PAYMENT AND LESSON POLICIES

Tuition per-student for Private lessons is as follows:

• $160 per month for 30-minute private lessons, taken once per week. (Most students only take 30-minute lessons, unless longer lessons are suggested by the instructor.)
• $240 per month for 45-minute private lessons, taken once per week.
• $320 per month for 60-minute private lessons, taken once per week.
• $180 per month for 30-minute Music Intervention sessions, taken once per week.
• $360 per month for 60-minute Music Intervention sessions, taken once per week.
• $340 per month for 60-minute Find Your Voice sessions, taken once per week.

If the first lesson falls in the middle of the month, tuition will be prorated for the 1st month to reflect only the lessons actually received. After that, a monthly flat rate will be charged, and tuition remains the same each month. As stated in the Cancellation Policy (see below), occasionally, students will receive fewer lessons in a month only due to the presence of a major holiday or a shorter month.

We require payment for lessons due by the 25th of every month. Billing will go out on the 20th of the month for the upcoming month. Lessons must be paid in advance, otherwise they will be canceled until payment is received. If an account is 5 days past due, a $25 late fee will be charged, and lessons will be suspended until payment is received. To avoid late fees and lesson suspensions, autopay is in place and highly recommended for all clients to enroll.

Students receive extra lessons throughout the year (1 in a given month) because some months have more than 4 weeks with their scheduled lesson day. Months with 5 lessons balance out the occasional months when a holiday causes a student to receive fewer lessons. When comparing tuition between studios, remember that some studios increase tuition or skip lessons for months that have an extra (5th) lesson. At the Garrett Music Academy, the 5th lesson is always included at no extra charge.

Transactions that are declined because of insufficient funds, past expiration dates or closed accounts, incur a $15 fee in addition to the month’s tuition charges. To avoid unnecessary fees, please remember to let us know if you close your account, change banks or want to use a different account/credit card, or need to update the information on an existing credit card.

There is a $40.00 return check fee. If a return check balance including the fee is not paid within ten days, the account will be vigorously pursued through collection activity permitted by law. If there is more than one occasion where a returned check comes back the fee will be $50.00.

The studio is closed for New Years Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Thursday and Friday, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Years Eve. There are no tuition adjustments or make-up lessons given for lessons that fall on the above major holidays because all students receive additional lessons at no extra cost on months where an extra (5th) week occurs.

Please note that we DO NOT follow public school system schedules for staff preparation in which students are off from school. If the public school system has, for example, a teacher “in-service” day, you or your child will still have lessons that day. If you are in doubt, please call or email us so you do not forfeit you or your child’s lesson.

CANCELLATION POLICY

Please recognize that you/your child’s lesson time is reserved specifically for you/your child. This means that you/your child’s lesson slot is unavailable to other students and the instructors at Garrett Music Academy have made a commitment to instruct you/your child at that time. Please make every effort to come to you/your child’s lesson and avoid scheduling other activities during that time. Consistent attendance helps ensure good progress. If you need to change your day/time, please work with the front office to find a day and time that works best for your schedule.

If you must cancel or reschedule a lesson:

• A minimum of 12 hours’ notice is required if you would like to take advantage of a make-up lesson. Days/times are very limited for make-up lessons.  Inquire about availability with the front office.
• Make-up lessons are not unlimited.
• Please limit cancellations to no more than one per month.
• The tuition fees for lessons that are canceled with LESS than 12 hours’ notice and not rescheduled and attended within one week are forfeited.
• Make-up lessons will NOT be offered for “no shows”.
• Make-up lessons will NOT be offered for cancellations of an existing make-up lesson.
• Students may not use “credit” from a missed lesson to reduce the tuition for a subsequent month. The tuition remains the same; there are NO REFUNDS for missed and canceled lessons, unless caused by the teacher’s unavailability.

Never cancel a lesson because you/your child has not had time to practice. It is better to come in and review the material, so progress is not delayed for another week.

SICK/ILLNESS POLICY

To prevent the spread of illness to families, faculty, and staff, any teacher will reserve the right to deny a lesson or cancel a lesson early if the child is showing clear signs of illness, primarily if the symptoms result in the direct spreading of a viral/bacterial infection. Symptoms can include but are not limited to (based on CDC guidelines): fever or feeling feverish/chills within the last 24 hours, cough, sore throat, runny or stuffy nose, muscle or body aches, headaches, fatigue (tiredness), vomiting/diarrhea.  

