FEES: Lesson fees are pre-paid monthly as a flat fee per student for the entire month of lessons regardless of the number of weeks in the month (3, 4 or 5 weeks). Flat rate fees are as follows: 30 minute lesson: $92 per student/month; 45 minute lesson: $138 per student/month; 60 minute lesson: $184 per student/month.
All payments are due by the 1st of each month. If payment is not received by the 15th of the month, a $25 late fee will be assessed. If payment has not been received by the 1st of the next month, the entire balance must be received in full, or lessons will be paused until the outstanding fees have been paid. You are still responsible to pay for all lessons during this time. If payment is not received by the 15th of the next month, we will assume you do not wish to continue with lessons at Gem City Music Studio. Fees are payable online through MyMusicStaff or can be made via PayPal (paypal.me/GemCityMusicStudio), by cash, or by check (payable to Gem City Music Studio, LLC). If you are mailing in your payment, please do not send cash. Invoices will be sent via email with a link to PayPal and the amount due for the upcoming month.
INSTRUMENT/ PRACTICE: Students are expected to have a working instrument at home. Piano students may have an acoustic piano, digital piano, or keyboard. If using a keyboard that is not full size, there must be at least 61 keys. All students are expected to practice for a minimum of 5 days per week for a minimum of 10-15 minutes per day unless your teacher has instructed you to follow a different practice plan.
METHOD BOOKS: Students will be responsible to purchase the method books that your teacher requests. In-person students will be given an assignment notebook at the second lesson unless the teacher prefers to send Lesson Notes through MyMusicStaff.
MY MUSIC STAFF ACCOUNTS: All families will be given a MyMusicStaff account. Each family account will have access to a parent portal as well as a student portal for each individual student. This account will allow you to make changes to your existing lesson/class times. In addition, you will be able to access billing statements, invoices, lesson assignments, digital sheet music sharing, practice logs, and much more. You will receive an email with instructions on how to log in. Please make sure that all of your family information and contact info is correct upon logging in for the first time. If you have any questions or issues accessing your account, please let your teacher know.
CANCELLATIONS/MAKEUPS: Similar to other extra-curricular activities, lesson fees reserve your student’s lesson time. It is important to keep your lesson time whenever possible, but situations are bound to come up when you must occasionally be absent. We expect that you are committing to the entire month, but will grant you a makeup credit for any absences with at least 24-hour’s notice. As soon as you know you will be missing a scheduled lesson time, please be sure to cancel that lesson time in MyMusicStaff (MMS). The MMS system will grant you a makeup credit to use within 30 days of the canceled lesson time when canceled with a minimum of 24 hours’ notice. Teachers schedule their available makeup times on the MMS calendar. Once you have canceled your lesson and have a makeup credit on your account, you will be able to register for any open lesson time slot. When a cancellation is made with less than 24-hours’ notice, please immediately cancel your lesson in MyMusicStaff, and also notify your teacher directly (by text or phone is best for timeliness). If your teacher feels a make-up credit is appropriate with less than 24-hours’ notice, they will issue a makeup credit to your account after which you will be able to re-schedule your lesson as explained above.
Weather-related cancellations: The safety of Gem City Music Students and their families is extremely important, therefore, when weather conditions are unsafe, the decision to close the studio building will be based on the Kettering City School District’s decision to cancel school or after-school activities. Studio closings will be announced on the Gem City Music Studio Facebook page, and you will also be contacted directly if you have a lesson that day. In-person lessons that would be canceled due to extreme weather may still take place virtually at the usual lesson time instead. If possible, please make every effort to have a virtual lesson. If you are unable to do so, your teacher may grant a makeup credit to use within 30 days of the canceled lesson at any available time slot on the MMS calendar.