New school -- Fusion Academy -- anyone heard of it?

[Anonymous]

The next step was meeting with a dual enrollment counselor at the community college. They work with a lot of homeschool families.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I work at a DC area campus and the pay for teachers ranges from $24/hr to $30/hr but the biggest thing is instability. Teachers are often working with schedules that go from 16 hours one week to 37 the next week without much warning at all.

I adore all my students and will teach at Fusion and finish my year with my current group of kids but I've lost money working here simply to pay bills because the pay is so unstable. I was told I could make $56,000 a year because I'd be given a 40 hour work week. I have rarely been given that many hours by our registrar, despite promises, to the contrary because of student population numbers. I made less than $26,000 my first year and only just got to $30,000 this year and that's because I benefit from NOT being on their benefits plan so less money taken out of my paycheck. Teachers are overworked and do everything out of a love for the kids with no compensation. We often work 40-60 hours weeks but only get paid for what is in our database schedules which often change without our knowledge after the fact.

We also only receive 5 minutes of planning time per class. That means any planning time outside of that we do not get paid for. Five minutes to plan and grade student work and only told after two weeks how much we accrue. The great experiences you get from Fusion are because your teachers are overworked, underpaid, but truly love your kids and want them to get a good education. We are encouraged to do more work beyond our teacher score-cards because of the kids and we often do, but it takes a toll and we've lost half our staff over the year to this burnout. Corporate treats parents and students so wonderfully, but behind closed doors often care very little about teacher concerns because turnover is so high they just hire new, less experienced teachers. We love your students, we really do, but understand that your high tuition goes directly to corporate to finance opening new campuses in your region, no campus sees their own profit.

I work at a Fusion as well and some of this I agree with hut I'm confused how your schedule can be 16 hours one week and 37 the next. When kids contract a class it's for 20, 25, 30 sessions depending on the level. How can it be possible you randomly have 20 hours extra one week given the way the school contracts? Mine is full now, I'm capped out at 37 hours and it works for me but there's no way I could randomly have had my hours flip flop week to week based on the way courses are contracted.

I do agree the model can potentially set teachers up for burnout but the experiences are amazing in terms of how you get to teach and the kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yep, my niece goes to it in NYC. She refuses to go to school so this is the alternative she was offered.

At what age does a "special needs" child get to "refuse" school?

Don't know OP's niece but there was a little boy in my dd's class who missed several months from the school year. He had anxiety/OCD and at one point would t leave their house at all for several weeks, let alone make it to school.

The fact that the first post in this quote doesn't think that this level of mental health-related school refusal is a thing demonstrates that they have no experience with it. If you did, you would not flippantly ask the question in this way.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
I work at a Fusion as well and some of this I agree with hut I'm confused how your schedule can be 16 hours one week and 37 the next. When kids contract a class it's for 20, 25, 30 sessions depending on the level. How can it be possible you randomly have 20 hours extra one week given the way the school contracts? Mine is full now, I'm capped out at 37 hours and it works for me but there's no way I could randomly have had my hours flip flop week to week based on the way courses are contracted.

I do agree the model can potentially set teachers up for burnout but the experiences are amazing in terms of how you get to teach and the kids.

Previous Fusion employee poster here.

Parents can cancel classes and it gets NT'd which means teachers are not paid for those hours (sometimes it can be an NS and we will get paid, but that depends on your DSD's policies). I've had a bad week where parents canceled due to a religious holiday or travel plans that all lined up together and I lost out on over ten hours because students were out BOTH days if not all week. The fluctuations in hours tend to add up because I often don't know in advance of the month, so budgeting is hard as hell when you can't be sure how many hours you will receive for sure. The amazing experiences cannot, unfortunately, pay my bills.

I love my students and the ability I have to control my own classroom, but it comes at a heavy cost to my finances and stress levels. I have to work eight to nine hours every single day to make ends meet and that is eight hours of TEACHING, not grading or planning time (which we receive five minutes of, again). It's only been a few months now that we've had overtime pay because a Fusion in NYC unionized and corporate agreed to it after years of being in business and taking advantage of their teachers need for pay over their reasonable teaching load. Eight teaching hours is a hellish schedule when most if not every other school has hours of your day dedicated to planning, grading, and department time.

[Anonymous]

This sounds awful.

[Anonymous]

My child is in her second and final year at Fusion and we love it. She graduates in May and has really excelled in the program, connected with teachers, made friends, and enjoyed the reduced school hours. She has a performing career outside of school and Fusion has enabled her to pursue auditions and maintain a rigorous trainings rehearsal and performance schedule and still get the rest she needs. She also had severe school anxiety/avoidance issues in public school. Fusion is expensive but for us it has been worth it. One really great thing is she has been able to get PE and internship credit for her training and performance work. It's not for everyone, but it was a great solution for us.

Our campus has had good stability in the teaching staff and administration. There have been some disappointing departures, but overall there has been good continuity.

[Anonymous]

PP here. Reading back through the thread and wanted to respond to something. School refusal is increasingly common, epecially with teenage girls with social anxiety. If you've never experienced it, you might not understand how devastating it is for child and parent alike, and what a vicious cycle it is. Fusion is a great option for kids who struggle with it, like my daughter did. There are several girls in her program who had the same issue.

