Fusion Homeschooling COVID-19 Reopening Plan
A note from the Board:
We, as a board, have been in discussion multiple times a day trying to decide the best course forward for Fusion. Our responsibility to protect the health and safety of our educational coaches and students while also providing for their educational needs weighs heavily on us. The decisions we have to make are agonizing, as we fully understand that nothing we decide will make everyone happy. We would love for each of our Fusion Families to continue with the program, but we encourage each family to do what is right for their individual situation.
That being said, we have been deeply disturbed by the continued increase in COVID-19 cases in our area and in the state of Tennessee. We feel it is best to proceed with extreme caution at this point, and continually re-evaluate with the hopes of opening fully as soon as it is safe to do so. Our plan for August is outlined below.
Core Classes
We will begin August with our Thursday core classes only, meeting in-person on an A-B schedule. Kindergarten, First Grade, and 2nd/3rd grade core classes will meet in-person every week, since they will be the only groups meeting on Fridays. Kindergarten and First grade will be on a modified schedule, as detailed below.
We decided to proceed in this direction for August because splitting in-person classes this way drastically reduces the number of students in the building at one time, allowing for appropriate distancing. We know that our students flourish when they are able to interact with each other and with their educational coaches, and we felt this was the best way to provide for this, while being mindful of their health and safety.
The schedule for August will look like this:
Group A – 4th-6th grade core classes
- In-person 8/6 and 8/20
- Online 8/13 and 8/27
- Core classes for this group include:
- 4th/5th Grade History, Writing/Grammar, Math, Science, Thursday Reading STEM, Basics of Mathematics 1 and 2, Writing Foundations 1
- 6th Grade Ancient History STEM 1, Math, Science, Reading, Writing/Grammar, Basics of Mathematics 2, Writing Foundations 1
- A detailed email with the schedule for these students is forthcoming.
Group B – 7th-12th grade core classes
- In-person 8/13 and 8/27
- Online 8/20
- We felt it best to start the year with an in-person class. They will go an extra day later in the year to make up for missing the first week in August.
- Core classes for this group include:
- 7th Grade Ancient History STEM 1, Math, Science, Reading, Writing/Grammar
- 8th Grade US History/Government, Math, Science, Writing Foundations 2
- High School English 1, English 3, US History Honors, Government/Economics, World History Honors, Algebra 1, Algebra 2, Integrated Math 1, Biology, Physics, Writing Foundations 2, Geometry, 11:30 Math Lab
- A detailed email with the schedule for these students is forthcoming.
2nd/3rd Grade
- In-person 8/7, 8/14, 8/21, 8/28
- Core Classes for this group include:
- 2nd/3rd Grade Social Studies, Writing/Grammar, Science, Foundations of Reading 1
- A detailed email with the schedule for these students is forthcoming.
Kindergarten Connection (modified)
- In-person 8/7, 8/14, 8/21, 8/28
- This group will meet from 8:30-11:00 on Fridays
- This time will include classroom instruction with Ms. Krystal and Makerspace STEM Lab.
- We plan for Art, Dance, and Music to be phased in beginning in September.
- They will not need to pack a lunch, as their day will end at 11:00 in August.
- You will only be responsible for half tuition (plus the $10 admin fee) for August.
First Grade Fusion (modified)
- In-person 8/7, 8/14, 8/21, 8/28
- This group will meet from 10:30-1:30 on Fridays
- This time will include classroom instruction with Ms. Krystal and Makerspace STEM Lab.
- We plan for Art, Dance, and Music to be phased in beginning in September.
- These students will need to pack a lunch to eat at school. An extra half hour is built in the schedule to provide time for lunch.
- You will only be responsible for half tuition (plus the $10 admin fee) for August.
Reopening Plan – Enrichment Classes and Clubs
We plan to phase in our enrichment classes and clubs after Labor Day, providing it is safe to do so. We will be in touch with details in early August.
Safety Protocol
We will release a comprehensive list of our health/safety protocol after our final meeting with the leadership of First Cumberland Presbyterian Church, our host facility, at the end of July. At this point, we are confident that it will include the wearing of masks or face shields while indoors (many of our classes plan to meet outside, whenever possible), temperature checks upon arrival, distancing within classrooms and hallways, and staggered class change times. We have already lowered the maximum number of students allowed in classes to reduce the amount of contact students will have with one another.
Online Option
All of these core classes will offer an online, live streamed option for students whose families do not feel comfortable with them meeting in-person. They may come to join classes in-person as soon as they are ready to do so. This option will also be available throughout the year for students who are out sick or are unable to attend for other reasons. Core classes will require a year long commitment, due to their cumulative nature and their conduciveness to transitioning to an online format.
When we begin offering in-person enrichment classes and clubs, some of these will have an online option as well. A list of those will be provided at a later date. Online participation in enrichment classes and clubs will be optional, and you will only be charged for them if you opt to continue these classes online. That is to say, if we begin meeting in-person and are forced to move completely online at some point in the year, you may elect not to continue with enrichment classes and clubs online. You will only pay for in-person classes, if that is your preference.
Supply Fee Plan
Since only our core classes and Kindergarten and First Grade will be meeting in August, we will only be collecting the first half of the supply fees for those classes in July. We will send separate invoices for enrichment class and club supply fees in August. The second half of supply fees will be due in December.
Tuition Collection Plan
We will begin collecting tuition for core classes in August. Providing we are able to start enrichment classes and clubs in September as we hope to, tuition for those classes will be collected beginning in September. The tuition for these classes will be prorated to reflect the 4 missed weeks in August.
Time Frame for Registration Fee Refund
As mentioned above, we will be collecting the first half of the supply fees for core classes in mid-July. These fees are nonrefundable, as they are distributed directly to our educational coaches, but all schedules can be changed through August 1, with refunds for registration fees available for those who decide to withdraw completely.