Stafford Music Academy - Rates and Policies

Books and Materials

We sell most of the books that will
be needed for instruction, but
students are always welcome to
bring in their own music or materials.
The teacher has the final say in what
materials the student will use. We
strongly encourage students to
purchase a ledger for organizing
weekly assignments. Some teachers
also encourage practice with
metronomes, which usually cost
around $25.

Stafford Music Academy sells
assignment books for $1,
T-Shirts for $13, and
Tote Bags for $12.

Please make sure to put the student's
name in any books purchased!

Signing up for Music Lessons

Our Academic Year
The year is divided into three semesters: Spring (19 weeks), Summer (11 weeks), and
Fall (18 weeks). For the convenience of our students' families, our semesters always
begin and end with the MCCSC semesters (not including snow days that may be
added). When students sign up for lessons, they are committing to the end of the
semester. The only exception to this is if the student is signed up for one of our
promotional packages.

New Students:
Students can join the academy at any time of the year. As it gets later in each
semester, however, the choice of available lesson times gets smaller, so it is definitely
easiest to sign up at the beginning of the semester, especially if you will be signing up
for multiple lessons. In addition, by making the full semester payment before the
priority registration deadline, you can save 5%. New students may sign up any time
after "Open Registration" begins. New students signing up in mid-semester are not
eligible to receive the 5% discount, but tuition will be prorated to the current week.

Returning Students:
Students already enrolled at Stafford Music Academy have the option to reserve their
current lesson times for the following semester before new students sign up. To do this,
they must sign a contract and leave a $25 security deposit by the "Priority Registration"
deadline, listed below.

"Priority Registration" Deadlines:
Fall Semester - August 1st
Spring Semester - December 1st
Summer Semester- May 1st

This deposit will be applied towards the semester tuition. If a deposit is left (and
therefore a lesson time reserved), but the student does not sign up for lessons that
semester, this deposit will not be returned. If students in the spring wish to take the
summer off, but keep their lesson times reserved for the fall, they must pay a $15
holding fee for each lesson time reserved (up to a maximum of $45). If they do not pay
this holding fee, students who take that lesson time in the summer will have priority for
that lesson time in the fall.

Payment Policies/other fees:

Tuition
Tuition includes weekly lessons for the duration of the semester. For their convenience,
students may pay the full tuition before the priority registration deadlines to receive a
5% discount. Otherwise, students may pay the tuition in monthly installments.

Discount Times
By far, the most popular times for music lessons are after school on weekdays. We
are providing an incentive for families to consider lesson times that are less popular.
Families can save 5% off the semester tuition if the student signs up for a lesson that is
NOT within the period 3:30-7:00pm on a weekday. We make no guarantees that your
teacher will have availability during these times, but if they do, we encourage families to
take advantage of these potential savings!

Late Fee
Students choosing to make monthly payments throughout the semester are responsible
for making those payments on time. Any late payments will be assessed with a
$10 late fee. For an account more than two weeks overdue, we will not be able to
provide further lessons until the account is balanced. These due dates are listed under
the information for each semester.

Recital Fee
We have recitals towards the end of the Fall and Spring Semesters. These recitals are
a wonderful experience for the students and their families. We charge a small fee of
$8/student to help cover the cost of these events.

Holding Fee
If a student wishes to take the summer off of lessons, but wants to reserve the Spring
Semester lesson time for the following Fall Semester, there is a holding fee of $15 per
lesson. Alternatively, you can wait until the "open registration" begins on Aug. 1.
However, if you don't leave a holding fee, and another student takes your lesson-time
over the summer, they will have priority for that lesson-time in the fall. You can hold a
maximum of three lessons.

Missed Lesson/Make-up Policy

Rescheduling a Lesson: Each semester, we work very hard to establish and
maintain a regular weekly schedule. Parents can help us by rescheduling lessons only
when absolutely necessary. If you are unsure of when your child’s next lesson is, you
can always check the schedule online. Call us to find out how.

We understand that parents will sometimes have to cancel a regularly-scheduled
lesson. Whether we provide a makeup-lesson depends on how much advance notice
we were given for the missed lesson, as follows:

More than 24 hours advance notice: We are more than happy to
reschedule the lesson. Examples might include a conflicting sports game, doctor’s
appointment, or family vacation. Just let us know as far in advance as possible.

1-24 hours advance notice: Three times per semester, we will allow a missed
lesson of this type to be rescheduled. After that, makeups cannot be scheduled unless
we are given 24 hours notice. This category would include same-day cancellations due
to illness, for example.

Less than one hour advance notice (or no notice): We are unable to
provide makeup lessons or credits in the case of no-shows. Please don’t ask!

On our side, a teacher may occasionally need to reschedule a lesson. We will do our
best to contact you as soon as possible and schedule a make-up at your earliest
convenience.

Applying lesson credits to future semesters:

Please note: if a lesson was missed because of a student conflict, we must reschedule
the lesson; we cannot apply credit for such lessons to future semesters. We are
happy to work with you to find a time that is convenient for your family and the
teacher. If the studio has to cancel a lesson, you have the option to either reschedule
the lesson or apply the credit to the following semester.