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Studio Policy

Lessons

 

Lessons will take place at 602 Maple Ave, Suite 201 or 206, Snohomish, WA or at 8826 55th Pl NE, Marysville, WA.

 

Calendar

 

Fall Semester – September 11, 2023 – January 28, 2024

  • Makeup Weeks – October 30 – November 5, 2023, and January 29 – February 4, 2024

  • Thanksgiving Break – November 20 – 26, 2023

  • Winter Break – December 18 – 31, 2023

Spring Semester – February 5 – June 16, 2024

  • Makeup Weeks – March 18 – 24, 2024, and June 10 – 16, 2024

  • Spring Break – April 1 – 7, 2024

  • Memorial Day – May 27, 2024

  • Summer Break – June 17 – 24, 2024

Summer Session – June 24 – September 1, 2024

  • Summer Camp – June 24-28

  • Summer Session 1 – July 1-28

  • Summer Session 2 – August 5 - September 1

 

New students will go through a trial period to make sure that teacher, student, and parent work together well. This period will last for 4 lessons.

 

Tuition/Fees

 

Tuition and fees cover more than just your time slot in your teacher’s schedule. This covers the time that they invest in making sure the student has the correct tools and plan to progress in their musical abilities. Tuition is for enrollment in lessons, not just attendance at those lessons. When you sign up for lessons, you are reserving a specific time in your teacher’s schedule each week. Fees cover the general studio and administration fee and are built into the price of tuition.

 

Tuition is due at the first lesson of the month with no exceptions. Invoices for a new month go out on the 1st of every month. The school accepts payment via cash, check, ACH via MyMusicStaff or credit/debit via MyMusicStaff. 

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Tuition is based on a full semester tuition and broken into 5 equal monthly installments. 

 

            30’: Semester - $800; Monthly - $160                  45’: Semester - $1,050; Monthly - $210                  60’: Semester - $1,300; Monthly - $260

 

After 10 days, there will be a $30 late fee charged automatically to your account and a new invoice will be sent out.

 

Summer fees – If you will be taking the summer off from lessons, there will be a $120 fee to reserve your spot in the schedule for fall.

 

Summer Camp – Camp will run from 11AM to 4PM. More details will come closer to the dates of camp taking place.

 

Cancellation/Re-scheduling

 

This is the policy no matter what the reason might be.

  • Lessons cancelled with less than 24-hour are not eligible for a makeup lesson.

  • If you need to cancel, please let your teacher know immediately and go through the MMS portal to cancel your lesson.  

  • Makeups are offered twice (2) per semester.

  • If you are unable to make the makeup lesson during Makeup Week, another makeup lesson will not be awarded.

  • If more than two (2) lessons are cancelled during the semester, the student will only be eligible for two (2) makeup lessons during the set Makeup Weeks.

  • If a teacher must cancel a lesson, they will reschedule the lesson outside of Makeup Week.

 

Please think hard on the time and day you choose the lesson to be every week and commit to it 100%. This is not only time in your day that you are using but it is time in your teacher’s day that they are giving to the student. Write it down and make sure you do not forget!

 

Tardiness

 

Early is on time, on time is late, and late is unacceptable. Being too early is impolite to the student already in a lesson. Please be a few minutes early to the lesson. If you are tardy to your lesson, there will not be time to make it up at the end of the lesson due to other students.

 

If you know you are going to be late to your lesson, please contact your teacher or Kat Kibbe immediately!

 

If a student is more than 15 minutes late, it is assumed you are not coming, and the lesson payment will be forfeited. The teacher will contact the student/parent after 10 minutes to see if the lesson was just forgotten.

 

If the teacher is late for a lesson, the time will be made up either at the end of the lesson or at a different time.

 

Student Expectations

 

Students will be expected to bring all the materials to each lesson. Please double check before leaving to make sure that you have all the books and materials to bring to the lesson.

 

Materials include instrument, bow, rosin, cleaning cloth, pencil, shoulder rest/pad, lesson notebook (if one is used), and all books assigned.

