Tuition and fees cover all lessons, studio events, books, and materials throughout the academic year.

A $75 registration fee is due by July 1st ($50 for returning families). This reserves your child’s spot in my studio and covers books and supplemental materials for the year. Please note: The registration fee is non-refundable, even if you decide not to enroll after reserving a spot–it held your spot and kept me from providing it to someone else.

The registration fee does not cover photocopies I make when students forget their books. I have already purchased their books (in most cases, multiple books), so I really need them to remember to bring them to class each week so we don’t waste valuable lesson time making copies from multiple books. If they don’t remember their books, photocopies can be made at the cost of $0.50 per photocopy. This cost will be added to the next monthly tuition statement.

Tuition is due by the 1st of each month through My Music Staff. Each piano family is required to create a My Music Staff account through my website. Through My Music Staff we can keep track of lesson notes, send progress reports, and even set up auto-payments. We like to hit the easy button wherever we can, am I right?!

Monthly Tuition Calculation: Monthly payments are based on the number of scheduled lessons for the entire academic year (minus two built-in teacher absences), and then divided evenly across 10 months (August through May). This means tuition stays the same whether there are 3 or 5 lessons in a given month. Easier for everyone to budget! If I don’t have to use my teacher absences, lessons will end 1-2 weeks early at the end of the year.

Late Payment Fee: A 10% late fee will be automatically applied by My Music Staff to any payments received after the 1st.

Your child’s weekly lesson time is a standing appointment reserved just for them. Lesson times are arranged at the start of each academic year.

If your family needs to request a permanent change to your lesson time (due to a school/activity conflict), this will be discussed on a case-by-case basis—but changes depend on current availability and are not guaranteed. Please note: Changing lesson times from week to week is not allowed. Consistency is key to strong musical progress and to keeping our studio running smoothly!

It is expected that once you sign a contract for lessons for the year, that you will continue your lessons from August to May. If you need to discontinue lessons, I kindly request a one month warning so that I have time to fill your lesson spot.

Life happens—and I totally understand that things come up! Here’s how we handle absences:

If you have to miss a lesson, please give as much notice as possible so we can use one of these alternatives:

1. Preferred Option #1: I offer a video or picture lesson option. Simply send me a video of your student playing their assignment (video their hands, please!) or send in a question about their assigned songs with pictures of the sections they’re asking about before their scheduled missed lesson. I’ll use their regularly scheduled lesson time to review and send back a personalized video or message with feedback and guidance.

2. Preferred Option #2: Cancel your student’s lesson in My Music Staff. This will issue you a make-up credit which you can use to book any “open lesson slot” on the calendar. (Make-up credits expire after 35 days.)

3. There will be a group makeup lesson offered on the fourth Friday of each month from 4:30 – 5:15 p.m. If you’d like to attend, you’ll need to register through My Music Staff by the Thursday evening before the scheduled makeup lesson so I know who is attending. (Lessons made up this way must be made up within 40 days of the missed lesson.)

4. If your student is contagious but otherwise feels well enough to learn, we can do an online lesson during your regular time. Only if they feel well enough–no pressure!

If I have to miss a lesson:

1. Your tuition already includes two excused teacher absences per year, which I can take at my discretion.
2. If I need to cancel more than two lessons through the year, you’ll receive a make-up lesson credit.

If bad weather makes travel unsafe, we’ll move the lesson online for that week—no missed music required! You can choose the video/picture lesson option or a Zoom lesson–both options are outlined above under “Missed Lesson Options.” 

Please aim to arrive on time. If your child is late, the lesson (30 minute or 60 minute) will still end at the regularly scheduled time so that I can stay on track with other students.