The following are specific guidelines
and policies for how Academy of Sound works. If you have any
questions, please feel free to contact the director, Erin Kaether.
All Students Must Have…
- A Well-Tuned Piano or a digital
piano. A high-quality touch-sensitive keyboard with at least 61
full-size keys will be sufficient only for the first year (a piano
is optional but also highly recommended for guitar, bass, drama &
voice students).
- An Assignment Book (we sell a
variety of these at the studio, or a spiral notebook).
- All necessary books (will be
purchased through the studio).
- A metronome.
Registration Fees, Tuition Dues,
Other Charges, and Payments
- Registration Fee – $25. This
holds your selected time slot and guarantees that it will remain
reserved for you for the entire school year. Registration fees will
be paid once each year for each person enrolling in piano lessons.
- Family (same household)
registration rates are $25 for the first member, $15 for each
additional person.
- For students continuing their
enrollment from the past year, fee is $15 per student.
- For summer only, fee is $10 per
student. If you are already a registered student, the summer is
included in your annual registration.
2. Tuition – Exact tuition fees
will be discussed before registration. Lessons are pre-paid before
the beginning of each semester.
3. Invoices – You will receive an
invoice for tuition before each semester. You may also receive
other invoices during the year for books and other fees. The invoice
will include any tuition due, and any extra charges (including past
due, late fees, books, etc.). Your invoice will include a due date.
4. Due dates – See your invoice.
Monthly payments are due on the 15th. Semester tuition
is due the 15th of the month before the new semester.
Please always check your statement for the correct amount and due
date.
5. If the student does not have a
payment with them upon arrival on the due date, a lesson will not be
given, and a late fee will be added and applied on the following
statement.
6. Late Fees - $15 will be charged
for any check not received by the beginning of the lesson on the due
date. $10 will be added for each week thereafter. You will see
these fees applied to the next invoice. If payment in full has not
been received within 30 days of the due date, lessons will be
discontinued and the account will be sent to our collections agency.
7. A fee of $30 will be charged for
all checks returned due to insufficient funds.
8. Checks should be made payable to
Academy of Sound. We also accept PayPal (send to
academyofsound@verizon.net,
or click the link from our website).
9. Books – We are able to order
most of the books students need through the studio. These will be
billed monthly. The teacher will let you know if there are other
books and materials that you will need to purchase on your own.
10. A portion of our proceeds is
donated to Care Net Pregnancy Center of Dane County.
Lessons
- Length – Lesson
length will be decided at the time of enrollment.
Promptness must be adhered to in all fairness to each student since
lessons are scheduled back-to-back. 45 Minute lessons will be
scheduled with teacher approval only, and will be reserved for
students who have consistently shown a high level of commitment to
their musical studies.
- Conference Lessons – The last
lesson of each semester will be a conference lesson, in which our
teachers invite parents/guardians so that we can discuss progress
and problems, and also show off what your child has learned.
- Parents are welcome to sit in and
observe their child’s lessons from time to time. For very young
beginners, parents are welcome to attend each lesson in order to get
the information they need to help the child practice correctly
(until the child is able to do this on their own).
- One or two times each year, I will
be doing teacher evaluations. Part of this process will require me
to observe a few of their lessons. This may include your child’s
lesson(s).
Scheduling
- Your Time Slot – The time that
you select for your lesson when you register is your time
slot. This spot is reserved for you to have access to a studio and
to private music lessons, and your time will not be given to any
other student. Therefore, you are expected to pay for all scheduled
lessons. Whether you come to your lesson or not is up to you.
- Cancellations - If the student
will miss a lesson, let us know as soon as possible by one of the
communication methods listed under “Communication.” There are
no credits for missed lessons (with the exception of #4 below).
- Trading Lessons – To avoid
paying for a lesson you will not be able to come to, trade lessons
with someone. The schedule can be found on our website by clicking
on “Students” at www.academyofsound.org.
The family initiating the trade is responsible for contacting us so
that preparation is made for the correct student.
- Teacher Cancellations – If for
any reason the teacher is unable to teach, most times we will
provide a substitute. If no other teacher is available, a make-up
time may be offered or a credit will be given to students.
- Arriving late for a lesson –
Lesson times will not be extended for students arriving late.
- Lesson Absences (due to illness or
a family emergency) - Please do not come to your lesson sick. If
you are not well enough to go to school, you are not well enough for
a music lesson.
- Notification of the absence must
be given more than 2 hours prior to the scheduled start time to be
eligible for a make up.
- We will not allow students who
show signs of illness to participate in lessons that day. Signs of
illness include, but are not limited to: fever, stomach ache, runny
nose, sneezing, coughing. Please do not bring your child to our
studios until they have been fever-free for at least 24 hours
following an illness, or until they have been on antibiotics for at
least 24 hours.
7. No-Show/No-Call – More than one
no-show in a semester means student will be put on probation. Two no-shows in a row are interpreted as a student giving
notice of discontinuance of lessons.
8. Discontinuance of lessons –
Students are automatically enrolled for the entire school year.
Anyone wishing to discontinue for any reason must notify the
director 4 weeks prior to their planned quitting date. There will be
no refunds. Anyone quitting without prior notice will continue to
pay tuition for the next four weeks.
9. Make up lessons – We DO NOT
guarantee make up lessons. Many times we are able to make up
lessons, however we make no promises. A missed lesson is your
responsibility, not ours, and any make-ups we do are a courtesy
only. (Regarding the eligibility for a make-up mentioned in #6,
being eligible for a make-up still does not guarantee a make up
lesson. This only means that if there are make up times available,
you will be notified and will have the opportunity to reserve a make
up time if one or more are offered.) The notification procedure for
make-up lessons is via email. Families who have a student on an
eligibility list will receive an email when a make-up time is
available. If the day/time listed works for you, simply respond to
the email stating that you'd like that spot. We will then send you a
confirmation email once we have reserved the opening for the
student.
