Having a set of expectations or policies helps to establish a comfortable working environment for everyone involved. Also, it should be fairly clear that highly trained and experienced teachers, who are in demand and take their teaching seriously, get results. They do this, in part, by establishing these expectations up front so that everyone knows what they need to do in order for the students to succeed. Every student at Advanced Arts Music Studios will be expected to uphold a standard of excellence. Since we do not audition students, the largest criteria for their involvement in the program is that they consistently come prepared with their assignments with a ready-to-learn attitude.

The following studio policies were drafted from many years of experience and the sharing of information among similar, high-quality instructors around the country. You will absolutely be able to find instruction elsewhere, where the terms are loose and ever shifting. These terms are loose so that they suit the teacher. Depending on a wide range of factors, many of which you will never know because they are based on favoritism and economics. At Advanced Arts Music Studios, we will treat each enrolled student with equal fairness using the guidelines laid out in our policies and according to the MTNA Code of Ethics. Please consider the studio policies of any music studio or instructor as a way to set a standard for progress, behavior and mutual respect among all parties. It is a necessary aspect of a music studio that puts quality and respect first so that the music making can flourish unimpeded.

Materials

You will be asked periodically to purchase materials such as books, rosin, strings (but usually not if you are renting an instrument) and a metronome. A metronome is a mandatory practice tool.

Practice

For students to successfully advance on an instrument, it is necessary for them to spend quality time practicing. Of course, we will provide feedback and very specific instructions each week, however, since we cannot supervise students’ practicing at home, parents must make sure that their child is practicing at home daily. This is the key to improvement whether learning to play an instrument or learning to speak a new language. Correct repetition requires diligence and focus. After all, that is one of the valued benefits of learning to play an instrument. No matter what the reason is for playing a musical instrument, the main objective should always remain the same – steady progress. Go to our Parent Resource page for more information on how to help your child succeed in playing their instrument.

Payments

Payments are due on the first lesson of every month. In the event that your payment is not presented at this lesson, the lesson will still be given. However, you must either send the payment via mail or bring it to us within a four-day period from the day of that lesson. After that four day grace period, a $15 late charge per week will be applied (due along with, and added to, the original tuition payment) until the payment is received. We accept payments made by cash, check or through the use of PayPal if you have an account at www.paypal.com. (Paypal fees will be applied.) At this time, credit card payments are not accepted.

Attendance

Students who begin taking lesson at the beginning of the school year are required to take at least 37 lessons during the school year. This takes into account the major holidays and spring break. Students will be required to take a minimum of 37 lessons during the school year. This will not be difficult for most parents as many students have taken between 39 to 43 lessons during the year in previous years. However, there have been some instances in the past where students missed lessons but were too busy to make it up. This was almost always not our choice. When this happens, students could take potentially far less than 37 lessons in the year which is not acceptable in our studios. As mentioned before, the 37 week minimum change will most likely not affect most of you. If you did not start lessons in the beginning of the year we will take that into account. The main thing to remember is that you must have regular lessons and cannot request to  "take a week off".

Students should still plan to attend their lessons even when their school districts have early release, teacher in-service, parent/teacher conferences, student holiday, etc. These are not related to national holidays or major breaks from school such as Christmas and Thanksgiving vacation or even Spring Break.

Studio Etiquette

Please arrive on time but not before your scheduled lesson. When you arrive, please pull up to the front as far away from the mailbox as possible so that you do not impede the mailman from being able to deliver the mail nor prevent the neighbors from being able to drive up to their mailbox (both mailboxes are next to each other).

While entering the studio, please be very quiet as there may be a lesson in progress in the front office. Also, set cell phones to vibrate (or turn them off) and do not take calls during the lesson so that your child can benefit from an uninterrupted thought process. Your instructor will greatly appreciate your efforts.

Food is not allowed in the studios. Only water will be allowed.

Cancellations and Make-Ups

If you need to reschedule a lesson, you must give us 48-hours of notice. This is because you are purchasing a time slot which, if you do not use, cannot be used by anyone else without enough advanced notice. Lesson times are at a premium due to the nature of available hours in each day in which we can teach. Please tell your children to let you know as far in advance as possible when they are notified of any activity that may conflict with a lesson at our studio. You can then notify us immediately and we will do what we can to find you a makeup time. It may require significant effort for us to find a makeup time so please keep the rescheduling to a minimum during the year.

In most cases we cannot just allow lessons to be cancelled, however, you can make arrangements with us for a make-up lesson to be given at a mutually agreed upon time. We understand that from time to time students become ill and are not able to attend their lesson. Therefore, we will do our best to make-up lessons that were missed due to unforeseen illnesses. However, any lesson that was missed due to a reschedule or sickness will be made up at our convenience. We will expect that you do your best to be available when we propose the make up day and time.

A family vacation taken during the school year is not eligible for a makeup (please refer to the Plano Independent School District website for the official holiday calendar at www.pisd.edu). No make-up lesson will be given for any student who fails to show up for a scheduled lesson and who did not call to notify us.

Summer Instruction

Summer lessons will begin the week following the last day of school according to the Plano Independent School District calendar. It is highly recommended that your child take summer lessons if at all possible. Learning to play an instrument well requires steady, year-round practice to master the skills required to be proficient on a musical instrument. Without scheduled lessons, students tend not to practice so much as they feel there is no goal to work towards.


Lesson Termination

In the event that you should choose to terminate your child’s musical instruction before the end of a month in which payment has already been given, a refund will not be issued. The only exceptions to this are in the case where a family is suddenly transferred from the area and traveling to the lesson location becomes prohibitive; or there is a prolonged illness in the immediate family that creates a financial burden. In these, and similar cases, you will receive a refund.

Additional Information

Please let us know in advance of any auditions which your child might like to take including those for school orchestra, youth orchestra, All-Region/All-State, summer institutes, etc. It is a fairly standard practice that teachers require their students to ask for teacher assistance in the preparation of all performance, solo or otherwise, in order to help them prepare their material to the highest standards possible.