 

Students will need to make sure that that their fingernails are cut short prior to each lesson. Not only is this keeping good hygiene but having long nails will not allow the student to play the violin or viola correctly.

 

Practice expectations are as follows:

  • If the student is a beginner, the goal is to practice 15-20 minutes, 5 days a week.

  • Once the student reaches a certain point in the first book, the student’s goal should be 30 minutes of practice, 5 days a week.

  • If the student is taking a 45-minute lesson or an hour lesson, 45-60 minutes, 5 days a week is what you should aim to achieve.

 

A note on practicing – practice does not always mean to play with the instrument. Sometimes practice means listening to a recording and observing movements and trying to apply that to your playing. Mental practice is also very important, and we will discuss this type of practice in lessons. If your student is just not wanting to practice a particular day, please don’t pull your own hair out and make the situation more frustrating. Some days will be like this, and it is best for everyone to keep the experience positive and do something musical that is not picking up the instrument.

 

Parental Involvement

 

Teachers at SnoCo Music School believe that parental involvement is vital for student success, especially during the beginning through intermediate years of learning to play a new instrument. Learning to read music is like learning a new language; it takes constant encouragement from the parent for the child to become excited about learning. Even if the parent is not musically inclined, showing support will only further the progress of the student.

 

For students under the age of 13, we highly recommend that the parent stays for the entire lesson for observation. When practicing at home, this will help the student start to make correct practice habits as the parent can guide them through observation of the lesson. If practicing with your student is not possible on a daily basis, have them play for you before the lesson as this will show them encouragement!

 

If the teacher feels that a parent is being too vocal during lessons, they can request for the parent to wait outside of the room for the lesson. There can be only one teacher in the room, and that needs to be the instructor.

 

Materials

 

Students will need to purchase music on their own time. It is preferred that the student come prepared with their new books at their next lesson. After the trial lesson and interview, I will write down the books required for the student. Almost all the books that I use can be purchased through Amazon or Shar Music.

 

Most students will need to rent a violin from the local music shop. Renting is recommended if the student is young and growing as the violin size will change quickly. Music shops should be able to give a student the correct size in violin the first time. Please bring an instrument with to the trial lesson and we will make sure it is the correct size. Check to make sure that the rented instrument comes with a bow that is in good shape, a rosin cake, and a shoulder rest.

 

Students looking to purchase an instrument should try many out before making a final decision. Please bring the instrument to the lesson so that your teacher may hear the student play and give an honest opinion on the quality of the instrument.

 

 

Studio Concerts and Recitals

 

Fall Recital – October 22, 2023 – Solo Recital

Winter Concert – December 3, 2023 – Ensemble Concert

Spring Recital – March 3, 2024 – Solo Recital

End of Year Recitals – June 9, 2024 – Solo and Ensemble Recitals

 

Summer Lessons

 

We encourage students to attend a summer festival if they are able. Summer festivals, whether they are shorter or longer, are invaluable to a student as they are surrounded by other musicians who are passionate about the same things. Please consult with your teacher before signing up for a music festival so that they can gauge whether it is the correct festival for the student to attend based on level of playing.

 

Summer lessons will be “a la carte”, meaning you can pick and choose which weeks you would like to attend lessons with your teacher depending on yours and their vacation schedule.

 

Withdrawals/Dismissals

 

If a student wishes to withdraw from the school for any reason, they must give a one-month notice and a written note stating they would like to no longer take private lessons. Students who withdraw at the beginning or the middle of a month will forfeit the rest of the month’s tuition as they made a commitment and have taken up the time slot in their teacher’s calendar.

 

Snohomish County Music School reserves the right to dismiss a student at any time for any of the following reasons:

  • Not making a dedicated effort to practice

  • Disrespect towards a teacher and their property

  • Missing lessons on a consistent basis without proper notice

  • Multiple late payments

If for any of these reasons your teacher dismisses a student, the lesson will end immediately and there will be no refund of the month’s tuition. Teachers will speak plainly with a student and parent if any of these issues arise during the lesson.

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