Studio Policies

Practicing	You must have a tuned, functioning piano, or a full-size 88 key touch-sensitive electronic keyboard in the home for daily practice! All students must sign a practice agreement. A minimum of 20 minutes per day, 5 days a week is required for beginning level students, 40 minutes for intermediate level students, and 60 minutes for advanced students. Parents are expected to establish and enforce a regular daily practice schedule. Parents will be informed if the student is not prepared for their lessons or is not making adequate progress for his or her ability and level of study. Students who are consistently unprepared will be dropped from study.
Lessons	Weekly lessons are scheduled at a specific time for each student. Students are expected to arrive at their scheduled lesson on time and with all of their lesson materials. A small tote bag is recommended to keep lesson materials together. Students should come directly into the studio when they arrive. If you expect to be more than 5-10 minutes late, please call me. To keep my lesson schedule on time, please notify me at the beginning of the lesson if you need to discuss an issue with me or call me at your convenience.
Lesson Books and Materials	For your convenience, I purchase all lesson materials for each student. A non-refundable registration fee of $10, plus a materials deposit of $40 is collected from each student to cover the cost of purchasing lesson books and other materials throughout the year. The cost of books and materials purchased for each student is deducted from this deposit. I will notify you when books and materials exceed this amount and an additional deposit will be due.
Fees	A Studio Tuition Fee is divided into 9 equal installments, payable monthly in advance, September through May. This policy follows the recommended practice of the Music Teacher's National Association (MTNA) and Music Teacher Association of California (MTAC). Regularly attending students will ordinarily have four lessons per month. In some months students may have five lessons, for which there is no additional charge. During months with Studio Vacation Periods (see below), there may be less than four lessons in the month. The Studio Tuition and Monthly Tuition installments will NOT be adjusted or reduced due to Studio Vacation Periods (see below), student vacations or absences during the school year. The Tuition Fee does NOT include lessons during the summer months – June, July, and August. The Studio Tuition Fee does NOT include music books, materials, and competition or evaluation fees. These are deducted from the Books and Materials Deposit. Contact me for more information on the Studio Tuition Fee.
Cancellations	There are NO make-up lessons for cancelled or missed lessons (except, at the teacher's discretion, for sudden illness). Cancellations of lessons greatly diminish the student's progress and commitment. You have reserved a space and time in my teaching studio, which I cannot fill with another paid lesson, and the Studio Tuition Fee covers far more than weekly lesson contact time. If you wish to exchange the conflicting lesson time with another student enrolled in my studio, I can provide you with a list of names, phone numbers and lessons times for students who take lessons for the same amount of time (30 or 45 minutes). You are responsible for making and notifying me of these arrangements. No adjustments, monetary refunds, or reductions in Studio Tuition Fees or payments will be made for extended absences, cancelled or missed lessons. To help you understand these changes, please read the following articles by Wendy Stevens, and Vicky Barham, PhD.