Studio Policies

General Policies

Please arrive punctually and prepared for your assigned lesson time.

Regular practice is important to musical development. Parents are encouraged to help students prepare for lessons. If you need help in working out a routine for home practice, please do not hesitate to ask.

Please be courteous to the other students and teachers at the studio. If you arrive early or have other family members that accompany the student to lessons, please be cognizant of your presence in the waiting area and ensure that young children are adequately supervised.

Parents/guardians are not required to sit in on their children’s lessons every week, but are welcome to do so at any time. At a minimum, adults accompanying students under the age of 16 should remain on the studio property (or at home for residential lessons) while the child is in their lesson. If you ever have questions or concerns about what your child is learning in their lessons, please do not hesitate to ask.

If a student or sibling causes damage to any equipment in the studio or property, the parents/guardians may be held responsible for paying the cost of repairs.

Attendance Policies

Please contact your instructor at least 24 hours BEFORE your lesson to report any cancellation or to reschedule. If you do not provide sufficient notice, the lesson may not be made up. For illness, 24 hours notice is not required.

Due to the nature of private study, regular attendance is critical. Therefore, if a student consistently cancels lessons, the teacher has the right to discontinue lessons. If a student misses three (3) consecutive lessons without discussing the circumstances with the teacher; (i.e. extended vacation, surgery etc.) the teacher may give your time slot to another student.

For residential lessons, if you are not home when the instructor arrives at your home, the instructor will wait 10 minutes before calling to confirm the lesson cancellation.

If weather conditions do not permit safe travel at the time of your session, lessons may be made up at a later date. Studio closings due to inclement weather will be reported on our website and Facebook page. Please contact your instructor if you are uncertain as to whether or not lessons will take place.

MEC observes six major holidays per year: Labor Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s, Memorial Day, and 4th of July. These holidays are built into our billing model and do not typically need to be made up.

Make-up Lessons

Please contact your instructor as soon as possible to report any upcoming absences. Generally, clients must provide at least 24 hours notice in order to reschedule a lesson. For illness or inclement weather, 24 hours notice is not required.

Missed lessons can be made up in one of the following ways:

  • Reschedule to another day and time.
  • Double a lesson length the next week or add minutes until the missed session is covered.
  • Schedule a lesson with another teacher.
  • Double up and schedule extra lessons over a school break.
  • Some instructors may have other ways; we are flexible!

NOTE: Our tuition rates assume that students will receive an average of 4 lessons per month. However, your day of the week may have 5 occurrences during some months – so an occasional make-up lesson is built into our tuition model.

Fiscal Policies

  • For new students, the first month’s tuition payment must be received at or before the first lesson.
  • Tuition payments are the same each month. Automatic payments are drawn on the 1st of the month.
  • There will be a $10 late fee if a tuition payment is not received on-time.
  • Please notify the studio by the 25th of the month if you will not be continuing with lessons so that we can cease automated billing.
  • The studio reserves the right to adjust the cost of tuition at any time.
  • There is a $25 fee for any returned checks.
  • Refunds/credits for missed lessons may be offered in extenuating circumstances.
  • Please contact the billing office ASAP if you have any questions about your monthly bill.

Referral Policy

At Music Education Centers, we are always trying to improve our services and expand our client base. The purpose of this policy is twofold. It makes our services more affordable for existing clients and it exposes more prospective students to our program.

  • Clients who actively refer others to Music Education Centers will receive, as a thank you, one (1) $25 credit for each referral they generate. The credit is applied once the newly referred student has enrolled as a student.
  • The credit will apply to the following month’s balance. For example, the Smith family refers the Jones family, who begin lessons in February; the Smiths will get a credit for March.
  • There is no limit on how many referrals are generated by any one family. However, we can only redeem 2 referral credits per month, per family.
  • This policy is not required; it is optional and available to all current clients.