10. School Closings due to weather –
Will we have lessons if school is…?
- Delayed 1 hour –
YES
- Delayed 2 hours –
YES
- Closed – NO
(although there are exceptions! Always check the website!)
- Released early –
NO (same as above, always check the website!)
These apply to the Oregon School
District and to your school district (if different). ALWAYS check
our website/twitter/facebook to confirm whether we are open or
closed!
Communication
We make it easy
to communicate with us by offering a variety of ways by which you can
contact us.
SMS
(text messaging):
6082359031. This is the most efficient way to get a quick message to
us. We can easily forward the message to any teacher that it
concerns, and we can even do this between students or while in a
meeting. Texting has become our preferred method of quick
communication!
Messenger:
you can use either yahoo or windows live messenger (or any compatible
instant messaging program) to instant message the director by adding
“premierpiano@hotmail.com”
(without parenthesis) to your list. Erin is always near a computer
when she's not on the road, and you will see whether she is logged in
and available to chat, or you can leave a message that she will get
when she returns to the computer.
Twitter:
www.twitter.com/academyofsoun
(there is no “d” at the end!). Follow us on twitter for instant
updates about closings due to weather, cancellations, upcoming
opportunities, reminders, giveaways, and special events. You can set
up twitter to send these messages to your mobile device, so that you
are always in the know when something is happening at AOS. You can
also send us a direct message through twitter, so that we can respond
promptly.
Facebook:
Fan page Group Page We have both a fan page, and a group page. Links to each can be found
on our website, or you can do a search for “Academy of Sound.” If
you are a frequent facebook user, becoming a fan will give you the
same updates and notices as following us on twitter.
Website:
www.academyofsound.org
Most times when you have questions, they can be answered here. On our
home page, we will always list the same notifications you'd receive
from our facebook page and twitter. So, if you do not use facebook or
twitter, be sure to check the website when in doubt about closings,
upcoming events, questions, etc.
Email:
academyofsound@verizon.net
We are able to respond to email much faster than a phone call, so if
you have a message that needs a response, but it's not short enough
for texting, messenger, or twitter, go ahead and send an email. Email
is checked frequently throughout the day.
Email
to our phone:
6082359031@email.uscc.net
It's like a text message to us, only you can send it from any email
account. Keep the message short, as you would a text message.
Phone:
We can be reached by phone at 608-235-9031, however we can not
guarantee a return call the same day.
Studio Rules
- No food, drinks, gum, candy, etc.
in the studios.
- Please leave wet/muddy/snowy shoes
or boots in the hall on a floor mat.
- Please do not touch the walls, or
the things we have posted on our walls and bulletin boards.
- Persons not enrolled at the
Academy are not allowed to attend friends' lessons. The friend(s)
will need to wait quietly in our waiting area with a parent of the
enrolled student. Any unaccompanied minors will be asked to leave
the building.
- Please respect our waiting area,
bathrooms, and studios. It is a privilege and a choice to be here.
Practice Requirements
- Home practice – with it we
guarantee success. Without it, progress is slow, tedious, and
discouraging. Playing an instrument is a complex skill needing
repetition and reinforcement daily. The following are the studio’s
minimum practice requirements:
- Beginners 30
minutes, 6 days per week
- 2nd
& 3rd year 45 minutes, 6 days per week
- 4th
year & beyond 1 hour-2 hours, 6 days per week
-
Once again, these are the minimum requirements for time spent
practicing. It is acceptable to “break up” these times into
smaller segments throughout the day.
2. We highly recommend that students
practice right away when they get home from their lesson, as 50% of
the knowledge acquired during the lesson is lost if this is not
done.
3. Practice Records – You will find
space for writing in the amount of time practiced each day in your
assignment book. We recommend that students fill these in for their
teacher and for their own information.
Performances
We have several performances each year.
One is a Christmas show in December. We have other events
throughout the year such as memory and duet recitals. Our formal, end
of the year recital is held in May or June and takes place at the
Oregon Performing Arts Center. Performances are required for all
students ages 17 or younger, and are also highly encouraged for
adults.
Competitions
We
encourage all students who are 8th
grade and up to participate in solo & ensemble. Other
competitions will be announced throughout the year. Teachers are
committed to preparing students for these and other competitions, and
will gladly select appropriate music and spend time working with your
child at each lesson before the competition.
Probation
If a student is put on probation, it
will be for a period of one month. If the situation does not improve
within that timeframe, the student will be dismissed. Any pre-paid
fees will not be reimbursed. Situations where a student may be put
on probation include, but are not limited to:
- Behavior or language that is
inappropriate or distracting during lesson time.
- Not meeting the practice
requirements.
- Mistreating equipment or materials
in the studio.
- Being disrespectful to teachers
and/or other students.
- Purposely interfering with the
normal activities of other tenants in the building.
- Vandalism.
- More than one no-show in a
semester.
- Paying late two or more times in a
semester.
- No-showing for a recital.
- Not returning borrowed materials
in a timely manner.
A Student will be immediately
dismissed:
- If parent/student refuses to pay
(in full & including late fees), or if parent withholds payment
for any reason not previously discussed with Erin.
- If parent/student threatens,
harasses, or tries to intimidate any teacher or other student.
- For stealing.
- When there are two no=shows in a
row, a student is considered to be giving notification of
discontinuance of lessons, and a bill we be send for any payment
due.