POLICIES

Anchor 1

PRIVATE LESSON POLICIES

STARTING & ENDING LESSONS
Students may begin private lessons at any time throughout the year, depending on the availability of our teachers. Students may withdraw from lessons at any time throughout the year by giving a 2-week notice to the school office by email, or by filling out a withdrawal form at the school office. Lesson fees are still charged for the two weeks after a withdrawal notice is given, so students are encouraged to take advantage of that by attending those two lessons. If those lessons are not attended by the student, those two lessons will still be invoiced, and we will still expect that lesson payment.

REGISTRATION FEE
An annual non-refundable registration fee of $30 per student is collected upon registration. With a maximum of $90 per family. That registration fee is good for the school year from September through until August. A new registration fee will be required to re-register for the following school year of September through until August. For students who join us later in the year, the annual non-refundable registration fee is pro-rated to $15.00 for the months of April, May and June. If you begin lessons in July and August, we just waive this year's registration fee and just collect one for the new school year that starts in September.

Students may pay for up to three individual pre-paid trial lessons before being asked to pay their annual $30 Registration Fee. This allows students to do a test run of lessons before committing to a longer period.

May is our "Re-Registration Month". Current students are asked to select their preferred teacher, day and time slots for the following school year, and to pay the annual $30 registration fee to hold that day and timeslot. New students may register for next year's timeslots beginning on June 1.

PAYMENT METHODS
Payment for lessons can be made in one of three ways:
1. By Pre-Authorized Debit. You fill out paperwork authorizing us to take a monthly fee out of your bank account one either the 1st, the 15th or the 20th of the month (you decide which). The benefits to using PAD is convenience, consistent payment and no need to pay late fees.

2. By Pre-Authorized Credit Card. You fill out paperwork authorizing us to process a monthly fee on your credit card on with the 1st or 15th of the month (you decide which). Please note that there is a 2.9% fee added to your account for processing fees associated with using a credit card. The benefits to using a pre-authorized payment is convenience, and no need to pay late fees unless payment does not go through. A late fee of $5 will be applied to student accounts when payment is not made within seven days of the invoice date, and every seven days after that as well.
3. By e-transfer to admin@leducschoolofmusic.ca upon receipt of an automatically generated monthly invoice. A late fee of $5 will be applied to student accounts when payment is not made within seven days of the invoice date, and every seven days after that as well.
4. By lump sum payments, either for all of Semester 1, or all of Semester 2, or for the whole year of Semester 1 and 2 combined. A 5% discount is applied to a lump sum payment, however this lump sum must be made by the start date of a semester. This discount does not apply if made after the start date of a semester. Read further on for a description of a semester. Read further for the 10% Summer Pre-Payment Discount.

SEMESTERS
A new school year begins in September right after the Labor Day Long Weekend.
Semester 1: The 5 month period from September to January inclusive is Semester 1. Start and end dates for this semester are: either week 1 or 2 of September (there is some flexibility in September), and the final week of January.
Semester 2: The 5 month period from February to June inclusive is Semester 2. Start and end dates for this semester are: week 1 of February, and the final week of June.
Summer: The 2 month period of July and August is the summer semester, and does not qualify for a lump sum discount.

SUMMER PRE-PAYMENT DISCOUNT
The months of June July and August up until August 20th, are a great time to make a lump sum payment for the following Fall schoolyear, as lump sum pre-payments of either Semester 1 or Semester 2 or both Semester 1&2 together, will receive a 10% discount. The cut-off dates for the Summer Pre-Payment option are from June 1 to August 20.

HOLIDAYS
Most of our teachers will follow our local Black Gold School Division calendar for the holidays of Christmas, Easter and Spring Break. However, individual teachers may make their own decisions as to when to teach, and should let their students' families know. We do have lessons on school PD days, those are not automatic holidays.

COMMUNICATION WITH TEACHERS
In the case of underage students, we love to see good lines of communication develop between parents and their child's music teacher. We encourage parents to visit lessons and to talk with the teachers. We encourage teachers to give out their contact info to parents, we also encourage teachers to write regular lesson notes by email to parents. The better the communication between parents and teachers, the better we can keep students' progress on track, as well as sort out how to deal with missed lessons in a fair way.

MISSED LESSONS BY STUDENT - and the "24 HOUR RULE"
Missed lessons essentially mean reduced income for teachers. We try to balance out what is fair for both students and teachers with our Missed Lesson policy. We try to meet in the middle by using a "24-hour Rule". If a student misses a lesson without being able to give 24 hours' notice, we authorize our teachers to mark the attendance of that lesson "absent but billable", and we will invoice students for that lesson. (Teachers may instead choose to select "absent not billable", but this will be up to the individual teachers' discretion, and should not be automatically expected.)
If a student gives a teacher more than 24 hour's notice, the teacher has two choices: either mark that lesson as "absent not billable" resulting in no charge to you and no payment to themselves, or "absent, billable, and give a make-up", resulting in a charge to you, but giving you an opportunity to make that lesson up. It will be the teacher's responsibility to provide you with a suitable make-up time, and good parent and teacher communication should help to set up something that is mutually workable.

MISSED LESSONS BY TEACHER
If a teacher chooses to cancel a lesson, they should mark that lesson as "teacher absent not billable", and this results in no charge to you and no payment to themselves. However, our experienced teachers may choose to hold a special group lesson in lieu of a normal week of private lessons. This would take the form of a Performance Workshop, or Piano Party, or Group Ensemble Practice or something of this nature. This is usually a fun extra-curricular music event that is at least an hour long or more, and that provides students with an additional learning experience. In this case, we feel it is fair for a teacher to bill this group lesson experience as if it were a private lesson.

