Comparing Tilden Prep & Fusion Academy for 2e kid

Our child is highly gifted and suffers from moderate to severe mental health issues that impact their ability to maintain a 'normal' school schedule. We have been very impressed with Tilden Prep's understanding, flexibility, and collaboration with us as we've tried various schedules and teachers to accommodate our child's needs. They have remained very open and compassionate and have never used punitive or shaming approaches that we've experienced at other schools. The 1:1 set up at Tilden means that when our child is ready and present to learn, they are able to go as deep or as fast with the material as desired. They're just very accepting and able to meet our child where they are. Good luck to you! I hope you find the right place for your child.

I'm not sure how useful this will be, because we only enrolled our daughter, who is very bright but has ADHD, part time at Tilden (math and English), while she was fully enrolled at her regular, independent school. She was unable to learn on Zoom, and so we figured that--as a 6th-grader-- she would eventually catch up on other subjects, we were very concerned about her falling behind on these key skills. Tilden was a game-changer, and we continued using their services on a tutoring capacity once in-person learning resumed. The teachers there are just wonderful, understanding how to connect with their students and inspire them to learn. Our daughter never ever balked at going to Tilden (2x/week) even after long days at school, and the support and guidance (not to mention confidence) that she acquired over these two years have reverberated through many aspects of her life. I would particularly recommend Ben Graber, but my sense is that most of the teachers are excellent. We did not consider Fusion, largely because of the cost, and because of a somewhat corporate feel to the school. That said, Fusion does have better digs, and as a result seems able to offer more opportunities for kids to develop friendships and a sense of community.

My neurodivergent daughter attended Fusion in Berkeley and I am honestly so grateful that a school like this exists.  She thrived in the one on one format and was able to actually learn, which was the goal.  If not for Fusion, she would have dropped out of high school for sure.  I also toured Tilden prep and found that, for her, Fusion was the better fit because there was more support.  They have a scheduled "homework cafe" after each class and a teacher checks in on them to make sure they are on task and completing the homework.  She really needed that and would not have been able to complete the homework otherwise.  The teachers also send the parents an email each day with a summary of how the class went and what they learned.  I do think there may be more opportunity for social interaction at Tilden because it's bigger, but Fusion really worked well for our daughter and she did end up making friends.  

My kid goes to Fusion Berkeley. It has been a very good experience for them and us. One advantage of Fusion over Tilden is that Tilden has lots of students and teachers in cubbies in the same room, so the room can get noisy. At Fusion, each teacher/student pair is in their own room, so there's quiet and privacy. (Also glass doors so not too much privacy!)

Here are some of the things that have worked for us:

1) The teachers pay attention to how my kid's brain works, and then teach that way. I don't need an IEP or any testing, they just try to figure out what works, and do more of that. One of my kid's teachers told a story throughout the entire semester that included all the physics she needed to teach. Another teacher provided scaffolding and incremental successes to keep my kid motivated to keep trying and moving forward.

2) There's a homework cafe on site, and the model has the kids take a class, then sit down to do the homework. In theory, the kids shouldn't bring home any homework at all, which makes evenings and weekends so much more relaxed! When we don't have to struggle to get our kid to focus on homework, we can enjoy them much more. Our kid has been known to procrastinate and not get homework done, and I really feel like the whole school is a team, working together to figure out how to help our kid focus and do their work.

3) Our kid gets overwhelmed easily, and hasn't been in a regular classroom since second grade. School demands can be too much, especially for a kid who is asynchronous in their development. My kid is autistic and adhd, struggles with sensory input, struggles with social cues, wants to give their perspective in all the subjects, and doesn't want to wait for others to have their say (or wait while the whole class gets organized, disciplined, etc). With the one-on-one model, these stresses are greatly reduced. My kid doesn't have to deal with crowds at passing period, or loud lunch rooms, or getting teased by people who think they're weird. The kids and teachers are accepting of differences, the campus is small, there's quiet spaces to work, and there's opportunities to be social when the kids are ready. I think that kids who are dysregulated by school can do very well in a place like Fusion.

I hope this helps!