Why Merge Education Created SETS
The Story Behind the Software
Merge co-director Bill Rossi founded and directed a creative mentoring nonprofit for 20 years, serving over 2,500 challenged youth and adults.
He couldn't find an easy-to-use software that assessed meaningful outcomes, so he created one. Working with other educators and professionals he developed an after school evaluation software that would work in all types of programs.
Merge Education was founded in 2008 to disseminate the Student Evaluation Software and Rossi's Creative Teaching Approach.
The People Behind Merge
Everyone at Merge is passionate about providing practical, affordable tools for community programs. We've always known that smaller community-based programs have a special ingredient - we call it authenticity - that helps them get real with students, meet them where they are, and empower them to grow.We say this on the Software Page, but it's worth repeating: We know smaller community programs can struggle hard for funding if they don't have the tools they need to evaluate and prove their success to funders. That's why SETS was developed. It's extra user-friendly because we know the field and we think like you think. Just like you, we're intelligent, creative people who put everything we have into our work.
Bill Rossi, Co-Director
Bill is an educator and musician. A BluesJazz pianist, in addition to directing Merge he composes, records, and performs. Visit https://billrossimusic.com for more.
Mary-Helen Rossi, Co-Director
A creative writer, Mary Helen is passionate about empowering youth to succeed and sees afterschool programs as a great way to do that.