Find out the easy way
if music lessons are a good idea!
You can even try out different teachers!
Regular Package:
- Four 30-minute Lessons
- Assignment Notebook
Deluxe Package:
- Four 30-minute Lessons
- Assignment Notebook
- Stafford Music Academy Music Bag
- Stafford Music Academy 100% Cotton T-Shirt
- Music Literature Level One CD
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 (see above for more information.)
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 first day of lessons, 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 15th
This deposit will be applied towards the first payment of the semester. 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 first lesson 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. New to Fall 2008,
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 $5 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. Beginning in Fall 2008 we will begin charging a small
fee of $10/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.
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 also
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!
