Regrettably, a student may be dismissed if any of these circumstances occur:
- Failure to pay tuition on time
- Persistent absences, late arrivals or late pickup from lessons
- Uncooperative attitude
- Failure to follow practice as instructed
- Lack of progress due to insufficient practice or unfulfilled requirements
- Disregard for the conduct policy
- Destruction of property
Private lessons will begin Tuesday, September 7th, 2021.
The lesson will begin to wrap up 5 minutes before the lesson slot ends, to allow time for final practice instructions and to transition to the next student. We try very hard to stay on time, but if one student’s lesson runs over, we will begin and end the next lesson late as well, to give each student his or her full lesson time. If you need to leave on time – or early – please let us know so that we can honor your need.
A $100 non-refundable deposit, in addition to a minimum of three summer lessons will hold your place in the studio for the following fall. The deposit will be applied to your first tuition payment in the fall. We do a lot of planning for individual students before the start of the semester, so this guarantees that we are preparing for YOU if you plan to return. The summer schedule and studio attendance policy will be communicated close to the end of the school year. The fall deposit is due by June 10 th of the same calendar year.
Lessons cancelled by you: If you are unable to attend a lesson and you inform us in advance, we will use your lesson time to plan for you, and will create and email an extra progress update, and/or send an extra assignment or accompaniment recording for practice. You could also call during the missed lesson time to chat about the student’s progress. There will be no make ups given for lessons missed by students due to conflicts in activities, family vacations, or illness. If you give us advance notice of your absence you will miss the benefit of the private lesson but will still receive our attention during that time block.
In an effort to accommodate occasional schedule conflicts, each teacher will create a swap list.
The SWAP LIST is a copy of the teacher’s schedule with students’ names and phone numbers. Inclusion on the swap list is optional; if you prefer that your contact info not be made available we will not include it on the swap list. You can use the list to try to arrange a swap with another student if you discover a conflict with your lesson time. You will have much greater success if you call or personally email the student/parent with whom you wish to swap. Please do not email the entire studio with a swap request. If a swap is successfully arranged, the teacher must be notified!
If two students arrive at the same time due to a swap list miscommunication, we will teach the student whose lesson is usually scheduled for that slot.
The teacher may veto a swap if circumstances necessitate it (i.e. recital preparation). There are also cases of differing lesson length that make swaps impractical, unless the student with a longer lesson is willing to forfeit the extra lesson time.
Lessons cancelled by us: When lessons are cancelled by the studio, due to weather or teacher illness, you will be given a lesson credit. Throughout the year there will be opportunities to use the lesson credit as we open up extra time slots and selected times during school vacation weeks. We will contact any students with lesson credits to offer the open times to them. If there is no opportunity to schedule and use a lesson credit, your tuition will be pro-rated for the amount of the lesson credit in the last month of lessons.
If you do not reply to our attempts to schedule a credited lesson, the credit will be forfeited at the end of the studio calendar year.
If we need to cancel a lesson on short notice, we will refer to the contact information listed on your registration form. Every attempt will be made to reach you or the student. If another teacher is present, the door will be unlocked; students coming off the bus may stay inside while waiting for pickup, and have access to the restroom. They may not use any of the studio equipment during this time without prior approval.
In case of inclement weather, the studio does not close in conjunction with any particular school district’s decision. The status of whether lessons will be held will be sent by email by noon of the lesson day and posted on the Facebook page. If the studio is closed you will be given a lesson credit. In some cases the studio may be open but an individual teacher may not be able to come in; in this situation you will be contacted individually by the teacher and given a lesson credit to use at another time. If the studio is open but you opt not to attend the lesson, the option for a Facetime or Skype lesson is open during the student’s normal lesson slot, or the teacher can create and email a short video assignment.
Drop off time is within 5 minutes of the lesson. Do not drop the student before this time without prior approval, unless the student is planning his/her theory lab time before the lesson.
Pick-up time is 15 minutes after the end of the lesson for those with lab time; 5 min. after the lesson for those without lab time – without prior approval.
The studio is not responsible for the safety of children who arrive early or are picked up late.
Students may not use the studio facilities without prior approval except for their scheduled lessons or studio events.
Students must sign a code of conduct at the beginning of the school year detailing respectful use of the facility. Disregard or vandalism may be cause for dismissal.
A student’s family members or friends may wait in the lobby during the student’s lesson time provided that they act responsibly or are supervised by a responsible adult.
Our primary concern is the welfare and safety of our students, as well as that of our teachers and studio equipment. For this reason, we may use visible, closed circuit security cameras. This system may record every aspect of the activities in the teaching rooms. The video obtained from this system will not be used for any purposes other than safety concerns. Under no circumstances will the videotape be shown to third parties without the consent of parents or pursuant to a court order.
