Policies, Procedures,
& Pricing
Thank you for being a part of All Ages Music School. We’re so glad you’re here!
Please review these policies for All Ages Music School, as it sets out the rules that our school has established to make the learning experience beneficial for all students. These rules are part of the contract you have with our music school. While we know that unexpected events may arise that may necessitate an exception to these rules, we reserve the right to determine when to grant any such exception.
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I. PAYMENT TERMS
Monthly Payments. The monthly membership fee at All Ages Music School varies based on the service. You can find the most up to date pricing on our website. The rate for 30 min, weekly private lessons is $160/mo. Longer lesson times have increased fees and are based on recommendations by the teacher. Most group classes have an $80/mo fee for 30 min weekly class, $120/mo for 45 min weekly class, and $160/mo for 60 min weekly class. The monthly payments are due by the 1st of each month. You will receive an invoice that can be paid manually prior to the due date. If a payment has not yet been received, it will be automatically drawn on the first of the month, using the payment method on your account in Opus1. All students must have a payment method on file. It is up to the student/parents to keep this method up to date. We strongly encourage the use of ACH vs a credit/debit card, as there is no expiration date.
Late Charge. Payments are due on the first day of the month. Payments not made by the tenth day of the month will incur a late penalty of $20. Fees will continue to accrue each month payment is late. All Ages Music School has the right to remove a student from the schedule if late fees continue to build up, at their discretion.
Your monthly fee is the same each month of the year and does not change for months where there are 5 lessons, or months where there are less. We have taken closures into account and done the math to average out the cost over the course of the year. Your Opus1 account will be updated with any closures throughout the year. You may also find our calendar and closings on our website. Any closings due to weather or things outside of our control (power outages, etc) will be communicated via Opus1 communication channels, as well as on our social media pages, @allagesmusicschool (FB and IG)
II. CANCELLATIONS, MAKE-UP LESSONS AND REFUNDS
If a student needs to cancel or miss a lesson/class, it is simply considered a ‘missed lesson/class’ and lessons/classes will resume the following week ( or next week we are open if that next week is a closure week). It is our policy that no refunds are offered or provided for lessons missed by a student. If a student knows ahead of time that they will miss, they can record themselves playing/singing an assignment and send it securely through their Opus1 account to the teacher. The teacher can then use the paid for lesson time to listen, critique, and send feedback, new assignments, etc to the student. This applies only for individual lessons.
Virtual set up:
It is encouraged that all students have a way to connect to a virtual lesson and know what space they will use in their home for such times. These types of lessons are often due to things out of our control and not always planned in advance. We can talk you through how to log on to a virtual lesson when the time comes, but just knowing what device you will use, where to put it/prop it up so that the student and teacher can see each other, etc is really great to have planned in advance. We encourage students to have a music stand at home for practicing and virtual lessons.
III. TEACHER’S ABSENCE
If a teacher needs to cancel due to illness, other emergency, or just a planned vacation, make-up lessons will be available and scheduled at a time when the student and teacher are both available. If a common time is unable to be reached within 30 days of the missed lesson, the teacher has the option to request a refund for the student for the missed lesson. Though not considered a frequent replacement, instructors are allowed to prerecord lessons and assignments for students in lieu of the very occasional missed lesson.
Inclement weather, natural disasters, things out of our control, etc.
No refunds will be given in the event of inclement weather, natural disasters, power outages and other things out of our control, etc. All Ages will not make a habit of closing each time it feels iffy outside. We will rely on the judgement of our teachers and students on an individual basis. If you or your teacher do not feel safe coming in, the teacher can offer a virtual lesson at that same scheduled time. Though virtual isn’t the most ideal teaching environment for music, it’s definitely a great option and substitute for the occasional ‘otherwise missed’ lesson. We consider a virtual lesson, a new upload or exchange of materials, progress, assignments, etc in Opus1 to be a suitable replacement for that lesson.
