post secondary program where students were able to get a certification that we would job train and get them employed. And so that was my first exposure, I guess, to like different brains and how people learn differently and the spectrum and things like that. And I was always really interested in that from that went on, and, you know, ventured here and there and then found my way to Fusion.
HR:
Now, tell us again, how many campuses does Fusion have?
TG:
So we have 83 campuses. Well, it’s 82. But we have 83rd, coming up very soon. And then we also have Fusion Academy Global, which is a whole other animal, where we teach load globally, all around the world in 22 different time zones, which is amazing, I didn’t even know they were 22 different time zones, two different time zones. And we actually enrolled a student from Saudi Arabia recently, which is really, really cool. So we have that global side. And then we have, you know, the brick and mortar side, which we have 82 campuses right now.
HR:
Do you have any statistics on the breakdown of the different neurodivergences that some of your students might have?
TG:
I don’t have exact numbers. But again, it’s, you know, when parents ask, what does that look like? Well, my students fit in, and they come and see it and tour the campus, they see like, every student, every single student is different. And every single student is there for a different purpose, you know, and depending on what time they come to, we we may have, we have different students on campus at different times. So in the morning, we may have more athletes that come in. So they can be done by 12:30. So they can go and train or compete or travel, you know, for for, you know, their sport, you know, but then in the afternoon, we may have different kinds of students, and it’s sixth grade to 12th grade. So you get a variety of students.
HR:
So you have many very, very high caliber athletes.
TG:
Oh, yeah, yeah, those are the ones that are traditional schedule wouldn’t work for them, because it wouldn’t be able to be in school all day. They have to train they have to compete they have to travel. So those kinds of students we would have.
HR:
And what is the website that our audience can go to to learn all about Fusion Academy?
TG:
Fusionacademy.com. And they could forward slash to Boca Raton, because then it would get to speak with me.
HR:
That’s a great, that’s great. Tell us about some of the socialization opportunities for your student.
TG:
So all our students their lunch at the same time. So 12:30 to 1:20 is lunchtime for all our students. So that time no students have classes. So they’re able to go into a home or cafe and have lunch there. We do a lot of activities during that time as well, where we have clubs that meet at that time. So if you’re part of a club, that’s at 12:30, you would you know, that’s near lunchtime, then that’s also your club time. Outside of that we have our, our student night, we call it our student night, once a month, or teen night where students either come on campus after school from 5:30 to 7, and they’re able to bring their video games, you know, interact with other kids, we’ve seen so many different friendships blossom from that, or will go off campus, and you know, go bowling or go golfing or something fun like that, where the kids are actually off campus, you know, building those friendships.
HR:
Boy, you seem to cover all of the bases there Fusion Academy. What could traditional schools learn from Fusion Academy?
TG:
That every student is different, every student learns differently? And that, you know, traditional generalized education is not for everyone. That’s not how everyone learns. You know what I mean? I think studies have shown that, especially now, especially after the pandemic, there’s a wide range of difference in learning styles, you know, with every student, but you know, traditional school, you know, 25 kids in the classroom, you know, you’re going at the teacher space, where a school like fusion, you don’t go into teacher speeds, the teacher goes at your pace, you know, and I mean, and that’s where we found the success. And that’s why our students, we have students that are struggling in their traditional settings with C’s and DS, and they come to us and are getting A’s and the parents are like, are you guys cheating in the classroom? Like, what is happening? And we’re like, No, we’re just able to teach the student in a way that they learn. And I know this for sure, because I thought I taught last year. So I was in the classroom teaching where I saw the balls ahead. Well, you know, the light bulbs go off like I get it now. You know.
HR:
what role does standardized testing such as SATs and so forth play?
TG:
Well, we do have classes for that. So to students that do want to take the SATs and ACTs, we do have prep classes for that that we offer. But I think now colleges don’t look at that anymore or something. Different when I was a school, it’s different.
HR:
Times are change changing. Can you speak a little bit more about the diversity of the locations of your various campuses?
TG:
Okay, yeah, so we started in California, so in California, we have 20 campuses I want to say, and then Texas has 12 or something. So there’s a lot of campuses in California, Texas, but we’re in North Carolina and Charlotte, in Raleigh in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Maryland, Washington. In Florida, we have three campuses going to have our fourth one. I’m in Florida. We’re in Boca, Miami, Palm Beach Gardens, and we’re opening one in Pembroke Pines. That’s the 83rd. Campus. But yeah, we’re in Minnesota. I feel like we’re everywhere.
HR:
Internationally. It’s only virtual at this point?
TG:
Yeah, internationally is virtual. But that covers, you know, the world, which is great.
HR:
Yeah. International covers a little bit a little bit. Yeah. And what about other galaxies? What subjects does fusion Academy offer its students?
TG:
We offer all their core subjects plus, we have a slew of electives that the students can choose from, which is great. If we have a book like this thick of electives.
HR:
Can you give us some examples?
