Payment Policy
Lessons are offered year round, taught on a weekly basis, and paid monthly.
Fall and Spring lessons (September – May), paid monthly as a flat rate
30 min lessons
— Private lesson: $135/month
— Group lesson (requires 2 or more students): $100/month per student
1 hr lessons
— Private lessons: $270/month
— Group lessons (requires 2 or more students): $200/month per student
Summer lessons (June – August), paid monthly based on number of lessons intended
30 min lessons
— Private lesson: $35/lesson
— Group lesson (requires 2 or more students): $25/lesson per student
1 hr lessons
— Private lesson: $70/lesson
— Group lesson (requires 2 or more students): $50/lesson per student
– 1st month’s tuition is prorated based on per lesson rate (see Summer Lessons rates).
– Subsequent monthly tuition is due on or before the 1st of each month.
– While payment commitment is month to month, you can withdraw from lessons at anytime, but a 2 weeks notice is necessary to avoid charges for the time slot reservations.
– Pay using your bank’s bill pay, check, or cash.
– Credit cards, PayPal, and Square’s CashApp are also accepted, but a convenience fee of $5 will be applied per transaction.
– Monthly payment reserves your time slot for a given semester – Fall (September – December), Spring (January – May), or Summer (June – August)
– A $20 late fee will be charged if tuition is not received within a 7 day grace period, which starts after the 1st of the month. A $35 NSF fee will be charged if a check is returned.
– Fall and Spring (September through May) flat rate monthly payment details:
* Some months have more lessons (like 5-week months), and some months have less (like holiday months). With the flat rate, there’s no need to recalculate each month’s tuition. It will always be the same amount and always be due on the 1st of the month.
* Flat rate is based on an average of 35 lessons per school year over 9 equal payments.
* No lessons are taught on Thanksgiving week, the two weeks of Winter Holiday, and the week of Spring Break. Therefore, these 4 weeks are not factored in the monthly payment.
– As it’s common for students and families to be out of town during the summer, Summer payments (June through August) are based on the amount of intended lessons.
Late To Lesson
If you have notified the teacher that you are running late for a lesson, your lesson will be honored if you arrive within 15 minutes of the scheduled beginning time but the lesson will still end at the original end time. If you arrive after 15 minutes, that week’s lesson is canceled and deemed missed. There are no makeups/refunds for missed lessons.
Illness/Emergency Cancellations
Unfortunately, there are times when people become “under the weather” or have some type of emergency, which is difficult to anticipate. If it happens 24 hours or more before your lesson, we can try to schedule a makeup lesson. For example: if the lesson is Tuesday at 5PM, notification must be given no later than 5PM on Monday for a makeup lesson to be attempted. Makeup lessons must take place within seven days of your normal lesson time. If it happens within 24 hours of your lesson, please try to handle your emergency and/or get well! All students can have one single “emergency” makeup lesson per semester* where a makeup will be granted. However, if a makeup lesson isn’t possible, that week’s lesson is missed for that month. Subsequent cancellations within 24 hours due to illness/emergencies result in a missed lesson for that week. There are no makeups/refunds for missed lessons.
*Fall semester – August through December
*Spring semester – January through May
*Summer semester – June through August
Missed Lessons and Cancellations
In order for music instruction to be most efficient and to make sure all students can have a time slot, CMC lessons take place on a weekly basis. If a student/guardian cancels 24 hours or more before their weekly lesson, we can try to schedule a makeup lesson if possible. For example: if lesson is Tuesday at 5PM, notification must be given no later than 5PM on Monday for a makeup lesson to be attempted. Makeup lessons must take place within seven days of your normal lesson time. However, if a makeup lesson isn’t possible, that week’s lesson is missed for that month. There are no makeups/refunds for missed lessons.
If a student/guardian misses or cancels within 24 hours before the lesson for that week, even for illness/emergencies*, then that week’s lesson is missed. There are no makeups/refunds for missed lessons. There are 3 exceptions: inclement weather as deemed by local school district, bereavement, and if you are using your one illness/emergency absence, which is granted only once per semester.
This policy allows other students the opportunity to reschedule should they need to.
Chronic cancellations and reschedules
Two no show, day-of, or in-lesson cancellations within a 4 week span may result in the student losing his/her time slot and possible dismissal from CMC. In addition, student will still be charged for the full month’s fee. There’s intensive work and preparation done for each student every week to ensure effective lessons. When a lesson is canceled within 24 hours, not only does the teacher lose valuable time, that time slot is unavailable for scheduling and hinders the learning opportunities of other students.
Suspension/Dismissal
CMC reserves the right to suspend or discontinue instruction of any student who is delinquent in fulfilling his/her financial obligations at any time during a semester. CMC reserves the right to dismiss any student due to chronic absences, overdue tuition payments and/or parental noncompliance with CMC policies.
Teacher Cancellation or Late
If after 15 minutes, teacher has not arrived to lesson and student/guardian hasn’t received communication from teacher, lesson is deemed canceled and the prorated cost for that lesson will be deducted from next month’s tuition.
If teacher cancels a lesson within 24 hours and a makeup lesson can’t be scheduled, than the prorated cost for that lesson will be deducted from next month’s tuition.
Media Policy
CMC reserves the right, and may give permission to appropriate staff or outside media, to photograph and record (video or audio) classes, programs, and participants on our facility or affiliates property. Please be aware that these photos or recordings are for promotional purposes and may be used in future print or electronic publications and media communications. By participating in CMC lessons, you consent to the video or audio recording or taking of photographs for these purposes.
Withdrawal
If for any reason, you choose to withdraw from CMC, a 2 week advance notice is required. For students who are not adults, withdrawal communication must come from a parent or guardian.
If less than 2 weeks notice is given, you will be charged for 2 lessons and if there are any remaining lessons for that month, you will be refunded. Any remaining lessons after the 2 weeks notice will be refunded and monthly payments will cease.
For instance, if on the last lesson of the month, you notify CMC that you will be withdrawing, you will still be charged for 2 more lessons in that next month, even if you choose not to attend those. However, if on the 1st lesson of a 4-lesson month, you notify CMC that you will be will be withdrawing, you will still be charged for the next 2 lessons, but a pro-rated tuition will be refunded for the 4th lesson.
Safety
Students are not allowed to be left unattended by a parent before or after lessons. CMC is not responsible for students until they enter the studio at their reserved lesson time. CMC must receive written notification by student’s parent if a student will be walking home or going home with anyone other than a parent.
Conclusion
Thank you for your interest in music lessons with Clark’s Music Class. I am very excited to help and assist you in achieving your musical goals. Music has been my strongest passion for my entire life and I’m blessed to have made it my full-time career. As such, I must uphold certain studio policies in order to keep the studio running efficiently to aid you and my other students. I know you will find that these policies are fairly standard in the private music teaching industry.
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“The purpose of a teacher is not to regurgitate the mountain of information that is already easily accessible. A teacher is there to analyze what a student can and cannot do, so that an efficient practice strategy to acquire the necessary technical skills to interpret music can be created.”
– Gene Wie, music teacher