STUDIO POLICIES 2024-2025
PAYMENTS & INVOICING
Private lessons are held weekly from September 9th, 2024 to May 16th, 2025.
Tuition will be billed monthly or per semester based on individual preference. The teacher reserves the right to raise fees at the beginning of each new academic year (August 1st).
Lessons are PRE-PAID. Tuition invoices will be sent around the 25th, and your payment for the following month is due by the 1st. Your invoice will include all upcoming lessons for the following month and may vary due to the number of lessons held.
A $10 LATE FEE will be applied to any invoice that is five or more days past due. Recurring late payments may result in termination of the student’s enrollment.
PARTICIPATION
Students should be singing at home everyday. In order to make real progress, each student should spend time on the exercises and repertoire that is assigned during lessons.
Parents are encouraged to read the student’s lesson notes, sent weekly via email, and offer guidance and encouragement to practice independently at home.
ATTENDANCE
Student Absences: 24 hours notice is requested for all lesson absences, including illness, appointments, and school conflicts such as field trips, competitions, assemblies, and testing. For more than 24 hour notice, please send an email to allison@thedempseystudio.com. For less than 24 hour notice, please send a text.
Lessons canceled or missed by the student with LESS THAN 24 HOURS notice will not be rescheduled or refunded. Lessons canceled with MORE THAN 24 HOURS notice will be give a make-up lesson credit.
Teacher Absences: If the teacher is unable to attend, she will give notice via email and text message and make-up the lesson as soon as possible or credit the lesson fee to the next month's tuition.
DISCONTINUING LESSONS
Students are expected to enroll in lessons for a full academic semester. One month’s notice in writing prior to discontinuing lessons is requested. All students stop taking lessons at some point. Ideally, this decision is made with plenty of discussion between the teacher, guardian, and student so that lessons can conclude with a positive sense of closure.
At the discretion of the teacher, students may be asked to discontinue lessons at any time due to: unpaid tuition, persistent absences, failure to prepare for lessons, failure to honor studio policies, inappropriate or disrespectful behavior. Should any of the above situations occur, notification will be given and time will be provided to correct the situation prior to termination.
Payments will be discontinued at the time of cancellation, but NO REFUNDS will be offered for pre-paid lessons.
COMMUNICATION
Studio communication such as lesson notes, invoices and studio newsletters will be sent from MyMusicStaff or thedempseystudio@gmail.com
The best way to contact the teacher is via email at allison@thedempseystudio.com, which will be promptly returned. The teacher welcomes emails or text messages between 8am and 8pm.
PET DISCLOSURE
In-person lessons will be held in the teacher's home. The teacher currently owns dogs. They will not be allowed in the studio during lessons, but will be put away in a different area of the house.
A pdf of the complete studio policies can be found here.