Illness:
We ask that students please not come to lessons/classes if they have been ill, have had a fever over 100 degrees in the past 24 hours, etc. If a student is too sick to go to school or finish the school day, they should not attend their lesson. If they seem to feel ok and want to do their lesson, their teacher can, with notice so that they have the correct equipment with them, hop online and do a virtual lesson so that the student can still have their lesson, but not spread germs.
IV. ADDITIONAL FEES
Each student will be charged a one-time registration fee of $45 once the first lesson has been scheduled. Each January, an annual fee of $45 per student will be charged. These fees help to offset the school’s costs for several things, including admin time, recital prep and supplies, additional instructor training time, as well as general supplies and maintenance of our school.
Rate Changes:
All Ages Music School reserves the right to increase fees over the years, as necessary. We will not increase monthly tuition, registration, or annual fees for like services by more than $10 each/year.
V. STUDENT TERMINATION
We know that every student stops taking lessons at some point- often with leaving for college. Please make this decision thoughtfully with plenty of discussion between the teacher, parent and students so that lessons can continue with a positive sense of closure. If a family chooses to terminate their membership, the school requires a minimum of 30 days notice. Please note that all fees (after the initial month) draw on the 1st of the month and cannot be drawn as a partial fee or prorated in any fashion. This means that students wishing to end lessons mid-month will still have paid through the entirety of that month. For example, if you turn in your notice on April 15th, 30 days would fall around May 15th, and lessons will be paid through the end of May. We advise you to plan accordingly. No refunds or credits will be provided for any unused lessons, including make-up lessons planned for a ‘teacher-cancelled’ lesson. All unpaid fees must be paid prior to termination notice being submitted/accepted. A termination will not be processed until an account is up to date. Ceasing attendance does not count as a termination notice and membership fees will continue to be drawn. Please also note that the termination notice must go through the proper channels. Please email admin@allagesmusicschool.com to inquire about termination procedures when that time is approaching for you. Notices given verbally or to your teacher are not valid.
Teacher-requested Termination:
All Ages Music School reserves the right to terminate the contract with the student/parent if the student has excessive absences or if the teacher determines that the student is not cooperating, being destructive to our space, etc. Prior to any decision to terminate, the teacher will meet with the parents to discuss the situation.
Teacher leaving All Ages-
Please note that we will work to assign you to a different teacher at All Ages Music School if your teacher needs to leave our school. Though we understand that there is a bond between student and teacher, this is not considered a reason for a termination exception. All teachers with us have agreed that they will not teach any students from our school outside of All Ages Music School for a period 12 months after leaving our school. If we find that this is happening, there is a fee associated for the teacher. Students choosing to leave must still follow our Termination procedures.
VI. MISCELLANEOUS POLICIES
Punctuality.
Please have the student arrive around five minutes prior to the start of the lesson/class so that the student is ready when the lesson/class time begins. A tardy student will be given only the time remaining in the student’s scheduled lesson/class period. Students should bring all required books, instruments, and materials to each lesson/class. Parents should pick students up as soon as their time is over to avoid unattended children wandering the school. We have some big hallways and lots of room to run, so we really have to monitor this carefully. We don’t want anyone getting hurt or distracting those who are trying to learn (or others sitting and waiting).. Please note, teachers may end classes and lessons anytime in the last 5 minutes of the scheduled time block to allow them to reset the space for the next student(s), record attendance and assignments for your student’s lesson/class, and update all notes.
Our waiting areas:
We want our school to be a fun, exciting and welcoming place for all! We’ve intentionally created several sitting/waiting areas to try to allow families space to spread out and be comfortable in our space. You are welcome to walk around, sit in any of our designated areas, use the restrooms in the middle of our school, hop on the internet, etc. We ask that you please not allow small children to roam the halls of our school unattended, yell, or make an excessive amount of noise, etc. To be clear, we do not at all expect people to whisper like we are at a library or anything like that. We also have children and don’t expect them to be silent. We just want to keep everyone safe and have a respectful environment.
