Lesson Policy

Lessons are taught Tues/Wed/Thurs in the Anadarko Studio and Mon/Fri in the Chickasha Studio. The following national holidays are observed and no lessons are taught:

  • New Year’s Day (Jan)
  • Easter (March/April)
  • Memorial Day (May)
  • Independence Day (July)
  • Labor Day (Sept)
  • Thanksgiving Day (Nov)
  • Christmas Day (Dec)

Lessons are given through the Spring Break (Easter Vacation) and the holiday break (Christmas vacation)

In order to show good faith in your efforts towards your lessons, and because of too many “no shows” or this idea of “trying it out for one lesson”, I must insist on a one month prepayment up front. This prepayment can be mailed to my PO Box or hand delivered to either studio location. This will secure a place in my schedule, lesson materials will be printed or purchased, and, when applicable – a CD-RW will be set aside for you. If you do not show up for the first lesson or do not return after the first lesson and you have made no effort to contact me, this prepayment is forfeit. The only way to find out if music lessons are for you is to give them a 4 week effort. You will have learned a little about music and you will know whether or not you wish to put the necessary effort into learning more.

TUITION
Tuition (lesson payment) is paid by the month and is due at the first lesson of each month for the enitre month. This insures that the student’s day and time are reserved for the month.

DISCOUNTS
Discounts are available for immediate family members and for making referrals. Details are printed in your lesson policy that you receive at your first lesson.

LATE FEES
A 10% late fee will be attached to any lesson fees and/or balances due that are not paid by the second lesson of the month. If I allow students to be late with their payments this results in some difficulty in keeping the studios open. Different arrangements can be made if your paycheck and my pay schedule do not coincide.

ABSENCES
Your lesson payment secures a slot in my schedule. What you do with it is up to you. Whether you attend the lesson or not I have to pay rent, ultilities, buy and print materials, and cover travel costs to the studios. I need to be notified 24hrs in advance when you are going to be absent in order to be able to schedule a make-up lesson. Make-up lessons must be scheduled before the end of the month. No “credits” will be carried over to the next month unless:

An oversite on the teacher’s part has created an error in billing.
An absence, caused by the teacher, cannot be made up before the end of the month.

Student absences during the last week of the month run the risk of not being made up due to time constraints.

EXTENDED ABSENCES
Absences that will extend beyond one week (1 missed lesson) need to be planned out with the teacher. These usually occur due to vacations. There are 3 options that can be used to get around these gaps in the lesson schedule:

  1. Pay for the day and time to be held open during your absence and plan make-ups before you are absent and after you come back (good for 2 week absences).
  2. Pay for the day and time to be held open during your absence with the understanding that no make-ups will be possible (good for longer absences)
  3. Drop lessons for the time you will be absent and hope another slot will be available when you return. This option causes all studio points to be wiped out and the student’s web page will be taken down. Once the student returns to lessons, the web page will return however, the points will not be reinstated.

ILLNESS
I must insist that if a student is obviously ill, please do not bring them in. They will not be able to concentrate on the lesson. Any germs they are carrying will be transmitted to me and the other students in the studio area. For the student, missing a lesson is simply a task of scheduling a make-up, for me it could result in missing 3-4 days of lessons should I also become ill as a result. Not only do other students lose out on their lessons, but the income that keeps the studio open is put under a strain.

More helpful hints and suggestions are given in the printed version of the Lesson Policy handed out at the first lesson.