Fusion was born out of frustration with the status quo, and out of a passionate belief in the power of positive relationships to unlock academic potential.

In 1989, Michelle Rose Gilman, an innovative educator focused on special education, was ready to change the world. But as she entered understaffed, underfunded and uninspiring classrooms, she realized that the potential of the very students she had been trained to teach wasn’t being actualized. Michelle saw the emotional and social aspects of students’ lives being ignored – and this was preventing kids from flourishing. It was with this realization that the Fusion approach was born.

Beginning as a one-to-one tutor and mentor, Michelle worked with students to enhance their overall wellbeing and to open new pathways to learning. But as her team grew, she realized tutoring wasn’t enough – some of her students still weren’t flourishing when they returned to their full-time schools. So, to meet a pressing need, Fusion became a fulltime school.

Fusion was modeled around the needs of students who weren’t finding their place in more traditional school environments – whether they struggled with learning differences or disabilities, ADHD, social issues, the rigid scheduling of ordinary schools, or the boredom of a classroom not geared to accelerated learners.