Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Piano Teachers Forum Very strict policy?

I have been reading piano studio policy online a lot recently to research about how other piano studio function and seeking to improve my own studio.

I came across to this policy and I wonder if parents would actually sign this contract about committing the whole year of piano studies.

What do you think?





http://www.lacostamusicstudio.com/pdf-forms/REGISTER-Registration-Form-2010-2011.pdf

Awesome contract!! Clear wording avoids any confusion. And it's short and direct.

I am an adult beginner. I would sign that contract.
My son is also a piano student. As his mother, I would again, sign that contract.

There's a lot missing from that contract, IMHO, but there is nothing wrong with it per se. It sounds very professional.

If my son is a new student, I will not sign this contract unless he can take 4 or 5 trial lessons with you first.

Since there is no refund for missed lessons, how easy for your studnets to reschedule the lesson if needed? I don't know if your students play sports or not. In our case, soccor season is in fall, basketball season is in winter, baseball season is in spring and swimming team season is summer and winter. Soccor games are usually Sat morning, basketball games are usually Sat afternoon and baseball could be any day of the week. There is just no way for us to commit to a lesson time for the whole year.

I wouldn't sign it either. What if I don't like the teaching methods or if I'm not making enough progress (assuming I'm practicing regularly and following instructions)? I'm advanced enough to know what progress I should be making with the guidance of a teacher and if you don't meet those standards, I should be able to go to another teacher. I would not sign up for anything that needs signing such a contract. Kids losing interest is common and the parents cannot be held liable for that either. You cannot force people to commit to anything (unless you're marrying them! ;)). You could give them an incentive and give them a choice of course. So you could say that the monthly fee will be less by $10 if they sign up for a 1 year contract so that people who're SURE that they can do that (after trial lessons) can make use of that.

Your contract says "the remainder of the fees is due if the student withdraws for ANY reason". That's too vague for me. What if I relocate? No lessons made up even if I'm sick and cannot make it to the lessons?

If a child plays sports year around constantly, how in the world will he/she find time to practice in the first place when they still have to do their homework, attend practices and then the games?

IMHO, I think sometimes parents forget these are only children and don't need to have every hour of their day scheduled to the second. Choose an activity, commit to it and stick with it.

I had a parent get angry with me because I could not keep moving her son's lesson around to accomodate his ball schedule throughout the year. It is a lot to expect a teacher to do this.

(Okay, I am stepping off my soap box now!)

We sign a very similar contract at our music school, based on 2 semesters over the school year, and one for summer rather than over the full year. But we do commit to the same time for the whole year, pay 1 semester at a time, and are not allowed to have make up lessons. We can trade lesson times with someone else if we can work that out. And honestly, because of this, our music school definitely attracts more committed families and students.

There is an early trial period for new students, both from a student/parent perspective and a teacher perspective. Although, I think for us that is 1 semester (4 months). I think the half year is a more reasonable time frame.

In our case, all sports (other than swimming team) only take 1 hour practice and 1 (up to 2) hours for game every week. That's far less time compared to the time required for piano (45 min/daily).

And if lesson times conflict with games, what else can we do? We can't move the game time by asking everyone in our team and the other team. And game schedule won't be available till right before the season starts.

It only talks about payment, so any strictness is one-sided. Nothing about regular practice, nothing at all that indicates that the school or teacher is interested in the student learning.

It asks for a one-year commitment with an unknown teacher and possibly something brand new and unfamiliar. This only makes sense in terms of money-making, but not in terms of education. People say it takes about 3 months for student and teacher to get into the swing of things and see how it will go. Even if the teacher wants to discontinue the relationship, the parties are also locked into this contract.

Parent/student lose control over their personal finances. They have to use either pre-authorized bank withdrawals, or regular withdrawals from their credit card. There is no option to pay monthly by cheque, or by semester installments.

Personally there'd be no way on earth I'd sign it. Your teacher ends up being a flake, oops, too bad, the contract says "any reason". Lose your job, too bad. Little Johnny/Janie hates piano, too bad. As a rule, I never sign contracts like this that bind you into a term and creates a situation where you still owe them funds even if services aren't rendered (no refunds for missed classes for _any_reason_, it doesn't say reasons that are your fault, but _any_reason_).

As for attracting "committed" families, well I think it's safe to include us into that category but to me this isn't about commitment, it's about making prudent financial decisions.

So place me into the emphatic "no" group, I wouldn't think twice.

It does leave out some important info:

Holiday schedule (what weeks the studio is closed)
Siblings that accompany parent (are they allowed in same room?)
Withdrawal notice (so, although tuition is paid monthly, if a student drops, the parent must continue to pay monthly for the entire semester or year?)
Practice expectations

Probably better not to sign up for piano at all then. Anybody doing all those sports won't have time to do a decent job of piano anyway. Piano requires a big commitment of time.

This is almost exactly the same conversation that happened here a couple of weeks ago. Every kid is different. 2 hours of sports a week plus 45 minutes of piano a week will make some kids absolutely exhausted. For some others? Well, they actually have the energy for another four or five activites. And such kids are many. Plus, a kid can get so much more out of 45-minutes of piano practice than another kid... There is no set rule about the absolute hours a kid can use for extracurricular activities, it all depends on each kid.

I'd like to point out that while I feel the policy is lacking in answering a lot of the questions that have come up, I don't have a problem with it. It doesn't necessarily mean that the policy will be enforced strictly. I do not enforce my policy strictly, but I take each situation in mind and decide what is best. The policy is something that I have to fall back on in the event that someone may be trying to take advantage of my generosity with regards to late payments, make-ups, etc.

I agree with david_a's comment above. Would your child have any time to practice, let alone keep a once- a week appointment for lessons? Why would you sign up for lessons with the assumption that you can just change times each week depending on what works? That is fine if your son is the teacher's only student, but with a full studio even one person rescheduling can wreak havoc on a teacher's schedule.

The point being made is that each sport activity lasts for 3 months. At any one time, only one sport activity is going on. Every 3 months, the student's schedule changes because of moving to another activity.

I do not give away control of my finances to the phone or hydro companies. I pay on time by cheque or bank transfer. I might be willing to pay for lessons by semester. But if we are forced to allow automatic withdrawal from our bank accounts or our credit cards, with no normal payment option, that is unreasonable.

Sports may really be 2 hours, I don't know. Piano is 7 to 10 hours. The actual piano lesson time is a nearly-insignificant blip, compared to the practice time.

Sports may really be 2 hours, I don't know. Piano is 7 to 10 hours. The actual piano lesson time is a nearly-insignificant blip, compared to the practice time. [/quote]

I highly doubt an average piano student would put in 7 to 10 hours a week on piano. Things vary from place to place, of course, but in my community, even those very serious piano students can have many other activities going on.

I read one (of many, I'm sure) report on extracurricular activities. In this survey, an average 10 year-old kid from a middle-class family takes 5 extracurricular activities (for most kids this includes an instrument); an average working-class kid takes 2.5 extracurricular activities.

But let's get back to scheduling lessons as this is the main issue you and C.Y had. Well, his son obviously has a teacher, so it must have worked out fine. I guess in the end it's again about a good match between a teacher and a family.

This may just be the teacher's financial policy. It maybe that he or she presents it after a trial period or interview. There may be a separate policy outlining other things. I keep the two separate in my own studio.