Policies
OVERVIEW OF STUDIO POLICIES
The term “Students” is used throughout these policies to refer to either the student themselves and/or the student’s parents/guardians. Sarah Rose Cusson (sometimes referred to as “the teacher,” “Sarah Rose,” or “Sarah”) reserves the sole right to modify these policies and may do so at any time. All enrolled students must abide by all studio policies. All students and their respective parents/guardians have the right to ask for further clarification of any policy at any time, however, the policies themselves are non-negotiable. Student or guardian/parent disregard for any policy may result in the student being required to disenroll in lessons permanently.
What these policies are:
These policies reflect the core values of Sarah’s teaching practice and are designed to provide a respectful, dependable, and professional experience for all parties involved. They are intended to provide guidance on questions or circumstances that may arise throughout the lesson process and set expectations for what the lesson process will look like.
What these policies are not:
These policies do not require students to commit to lessons for any particular length of time. Students are welcome to enroll or disenroll in lessons at any time.
PAYMENT
An annual tuition fee is required in order to enroll in piano lessons with Sarah Rose. The annual tuition fee purchases a specific recurring weekly lesson spot between September 1st of the enrollment year and June 30th of the following year. The annual tuition fee will slightly increase each year.
The annual tuition fee is a flat rate that reflects the lesson year as a whole and is designed to include all of the time, energy, and resources that go into teaching a student throughout the year both outside and inside of the lesson time and is not calculated using an hourly rate. It also includes absences for all school/holiday breaks as well as the occasional unexpected missed lesson throughout the year. The annual tuition fee can either be paid in one lump sum upon enrollment or split into equal monthly installments throughout the lesson year.
If paying monthly, tuition installments are due on the first day of each month from September until June. They must be set up using the auto-pay option and are non-refundable under any circumstance once completed.
Students are welcome to enroll at any point in the year for a prorated rate based on the remaining months or weeks in the lesson year.
Summer lessons during July and August may be available upon request for per-lesson rates. All summer lessons must be paid for at the time of scheduling.
DISENROLLING & REFUNDS
If a student who has previously enrolled in lessons is no longer able to take lessons, the student will be relieved of any further payments and their lesson will be removed from Sarah Rose’s schedule.
All monthly installment payments are final and there will be no refunds under any circumstances for monthly installment payments that have already been completed.
Students who chose to pay the full annual tuition fee in one lump sum upon enrollment will receive a prorated refund based on the remaining weeks left in the lesson year that they are no longer attending, minus a $250 processing fee. The prorated refund will be calculated by taking the student’s annual tuition payment and dividing the amount evenly across all of the weeks in the lesson year. The student will receive a refund totaling the amount of weeks left in the lesson year wherein they will not be attending lessons. There will be no refunds under any circumstances for lessons that have already been attended.
LATE PAYMENT
Students must be enrolled in auto-pay in order to take advantage of the monthly installment option. If a charge does not go through for any reason, the student will be notified via email, phone, and/or text while lessons continue as normal. If the student has still not completed the payment after two weeks of being notified, lessons will then be placed on hold until the payment has been made. The student will not receive any refunds or reimbursement for any missed lessons due to the late payment and the tuition fee will still be required to be completed in full.
If the student has still not completed the payment after four weeks of being notified, their lesson spot will then be forfeited permanently and they will no longer be able to enroll in lessons with Sarah Rose in the future. The student will not receive any refunds for past monthly installments already made. No further monthly installments will be required.
If the student encounters a circumstance that temporarily prevents a monthly installment from being made on the 1st of the month and would like to request a different payment due date, they must contact Sarah before the 1st of the month in question in order to do so. This requested date will become the new official payment due date to which all of the “late payment” policies will then still apply.
The entire annual tuition fee must be completed in full before June 30th of the lesson year. Students who fail to do so will not be able to enroll in lessons with Sarah Rose again in the future.
ATTENDANCE & ABSENCES
Upon enrollment, a specific time slot is designated to each student. It is the student’s responsibility to attend as many lessons as they are able to. If for any reason the student is unable to attend a lesson, they are asked to alert the teacher in advance of their lesson time.
The annual tuition fee is final and must be fully paid in either one lump sum upon enrollment or in monthly installments regardless of the number of lessons students choose to or are able to attend throughout the lesson year. Unexpected absences initiated by the student, as well as all school and holiday breaks, have already been factored into the annual tuition fee. No further refunds will be given for any missed lessons or additional school/vacation/holiday breaks throughout the year.
