Feb 6, 2012
AMERICAN ROCK SCHOOL POLICY
We do not rely on the accuracy of phone conversations regarding policy. If the subject is addressed here in writing, it is uniformly enforced the same for everyone.
Q: "Can I cancel for tomorrow and come in on a different day?"
A: This means that you want to book two lesson spots and pay the teacher for only one of them. Your teacher holds the spot that is yours - your regular time. That is the only spot that we can pay the instructor for. It is impossible to hold more than one lesson time per week when only one is reserved with tuition.
Lessons occur at the scheduled time. That is what is paid for with the tuition. The time slot in which the lesson occurs is the only time the instructors are compensated for with tuition payment. Instructors are compensated for the time they reserve for their students - not a different time. If the student has to miss the lesson, the instructor will still need to be compensated for that specific time. We appreciate you letting us know in advance if possible if you have a conflict and can’t make the appointment. Teachers are required to make-up missed lessons if they cancel it (see below).
Time Change: If you need to move to a regular new lesson time; we will move you if there is a spot available. Please limit these requests to no more than once per quarter. See below for vacation and holiday off weeks
Sickness / Make-ups: with the understanding that teachers must be paid for their time regardless of whether the student comes in, we will schedule a free make-up lesson to students who miss due to sickness and bring in a doctor’s note. We require at least 45 minutes advance notice of the missed lesson (by phone) and the doctor’s note within 10 days of the missed lesson. It is your responsibility to schedule the make-up lesson within 10 days of the missed appointment. A make-up is in addition to the regular scheduled lesson. Once booked, we do not reschedule make-up lessons.
Unfortunately, some students feel like they are "losing money" when they miss scheduled lessons with no make-up but the reality is that they are paying the teacher for their time, thereby keeping them employed as a teacher of the guitar, piano, voice etc... The teachers have to rely on the number of booked lesson appointments being a reality so that they can budget themselves.
Vacation time: To keep your lesson time and teacher secure, a 50% tuition rate applies for dates missed. We can’t expect our teachers to reserve a lesson spot for free. However, we can allow 1 “off week” per quarter that there is no charge for. *We require notice of the date you will be missing at the time of tuition payment or at least one-week in advance to not be charged. Off weeks do not roll over, and can’t be combined. 3-month, yearly Quarters are as follows: January 1st – March 31/ April 1st – June 30th/ July 1st – Sept 30th./ October 1st – December 31.
You will not be charged for Holidays that we are closed.
We do NOT close on all days that public and private schools have off.
Dates we are closed: Jan 1. Memorial Day (May), Independence Day (July 4th), Labor Day (Sept), Thanksgiving, Christmas Day. There will always be advance notice of days we will be closed.
Teacher cancellations: In the event that your instructor has to cancel, they will arrange a make-up. If that is not possible, your lesson will be credited. If you come in for a lesson and your teacher is not there, you will get a free lesson credit on your next tuition payment. We have the right to provide a qualified substitute instructor without notice.
Advanced tuition payment: We cannot hold a lesson spot that is not secured in advance. If a student does not show up - even with a phone call in advance, we must open the next lesson time for a different student if there is nothing keeping a spot reserved. The option is to reserve by phone, online, in person, or to use a deposit to hold the lesson time (see below)
One lesson deposit/ last lesson: We require students to provide a one lesson deposit that will apply to either to their last lesson - when we are given no less than one-week notice of lesson stoppage (VIA email only) TGSmusic@gmail.com – Town and Country, tampagtr2@verizon.net – New Tampa. Verbal and phone messages are not accepted. The lesson deposit may be used to hold the time and/or compensate the teacher if the student misses the first week of a new month without proper notice. Should the student want to keep that spot, another deposit will be required. However, if we are not contacted, the lesson will become open.
All students are required to be on our email list. Important updates and recital info come VIA email.