Anchor 2

POLICIES for the MUSIC FOR YOUNG CHILDREN® PROGRAM

START and END OF CLASSES
Music for Young Children® (MYC) runs from September to - either the very end of May - or early June. We will have 34 weeks of classes, plus at least one formal recital, and one special event/activity/class party.

REGISTRATION / MATERIALS FEE
Families register for MYC by paying for the books and materials that are a part of this class. For level 1 classes, there is an option to split the books and materials fee into 3 equal payments, however we do require at least one of those payments to register your child. This cost includes GST and shipping. The books and materials fee varies by the level of the class.

MONTHLY INSTRUCTIONAL FEE
The tuition for the entire year of 34 weeks is $1000. Many families choose the option of paying for that in 10 installments of $100. This works out to 10 months of payment, although with 34 weeks of classes, we meet together over 9 months. Some families choose instead to divide the tuition of $1000 into 9 equal installments of $111.11, so that this more closely aligns with the length of the class. Read further to learn about lump sum payments and discounts.

PAYMENT METHODS
Payment for lessons can be made in one of four ways:
1. By Pre-Authorized Debit. You fill out paperwork authorizing us to take a monthly fee out of your bank account one either the 1st, the 15th or the 20th of the month (you decide which). The benefits to using PAD is convenience, consistent payment and no need to pay late fees.

2. By Pre-Authorized Credit Card. You fill out paperwork authorizing us to process a monthly fee on your credit card on with the 1st or 15th of the month (you decide which). Please note that there is a 2.9% fee added to your account for processing fees associated with using a credit card. The benefits to using a pre-authorized payment is convenience, and no need to pay late fees unless your payment does not go through.
3. By e-transfer to admin@leducschoolofmusic.ca upon receipt of an automatically generated monthly invoice. A late fee of $5 will be applied to student accounts when payment is not made within seven days of the invoice date, and every seven days after that as well.
4. By lump sum payments, either for all of Semester 1, or all of Semester 2, or for the whole year of Semester 1 and 2 combined. A 5% discount is applied to a lump sum payment, however this lump sum must be made by the start date of a semester. This discount does not apply if made after the start date of a semester. Read further on for a description of a semester. Read further for the 10% Summer Pre-Payment Discount.

SEMESTERS
Semester 1: The 5 month period from September to January inclusive is Semester 1. The start date for this semester is the first day of our MYC class.
Semester 2: The 5 month period from February to June inclusive is Semester 2. The start date for this semester is the date of our first class in February.

PARENT INVOLVEMENT and AT-HOME PRACTICE
MYC is a family commitment, as one parent will accompany their child to class each week for the hour-long class. However, it is because of the involvement of parents, that our MYC kids learn so very much and receive such a strong foundation! We do require parents to focus along with their child in class, to turn off their cell phones, and to participate in the singing and all the activities! As well, our parents record the homework for the week and help their child to set up practice times at home. In their first year, Sunshines (ages 3.5 to 4) will be encouraged to go for 5 minutes of practice per day, with the goal of doing that 5 days per week. Sunbeams (ages 5 to 6) will be encouraged to go for 10 minutes of practice per day, with the goal of doing that 5 days per week. And Moonbeams (ages 7 to 9) will be aiming for 10 minutes a day to start, hopefully going to 15 minutes a day as the class progresses, with the goal of doing that 5 days per week. Non-piano play, such as rhythm bags, magnet boards and homework pages are also considered practice time, especially in the younger classes.

WITHDRAWING FROM LESSONS before the start of class
If you must withdraw from the class before the first class even starts, your Books and Materials fee paid to date will be returned to you. If we already purchased your books and materials, then your Books and Materials fee will be returned to you minus a $15 shipping and handling charge. This covers the cost of us ordering and then returning your books, which are heavy and cost a lot in shipping.

WITHDRAWING FROM LESSONS during the year
It is my absolute goal to make sure that your experience here is the best possible. If you or your child are having difficulty, please speak to me. And please allow me to try to help the situation. Together, we would develop a plan to address motivation, practice or other issues, to help you to have a successful and enjoyable year. Please know that the music school incurs a loss when you leave, as your child’s spot has been reserved for the year, and we cannot fill your spot mid-way through the year. It is not possible for another child to simply pop in at, let’s say week 12 of a 34- week curriculum. However, I do understand that there may be circumstances where lessons may need to be terminated. We will require you to have paid for your books and materials in full before leaving, however, for level 1 students, the overall cost of this may be reduced if your child has not yet been given the full complement of Books A B and C. The amount that you still owe for Books and Materials will be discussed on a case by case basis. You will no longer be billed for the monthly instructional fee starting with the month following your withdrawal.

BEING ABSENT FROM CLASS
In the event that you miss a class, I will endeavor to send you the homework of your missed week, and I sometimes send you a personalized video. There are no refunds or make ups for classes missed by a student/family.

IF THE TEACHER is ABSENT FROM CLASS
In the event that your teacher must miss a lesson, then we will simply extend the end date of our 34-week class so that you still have all the required weeks that we need to finish the curriculum. Or, sometimes, I may arrange for a special class on a different date, or I may bring in a certified MYC teacher to fill in as a substitute.

HOLIDAYS
We do follow the Black gold school division calendar for the holidays of Christmas, Spring Break and Easter. We do have lessons on school PD days, those are not holidays from music class.

Re-REGISTRATION for Levels 2 and 3
There is an early bird deadline of May 1 for re-registration into a Level 2 or 3 class. If payment of the books and materials fee is made by May 1st , then you will save $20 on your total book fee.