Let me tell you my story. I am writing probably the longest review I have ever written and may ever…read morewrite. I do so because of one reason. I am humbled. On my knees humbled. So here goes:
I was at the end...of so many roads. I had thought that my child and I were on the same page, but then high school hit like a Ram Truck. You name it, it happened. Let's call my child Simon-Jane (not my child's real name). Simon-Jane went from being an "A" student in middle school to everything crumbling apart 9th grade. Sure, I could blame social media, bullying, boys, girls, women, men, capitalism, relatives getting sick, whatever--but it all went south so fast I couldn't even keep up. And then Simon-Jane wanted absolutely nothing to do with me and hid out at dad's house for months. As hard as I tried, nothing felt like it could reverse the situation. I became That Mom, sitting alone at the coffee shop, researching something that could save the situation, but just sat there, crying. Yes, crying. Nothing could have made Simon-Jane see the young adult growing inside, but also see the learner that was still in there, the smart person, someone who is on the track to be independent, go to college even, become the fantastic person inside that I knew was there but was somehow trapped in some far away teenage land that was so radically different from what I had ever experienced.
When it got to the point where either Simon-Jane was going to leave public school and do God-knows-what or find some private school that could somehow turn it all around, I started frantically looking at every private school. Huntington-Surrey, Griffin, other tutoring centers, etc. AND THANK THE UNIVERSE that I somehow heard someone mention Fusion and then I found the sole yelp review here from 2017 and decided to take a chance and tour. Simon-Jane was hesitant--one-to-one classes, study halls, etc. A radically different model than the whole class setting. But we left public school literally in the nick of time before grades caved, and transferred to Fusion.
I won't kid you. It is expensive. Freaking expensive. I am struggling to meet the tuition payments. BUT it has set my kid on a road that as about to close. Or become a road that was extremely bumpy with many other diversions. Sure, Simon-Jane is resilient and could have found a way on an easier path, but it could have been a hard, hard road for many years. One teacher to one student is expensive, but guess what? 8 hrs a day of one teacher per class to one student for each subject and IT WORKS! Now, only a few short months have filled in years of unresolved learning deficits, saved a whole YEAR of school and now, yes, almost all A's. You might be thinking to yourself: well for that kind of money, your kid should be getting all A's because you are paying for it! But, no, it is not like that. The one-to-one model not only got Simon-Jane to see the learner inside again, but then to be vulnerable enough to show where weaknesses were that public school never could have caught. Each subject works on a mastery level and the student has to meet those criteria that are self-driven (not state imposed) to find and resolve deficits.
And guess what. Simon-Jane is going to college! Scholarships are coming in! Simon-Jane sees the learner inside and a very very bright future ahead!
But I could never, ever, ever in a million years have turned it around. It was only through all of the love and patience and tough love and deliberate teaching and mentoring and focus on wellness and the whole student that we are now on a new course!
I am humbled. I am so incredibly indebted to everyone at Fusion. Cody: thank you for leading this incredible group of teachers! Laura and Jourdan and Liz: you all are troopers to the 9th degree! To the Goddesses and Gods at Fusion: Meara, Taralynn, Julie, Leticia, Theresa, Seamus, Jannell, Jelly, Isabella, Taylor, and so many other people...Thank you, thank you so so very much. You each have given and give so much each day. I celebrate and honor each of you!!!! And to Simon-Jane: If you ever read this and figure out that this is me talking about you, I want you to know that I love you, I honor you, and I thank you for believing in yourself and your life path again. You have taught me more about living and releasing control and allowing and I can say thank you. Thank you.
To all of you reading out there: I know that things are crazy and hard and sometimes difficult to find a way to light. But you can. Maybe it will be Fusion, maybe it will be another place. But I send you to find that way with so much love.
To life!! To Fusion!