Fusion Academy & Learning Center

Fusion Academy & Learning Center, often referred to as Fusion Academy or Fusion, is a private alternative school for grades 6-12. All classes are offered on a one-to-one basis with only one student and one teacher per classroom.

History

Fusion Academy was founded in 1989 by Michelle Rose Gilman as an after-school tutoring program in her garage in Solana Beach, California. It quickly grew into a place where students who had trouble adapting to a traditional educational model could come to get the extra personal attention and support they needed.

In 2001, Gilman and tutoring partner Karina Neal realized their students often needed more than the tutoring, homework assistance, college counseling and test preparation they were getting from Fusion. Gilman and Neal combined their offerings with a full-time school curriculum to form the basis of what Fusion Academy is today.

In 2009, the same year Fusion opened its second campus in Los Angeles, Inc. Magazine recognized Fusion in its Inc. 5000,^[1] a list of America’s fastest-growing private companies. The school currently operates 14 locations throughout California and New York with additional locations in the works. Each campus has full-time education options for middle school and high school students, as well as tutoring, classes for credit, and summer school programs. Students also complete all schoolwork on-site in the Homework Café®, where teachers are available to answer questions and help with questions.

Campuses

Fusion Academy’s current campuses are located throughout California, New York, New Jersey and Texas:

Los Angeles Area:

• Los Angeles
• Miracle Mile
• Pasadena
• South Bay
• Warner Center

Bay Area:

• Los Gatos
• Marin
• San Francisco
• San Mateo
• Silicon Valley (Opening in 2015)
• Walnut Creek

Orange County:

• Huntington Beach
• Mission Viejo

San Diego Area:

• Solana Beach

New York:

• Brooklyn
• Manhattan- Lincoln Center
• Manhattan- Park Avenue
• Westchester
• Woodbury

New Jersey:

• Morristown
• Princeton

Texas:

• Austin (Opening in 2015)
• Dallas
• Houston Galleria (Opening in 2015)
• Plano

Academics

Fusion Academy has both full-time and part-time academic options, though all schedules include Fusion’s, personalized learning and one-to-one educational model. In addition, each student has a unique schedule that’s customized for his or her individual learning needs.

To supplement each student’s course schedule, Fusion Academy also has therapeutic support from outside professionals, compassion and tolerance education, and staff mentoring. In addition, students can express their creativity through arts and music enrichment programs that include studio art, performing art, music theory and music recording.

Fusion Academy’s full-time class schedule has both standard and honors-level courses in sciences, mathematics, history and social studies, visual and performing arts, English, languages and special courses. Students can also choose part-time assistance in a variety of areas, including tutoring, organizational assistance and homework assistance. Customized summer programs are available in math, history, science, English and foreign languages. Students can also prepare for high school entrance exams or the SAT, ACT, GED and more. In addition to building students’ reading, writing, math and higher-order thinking skills, Fusion Academy can help with study skills, including test preparation and review, test taking, and time management. Furthermore, Fusion Academy assists students with college applications and career planning, as well as those with ADHD and learning differences.

References