[Anonymous]

I agree. Until you have had a child with school refusal you will not understand the impact it has on the whole family. We moved my child to Fusion for his Junior year after a disaster of a sophomore year in public school. (He basically did not attend, missing more days than he went).Fusion has been a life saver. He gets himself to school every day, has made some friends, and is taking ownership of his work and his responsibilities. He is happy! The staff and administration have been wonderful. They really get to know the students and take an interest in their lives. Communication is good. I'm really not sure what we would have done without Fusion. Private school options in Northern Virginia are very limited, especially if you don't want a religious school and public schools are just too big. Our only issue with Fusion is cost. It is very expensive. However for us, it is worth it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
I work at a Fusion as well and some of this I agree with hut I'm confused how your schedule can be 16 hours one week and 37 the next. When kids contract a class it's for 20, 25, 30 sessions depending on the level. How can it be possible you randomly have 20 hours extra one week given the way the school contracts? Mine is full now, I'm capped out at 37 hours and it works for me but there's no way I could randomly have had my hours flip flop week to week based on the way courses are contracted.

I do agree the model can potentially set teachers up for burnout but the experiences are amazing in terms of how you get to teach and the kids.

Previous Fusion employee poster here.

Parents can cancel classes and it gets NT'd which means teachers are not paid for those hours (sometimes it can be an NS and we will get paid, but that depends on your DSD's policies). I've had a bad week where parents canceled due to a religious holiday or travel plans that all lined up together and I lost out on over ten hours because students were out BOTH days if not all week. The fluctuations in hours tend to add up because I often don't know in advance of the month, so budgeting is hard as hell when you can't be sure how many hours you will receive for sure. The amazing experiences cannot, unfortunately, pay my bills.

I love my students and the ability I have to control my own classroom, but it comes at a heavy cost to my finances and stress levels. I have to work eight to nine hours every single day to make ends meet and that is eight hours of TEACHING, not grading or planning time (which we receive five minutes of, again). It's only been a few months now that we've had overtime pay because a Fusion in NYC unionized and corporate agreed to it after years of being in business and taking advantage of their teachers need for pay over their reasonable teaching load. Eight teaching hours is a hellish schedule when most if not every other school has hours of your day dedicated to planning, grading, and department time.

Yes I can see how that would happen if your DSD NT'd classes more than NS. You're right.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I agree. Until you have had a child with school refusal you will not understand the impact it has on the whole family. We moved my child to Fusion for his Junior year after a disaster of a sophomore year in public school. (He basically did not attend, missing more days than he went).Fusion has been a life saver. He gets himself to school every day, has made some friends, and is taking ownership of his work and his responsibilities. He is happy! The staff and administration have been wonderful. They really get to know the students and take an interest in their lives. Communication is good. I'm really not sure what we would have done without Fusion. Private school options in Northern Virginia are very limited, especially if you don't want a religious school and public schools are just too big. Our only issue with Fusion is cost. It is very expensive. However for us, it is worth it.

I have a freshman with school refusal due to anxiety and depression. What else did you consider?

[Anonymous]

We looked into John Paul the Great and Bishop Ireton, and Christ Chapel but child would not even look at them. Child did not like Flint Hill or SSSA. FCPS high schools have in school online class programs, where students take their classes online, but at school in a classroom with adult support when needed, but child did not want to go to school. Tried online classes through FCPS, but child was not motivated. Fusion has option on part time, so child can take a class over the summer and see if they like the program. This worked for us. Child felt successful without social pressure.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I agree. Until you have had a child with school refusal you will not understand the impact it has on the whole family. We moved my child to Fusion for his Junior year after a disaster of a sophomore year in public school. (He basically did not attend, missing more days than he went).Fusion has been a life saver. He gets himself to school every day, has made some friends, and is taking ownership of his work and his responsibilities. He is happy! The staff and administration have been wonderful. They really get to know the students and take an interest in their lives. Communication is good. I'm really not sure what we would have done without Fusion. Private school options in Northern Virginia are very limited, especially if you don't want a religious school and public schools are just too big. Our only issue with Fusion is cost. It is very expensive. However for us, it is worth it.

I have a freshman with school refusal due to anxiety and depression. What else did you consider?

I don't know about schools, but for therapy Jonathan Dalton at the Center for Anxiety & Behavioral Change in Rockville is very good.

[Anonymous]

Just horrible! We are draining our college fund for my son to get through high school then on top of that they actively charge my credit card for what they determine are necessary mastery sessions. Many, many parents complain of excessive mastery session charges but it seems to be at their discretion to add mastery classes. Just do not sign that clause or they will kill your credit cards then blame your child. Oh, and they might forget to include all your classes on your child's transcript. Yes, the admin is that bad!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just horrible! We are draining our college fund for my son to get through high school then on top of that they actively charge my credit card for what they determine are necessary mastery sessions. Many, many parents complain of excessive mastery session charges but it seems to be at their discretion to add mastery classes. Just do not sign that clause or they will kill your credit cards then blame your child. Oh, and they might forget to include all your classes on your child's transcript. Yes, the admin is that bad!

Which campus?

[Anonymous]

We are not having this experience. In the daily status reports, each teacher indicates whether they are on track with the syllabus. We keep track and if they seem to be falling behind, we address it immediately. We signed that clause so we know we need to stay on top of it. No issues with extra billing.

But, yes, it’s a lot of money. We knew that going in.