TG:
Yeah. Forensic Science was really big on our campus right now. Of course, the art classes, foreign languages, you know, French, English, Spanish, Italian, you know, all the math, all the sciences, the, the English. You know, just all the classes plus many more like this, that you could think of.
HR:
What are some of the accommodations that Fusion Academy can offer its individual students?
TG:
That’s a hard question to answer. Because this, because it’s one on one, there’s no accommodations that are needed, per se. So if if a student needs to have extra time on a test, we could do that without having an official accommodation for that. If a student needs to sit in front of the classroom, like it’s only us in the classroom, so that wouldn’t apply. Do you know what I mean? So there’s, we could accommodate with that some accommodations that would fit in a traditional setting that wouldn’t apply here, because it’s one on one with the teacher.
HR:
Walk us through a day in the life of a teacher at Fusion Academy.
A day in the life of a teacher’s fun. And I can say that, because I taught, so you never so you know, you could be teaching a ninth grader at 830 in the morning, then, you know, a 10th grader than a senior than back to an eighth grader. So you so the pace always changes, you know what I mean? You would teach your core subject, you know, whatever your subject you’re teaching to that kid, but it can be an English class that for me, for example, it was I would have an English class in the morning, then I also taught executive functioning. So executive functioning will be next, then it will be an English class again, before neck and 11th grader, and then it would be I also taught French there. So then it would be like a French class. So it you know, a very, so it’s fun, because it’s new, you’re not teaching the same thing, you know, repeatedly over and over again. So it’s not like you’re repeating yourself, you know, and there’s a lot of freedom with the curriculum, so you can get really creative, you know, with the curriculum, which is really fun. But every student is different, right? So it definitely keeps you engaged. And and, you know, fun, makes the class room setting fun for every student.
HR:
If someone is interested in teaching at Fusion Academy, how would they go about it?
TG:
Go on our website, as a matter of fact, we are applying we’re always looking for teachers, because our campuses are always growing. So we’re always looking for teachers that you know, subject matter professionals in different subjects. So go on our website, Fusionacademy.com, go on to the careers tab and join our team and look for your region.
HR:
What qualifications do the teachers need?
TG:
They have to be a man like that. If they want to teach math, for example, they would have to have a math background, you know, same thing with like a foreign language or a science. You know what I mean?
HR:
So as long as they know their business with that specialty, right? They don’t need a particular certification.
TG:
No.
HR:
That’s interesting. That opens the door to a lot of people who would love to teach, but don’t want to go through all the rigmarole right certification, right.
TG:
And it also helps with if you don’t want to teach a classroom of like, 25 kids. Yeah, you could teach one on one. It’s great.
HR:
You can teach one on one you can make your own schedule. That’s a good deal. I think some of our some of our team, we’re going to lose to you.
TG:
It wouldn’t be a bad thing.
HR:
Can you talk a little bit more about the tutoring services available for those people out there who want to keep their child in the school they’re in, but want to take advantage of your special tutoring services.
TG:
So I think another misconception with Fusion is that you have to be with us full time or no time, which is far from the truth. We have students that come to us full time, we have students that are, you know, part time with us, maybe taking one or two classes because that class they struggle with and they may need or that subject, they may struggle they need that one on one with. But we also have students that will come to us just to remediate a class, you know what I mean? So we have students that are there just for that, you know, semester to remediate that class. But then we also offer tutoring and mentoring. So if so, we’re not teaching that subject. We’re simply just adding the, you know, that tutoring part of it to that subject so that students would still, you know, at the end of their school day would still come to us and, you know, get that tutoring for that specific subject or subjects. So there’s a lot of different varieties where we could really help a student, you know, achieve success, not just full time, full time.
HR:
Great. Is there anything we have not covered today that you’d like to cover?
TG:
Well, we have open enrollment now for summer. So we are offering summer classes, which is great, allows students to get ahead or even remediate some classes that they’ve struggled with while they were in school. So we have that going on now. We have different events all the time. For the month of March, we have our open house coming up March 27, from 12:30 to 1:30. So if you haven’t seen the campus, please come on down. And you’ve been on a campus before but and then we also have parents speaker series that we also do once a month, where we bring someone in to speak with the parents and the community about different topics that could be interesting. So we have that happening on the 27th as well at 5:30. We’re celebrating six years in May. Super excited. So we got to have something really big for that. And that’s that’s about it. We had a big event. Oh my gosh, we had a big event like two weeks ago. So where our campuses in Boca, we have the longest hallway in the western hemisphere, which people like really so in that building when you came there, we have the longest hallway and down that hallway, our students artwork was actually unveiled and is now being on display. So that’s pretty cool.
HR:
Excellent.
TG:
We do fun stuff.
HR:
Tainah Georges Director of Outreach, Fusion Academy. Thank you so much for spending this time with us. I hope to visit your campus again. Yes. And I hope you come back and be a guest again on Exploring Different Brains. Thanks for all the good work you’re doing.
TG:
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for having me.