Food and Drink:
We don’t want to have to make a rule that it’s not allowed, but as we all know, one person can ruin it for all. Please don’t be that one person! We want to be a place where families feel comfortable being themselves, parents feel good having their kids wait with them while siblings are in classes/lessons, etc. We prefer that only water is brought into the space, as far as beverages go. Please be sure all beverages are in a lidded, spill-proof container. Snacks are allowed (subject to change), as we know many will be coming from school, going to and from an event, etc. Please be mindful of super messy snacks that could make a giant mess or excessively loud packaging that could drive everyone around you crazy. I guess what we’re saying is, please just be mindful of those around you and respectful of our space. Don’t let your toddler stomp on a bunch of goldfish crackers and leave the mess for us to pick up. Please be sure to throw away your garbage and clean up after yourself and your people. We appreciate it. There are garbage cans in the restrooms and the front office. These rules are subject to change and All Ages Music School reserves the right to change to a no food/drink policy, if this is abused.
Practice Expectations:
Students are expected to practice. Your student’s teacher will set the expectation with the student on how much they should be practicing. Our approach is very individualized, so we don’t make a blanket statement here. Obviously, the more your student practices, the quicker they are likely to progress. Any encouragement that you can provide your student (yourself if you are the student), is incredibly helpful. Being sure that they (you) have a place at home to practice and practice time built into your home schedule is a huge help. Of course, all of this is left to the family to decide what ultimately works best for them. Please just keep in mind that practice is essential for good growth in music learning (or really anything). Please don’t come to the teacher and tell them that you aren’t seeing the results you expect if you know your student is not practicing consistently. We are good at our jobs, but are not magicians.
Office Hours:
Office hours vary, as we are all teaching as well. It is best to email or text, vs trying to catch us on the phone. If a phone conversation needs to happen, we are happy to give you a call. Please do not text or email demanding a phone call with no context. This applies specifically to owner/admin. Our teachers are paid to teach and we take care of the administrative side. If you need to have a lengthy conversation with your teacher, we ask that you please let them know in advance and have the conversation during your paid lesson time. If your student is in a group class, please first speak with the admin. This may mean planning ahead, as there is not an admin on site at all times. Group class should not be taken away from others to have a conversation with the teacher.
Parent Attendance at Lessons:
At our school, parents are welcome to attend and quietly observe lessons for their children. Some group classes (like piano) may not have the space for parents to attend, and it gets a little weird with other people’s family members in there, so typically parent sit-in’s would be more geared toward one on one lessons. The studio does reserve the right to exclude a parent if the teacher determines that the parent’s presence is disturbing the child or impeding his or her progress.
Parking:
There is ample parking outside of our building, but occasionally the spaces nearest our part of the building will be congested, as we are right next to a big daycare center. During daycare pickup time, it can get a little crazy. We appreciate your patience here. You are also welcome to pull up in this area to drop off and pick up older students.
We recommend that parents accompany their younger children to and from the school. If the student is young enough that they would struggle to walk to the restroom during class and make it back to class on their own, we ask that parents stay in the building. Teachers are not able to individually escort students to the restroom when they have a classroom of students that they would be leaving behind. The school is not responsible for any injuries or accidents.
Other Liability:
All Ages Music School is not to be held responsible for any injuries that happen on school grounds, inside or outside of the school. There isn’t much that could happen during a music lesson/class, but we have to put this here. It probably more applies to those who are waiting on the student.
Video cameras:
All Ages Music School does have ring cameras in some of the common areas of the school and near exits and will use this footage, if needed, to catch any theft, vandalism, disrespect, or anything else that is forbidden in our space. This is a safe space for all and we will do everything we can to uphold this.
Photos and Video:
Photos and video will be taken at times and used for marketing and promotional materials, the website, social media, fun challenges, and more. If you do not want yourself/child to be in any of these, please email us at admn@allagesmusicschool.com.
Thank you for being a part of our school. We are so excited you’re here. Let the fun begin!
