From Overcrowded to One-on-One: Reimagining School with Fusion's Micro Model with Lynna Martinez-Khalilian

📣 The Ruckus Report

Quick take: When the system broke her heart, she built a new one. From a classroom with no chairs to a network of 1:1 micro schools, Lynna Martinez-Khalilian is rewriting the rules of what school can be.

🤝 Meet Your Fellow Ruckus Maker

Lynna Martinez-Khalilian is a former classroom teacher who experienced the limits of traditional schooling firsthand. Now a pioneer at Fusion Education Group, Lynna leads a nationwide network of one-to-one micro schools designed to prioritize student belonging, interest-driven learning, and flexible, personalized schedules. She's on a mission to put love at the center of school design — and create places where students thrive, not just survive.

🔨 Breaking Down the Old Rules 🎯 Key Insight #1: The Class Size Myth

• What's broken: Cramming 40 kids into a classroom and expecting personalization.
• The shift: A micro school model with 1:1 instruction and flexible pacing.
• Impact: Students are engaged, confident, and finally seen — teacher burnout drops dramatically.

🎯 Key Insight #2: Teaching Before Trust

• What's broken: Leading with content before connection.
• The shift: A learning philosophy built on love, motivation, then teaching.
• Impact: Relationships become the gateway to mastery and critical thinking.

🎯 Key Insight #3: Standardized Systems, One-Size-Fits-All Schedules

• What's broken: Age-based cohorts, rigid start times, and locked-in pacing.
• The shift: Flexible, personalized schedules based on student peak learning times and interest development.
• Impact: Students discover self-agency, intrinsic motivation, and joy in learning — and it sticks.

💬 Quotable Ruckus

"Love, motivate, teach. That's the order — and that's the revolution." – Lynna Martinez Khalilian

🏋️ Your Do School Different Challenge

Ready to implement these ideas? Start here:

• Tomorrow: Ask your staff: what would it look like to lead with love in our classrooms?
• This Month: Audit your schedule for flexibility. Where can you give students more autonomy?
• This Semester: Pilot a mentorship-first initiative where teachers focus on connection before content.

🔗 Connect & Continue

🎯 Get the full episode transcript here

🔗 Follow Lynna Martinez Khalilian:

• Website: https://www.fusionacademy.com/
• LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/lynna-martinez-khalilian-413a2b75

📌 Ruckus Makers Don't Just Listen — They Act

If education ain't a bit disruptive, then what are your students really learning?

This show isn't about doing school better.

It's about Doing School Different — and joining a movement of bold, creative school leaders who reject legacy models and reimagine what's possible.

🧠 Here are four ways we can help you on your Do School Different journey:

📬 Subscribe to the Free Newsletter — 3x a week tools, mindset shifts, and strategies that actually work: ruckusmakers.news

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🧨 Apply to the Mastermind — Weekly coaching, peer mentorship, and our proven Ruckus Maker Flywheel: betterleadersbetterschools.com/mastermind

🎙 Today's RUCKUS cast in Partnership With:

• ODP Business Solutions®

Looking to create the kind of campus experience students never forget? ODP Business Solutions® transforms ordinary spaces into extraordinary learning environments.

🔍 Visit odpbusiness.com/education and let's Do School Different.

• IXL

Over 1 million teachers rely on IXL because it is empowering, it helps them make better decisions with reliable data, and it adapts instruction based on student performance.

🔍 Get started today at ixl.com/leaders

• PLAY PIPER

Kids love gaming and computers, but are disengaged from Math and Science at school. Play Piper changes that with hands-on STEM kits and a coding curriculum.

🔍 Learn more at playpiper.com

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