If a student is exhibiting one or more of these symptoms and a teacher deems it necessary to stop a lesson, the lesson will be canceled as a late notice, without the option for a make-up lesson. To avoid this situation, we offer 2 alternatives per our current policy: 

1) Request to reschedule the lesson by call/voicemail/email before the 12-hour notice window.

2) Request to switch the lesson slot to a virtual lesson (for the original lesson time, or for a rescheduled time if request is made before the 12-hour notice window.

LATE ARRIVAL

Please note that students arriving late will not have their lesson time extended. Our teachers typically have many students scheduled consecutively throughout the day and they will not impose upon another student’s lesson time. If you arrive late and your teacher is not in the waiting area, please go directly to your teacher’s room and let him or her know that you’re present so no additional time is lost. If you’re running more than 5-10 minutes late, it may be a good idea to call ahead and let us know that you’re on your way, but running late.

WITHDRAWAL

As per agreement, students/parents must provide the office manager (not your teacher) 15 days’ notice for withdrawal from lessons and cessation for tuition charges. Requests made within less than 15 days are required to pay a cancellation fee of $70.00. You may either email info@garrettmusicacademy.com or call us at 410-286-5505. To avoid potential miscommunications, we do not accept communications with your instructor or messages left on our voicemail for withdrawals. Teachers do not handle billing. Please contact the office manager.

SWITCHING TEACHERS OR INSTRUMENTS

As a courtesy to the teacher, we do require two full-business weeks’ notice to switch teachers or instruments. Since our teachers are paid by the lesson this allows time to find a replacement student, and time for communications between instructors to ensure lesson continuity.

SUBSTITUTE TEACHERS

Occasionally, a teacher may miss a lesson due to an illness or family emergency. Whenever this happens, the school will arrange for a substitute teacher or will attempt to reschedule your lesson. We’ve found that many students enjoy an occasional lesson with another teacher. Please let us know ahead of time if your child is uncomfortable with the teacher chosen and we will make arrangements with another teacher or work with you to reschedule with your current teacher. 

RECITALS

Recitals are held twice per year, typically in late Spring and Winter. Participation is optional but highly encouraged. Signs announcing our recitals are posted in the school well in advance. Students interested in participating in a recital should sign up with their teacher and begin working on a recital piece with their teacher 4-6 weeks prior to the recital. Space permitting, students who are not performing at a recital are welcome to attend. We occasionally take photos of students performing at recitals and sometimes post them on our school bulletin board, a digital picture frame in the waiting room, Facebook and our school website. If you would prefer not to have you or your child’s photo displayed, please let the office manager know.

LEAVE OF ABSENCE

Sometimes a student will leave town for the summer or must discontinue lessons temporarily. As a courtesy to the instructor and just as importantly to stop tuition charges on a timely basis, we still require the same advance notice to discontinue lessons temporarily as we do if the student is withdrawing from lessons. Again, please notify us with 15 days’ notice if you will miss lessons in the following month and do not wish to be charged. If you must miss lessons for an extended period of time (more than 3 weeks), students will be removed from the schedule. It is sometimes possible for a student to return to lessons in their old time slot, but we cannot “hold” or guarantee the student’s old time slot when the student will miss lessons for an extended period of time and does not wish to be charged during the time when lessons are being missed.

CARE OF YOUNG CHILDREN

The school is not responsible for providing supervision before or after class. Parents with very young students are asked to remain in the school during lessons. Students are not to be left at the school for excessive time before or after class. Your child’s safety is important to us. Please plan to pick up your child as soon as the lesson is over.

Additionally, siblings of students are welcome to wait quietly in our lobby during their siblings’ lesson time, with adult supervision. Since quality lessons require attention and concentration, we ask that children who are not participating in lessons remain with their parent/guardian, and do not play or run in the hallway. Noisy activities are discouraged, as they could be distracting to students/teachers in lessons.

INCLEMENT WEATHER

In cases of inclement weather, all lessons will automatically become virtual. You will receive communication from the Academy as a reminder and your teacher will contact you directly on the day of your lesson with the method and link. All lessons will be held as scheduled unless there is loss of power/internet services. In those cases, the lesson will be rescheduled.