*** This Policy will be updated, from time to time.
Concise version
For more information, please refer to the detailed policy, below this one.
- Lessons are paid in advance.
- Students are not charged for teacher absences.
- Students who sign up for a minimum of 34 lessons may ask their teacher for up to two make-up lessons, and 3 make-up lessons for a 40 lesson enrollment. We cannot offer unlimited make-up lessons.
- Teachers will be paid for scheduled lessons that are missed even with 24 hours notice.
- Teachers may make up additional missed lessons, at their discretion.
- Missed lessons do not affect the monthly billing plan.
- No refunds or discounts will be given for classes or rehearsals missed.
- One month’s notice is required to stop lessons. It is mandatory to contact the Principal directly if you are stopping lessons. It is not enough to inform the teacher.
- If there is a serious illness, or family crisis, please be in touch with the Principal to make special arrangements.
Toronto School for Strings and Piano Payment and Attendance Policy.
Payments
Lessons are to be paid in advance. Ongoing lessons must be paid for in full by cash, credit, or cheque, or e-transfer.
You may also use our monthly payment plan by credit card or electronic transfer.
N.S.F. cheques and declined credit cards will be subject to a $15.00 administrative charge. Our MindBody software is set up to remind you of the expiry date of your card, but if you cancel or change your card, you must be in touch with us.
Keep us on your special list of people to contact if your credit card information changes. It is reasonably expected that you will respond to communications regarding failed payments or requests to update your payment information.
INTERAC email Payments:
Students who pay by Interac eTransfer must pay for their lessons in a timely way upon receipt of the invoice.
If you are set up for EFT (paying directly from your bank account by VOID cheque) you are responsible for keeping sufficient funds in your bank account. We recommend that you have overdraft protection. If you want to pay us by a different method, let us know before the 12th of the month as auto-pays take place on the 15th of the month.
From the months of September through June, lessons are scheduled weekly with time off for the Christmas Break and March Break, as well as statutory holidays, such as Thanksgiving, Family Day, etc.
If you are on a payment plan that is based on weekly lessons and then you take more frequent lessons, this may affect the monthly payment plan in order to keep the lessons and payments in balance.
Please let the office know if you change the frequency of lessons from weekly to more than once a week.
Absences
We cannot offer unlimited make-up lessons.
Try your best to not miss lessons, unless it is absolutely necessary. Always let your teacher know as far ahead as possible and make alternate arrangements. If a lesson is cancelled due to the teacher being absent, it is not charged. That lesson will be rescheduled, or an equivalent amount of extra time will be added to a lesson.
If you plan to observe religious holidays, please reschedule the lessons in advance with your teacher to be taken at a mutually convenient time. Absences due to religious observance will not be charged when cancelled in advance, however, you will fall behind if you don’t schedule an alternate lesson time/date. No-shows for make-up lessons will be charged.
Lessons missed on Statutory Holidays are normally not charged. No-shows or last-minute cancellations on lessons scheduled on a Statutory Holiday will, however, be charged.
Students who take lessons on Mondays are strongly encouraged to try not to miss their lesson every time there is a statutory holiday. It may be possible to come earlier in the day or on another day. Please note that there is Provincial Legislation in place which allows children to miss one half-day per week to receive music instruction.
Please contact your teacher directly if you are going to miss your lesson. A message left on the school voicemail may not get to the teacher in time. Do not ask someone else to tell the teacher! This applies especially in the case of families where there are several children taking lessons on the same day.
No refunds or discounts will be given for classes or rehearsals missed.
Communicating with the teacher
Not all teachers use text messaging or e-mail for communications. If you need to leave a voicemail, please do it as early as possible, and leave a range of reasonable dates and times in which you can come for a lesson.
When you or your child has a music lesson, it is noted in our system as “completed.” You can check this online in our MindBody software as well as see a written record in the teacher’s attendance binder. You can view lessons taken, see your upcoming schedule, and even update your address/payment information. We encourage you to initial the lesson dates in the teacher’s binder at the lesson. If you don’t know whether you are set up for MindBody login, please be in touch with the office.
When you miss a regularly scheduled lesson, it will be recorded as an absence. Your teacher is a professional who has set aside this particular time for you or your child. He or she is paid for their time. Teachers are not paid a salary; they are paid by the lesson. In our system (MindBody Online), an unexcused absence is called a “late-cancel.”
Many music schools do not offer make-up lessons of any kind, however, we realize that occasionally due to illness, a school trip, or exams, you may have to miss a lesson. It is better to stay home if you are very sick.
Extended Absence
If you know in advance that you have to miss a lot of lessons, such as a holiday, please let the teacher know in advance. You can make alternative arrangements before or after the trip.
If you signed up for a full run of lessons (typically 34), you may ask your teacher for up to two make–up lessons and you will have up to two months from the date of the missed lesson in which to take this lesson. Lessons missed in May or June must be made up before June 30. It is the student’s responsibility to ask for a make-up lesson.
No-shows for the make-up lesson will be forfeited.
All lessons that are on the September invoice need to be taken before the end of June, including lessons scheduled in June. If you are planning to be away for an extended time please let your teacher know as soon as possible and make alternative arrangements. Lessons may be rescheduled, within reason, to a mutually agreeable time and date. Teachers may use their discretion to offer more than two make-ups, however, they are not obliged to do this.
Late-starters will not be pro-rated in terms of lesson fees. They can take lessons later into the year or summer.
Lessons that are taken every other week. (EOW)
If a student takes lessons every other week, the billing will be for a minimum of 2 lessons per month.
Automatic Priority Registration
As of June 2018, all students will be automatically pre-registered for the fall and will be asked a non-refundable deposit on their lessons, applied to the September invoice unless they inform the Principal that they are not continuing. The Priority Registration secures your lesson time in the fall schedule, and we will use the payment information on file to process the payment.
- We will always make a concerted effort to make sure that all students and families are sufficiently informed about Priority Registration.
Stopping Lessons
If you wish to stop lessons, a full month’s notice is required, and this will need to be communicated directly with the Principal of the school. It is not enough to just tell the instructor or send an email.
Refunds after lessons have expired will not be given, except at the discretion of the School. Lessons sold normally have a one year period in which to be taken. There will be an administrative charge for early withdrawal from lessons.
Changing Teachers
We do not recommend changing teachers in the middle of the academic year. There will be a processing fee of $50.00 for changing from one teacher to another during the academic year unless the teacher requests the change.
If the teacher resigns from the school that teacher is not permitted to teach their former students as the teacher has signed a non-compete clause that stipulates they may not teach or approach any of their former students for one year.
Julian Fisher, Principal
Updated: January9, 2024