Four (4) unexpected absences have been factored into the full calendar year annual tuition fee. Three (3) unexpected absences have been factored into the school year annual tuition fee. These numbers are representative of the average number of spontaneously missed lessons that students tend to have throughout a year, and are used as a basis for calculating a fair tuition rate. They are not meant to be in exact alignment with the precise number of lessons a student may spontaneously miss throughout the year. The average lesson cost is designed to be flexible while remaining fair. What will never shift is each student’s consistent recurring lesson spot and the level of attention, care, and personalized instruction that Sarah gives to each student.
If a student knows they will need to miss considerably more lessons than what has been accommodated, please alert Sarah prior to enrollment to see if al-la-carte pricing is a better fit.
In the instance that Sarah is unable to be present for any of the lessons that a student has scheduled, the student will be notified via email/phone/text and receive appropriate reimbursement for the missed lessons. This refund amount will be calculated based on the student’s average weekly lesson cost and will be limited to the lessons that Sarah cannot attend.
RESCHEDULING
Upon enrollment, a specific time slot is designated to each student. Individual lessons cannot be rescheduled. If a student is unable to attend a particular lesson for any reason, their lesson is considered canceled and no additional refunds will be given—accommodations for spontaneously missed lessons have already been made within the annual tuition fee. (See “ATTENDANCE & ABSENCES” above for more details.)
Sarah may choose to offer an optional makeup lesson time to the student if her schedule allows, however, reschedules are offered at the sole discretion of the teacher and are never guaranteed. If Sarah has offered a makeup lesson time and the student accepts, that will become the new lesson time for the week and lessons will resume at their regular time afterwards. If the student does not accept the new lesson time, lessons will simply resume in their regular time the following week.
If a student needs to permanently change their lesson time after enrolling in lessons, the ability to do so depends on Sarah and the student finding new shared availability. If this is successfully accomplished, the new time will become the student’s permanent lesson spot and lessons will continue without any change to payments. However, if Sarah and the student cannot find a new time that works for both of them, the student will be removed from the schedule and relieved of any further payments. If the annual tuition was paid in one lump sum upon enrollment, the student will receive a prorated refund for any lessons that have already been paid for that can no longer be attended. Students will not receive a refund for any lessons that they have already attended or still plan to attend. All monthly installment payments are final and are non-refundable.
SCHOOL & HOLIDAY BREAKS
No lessons will take place during the following Studio Holidays:
Memorial Day
Labor Day
July 4th
Thanksgiving (Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday)
Two weeks around the end of the calendar year, specific dates TBD each year
Two weeks during July or August, specific dates TBD each year
These Studio Holidays are mandatory and have already been factored into the annual tuition fee. In addition to the Studio Holidays, two additional weeks of flexible holiday time have been factored in to be used as needed according to each student’s specific holiday schedule. These two additional weeks must be used, but can be used whenever the student chooses.
See “ATTENDANCE & ABSENCES” above for more details on other types of missed lessons.
SAFETY & SICKNESS
If a student is sick with anything besides allergies, they are asked to cancel their lesson in order to protect Sarah’s health and livelihood. If Sarah shows up for a lesson and the student is clearly unwell and is exhibiting contagious symptoms, is in pain, or is lethargic, she reserves the right to leave immediately and will not offer additional reimbursement.
Students that exhibit disrespectful, inappropriate, harmful, or threatening behavior towards themselves or Sarah during their lesson time will be immediately required to disenroll in lessons permanently. (“Disrespectful,” “inappropriate,” “harmful,” or “threatening” behaviors are defined as such at the discretion of Sarah Rose.) The student will be relieved of any further payments, and if the annual tuition was paid in one lump sum upon enrollment, the student will receive a prorated refund for any lessons that have already been paid for that can no longer be attended. Students will not receive a refund for any lessons that they have already attended or still plan to attend. All monthly installment payments are final and are non-refundable.
LESSON ETIQUETTE & PROGRESS
Enrolling in piano lessons asks that all students commit themselves to active participation and a willing attitude. It expects all students to do their best to answer questions, follow directions, and participate in each lesson in a well-mannered and respectful way. It hopes that all students do their best to schedule consistent practice times for themselves throughout the week in order to learn and grow the musical abilities and knowledge that Sarah covers during the lesson times.
Each student’s musical growth is directly related to how much they actively participate and practice. While Sarah will always do her best to encourage and motivate the student to do these things, ultimately the student’s level of participation is outside of the teacher’s control and each student is accountable for their own progress.
TEACHER PROMISE
Every student deserves to learn in a space that is safe for them. It is Sarah’s promise to all her students that she will always bring her best energy and knowledge to each lesson. Students will be led through each concept with patience and understanding. They will be encouraged to be their best, but never made to feel like they’re falling short. Every student will feel seen, cared for, and understood. Lessons with Sarah are a safe space for all humans regardless of race, class, age, gender, ethnicity, religion, politics, or abilities. If a student feels as though Sarah is not upholding this promise, they are invited and encouraged to share this with her.