Verellen Music Academy Policies

Effective as of March 1st 2025 - Subject to Change

**By enrolling in Verellen Music Academy, you acknowledge and agree to abide by all school policies outlined below. Registration assumes that you have read and will comply with these policies. Please note that policies are subject to change at any time. This document will remain available online, and to stay up to date you may request a written copy at any time .

POLICY REGARDING MISSED LESSONS

If you need to miss a lesson, at least 24 hours’ notice is required via email only.

Lessons missed without notice due to tardiness will not be rescheduled or refunded. In cases of emergencies or serious circumstances, a makeup lesson may be arranged at the teacher’s discretion.

Each student is allowed up to two makeup lessons per semester (4 per year), provided that 24 hours’ notice is given via email.

**Email only** we do not accept cancellations or rescheduling requests via phone calls, texts, or voicemails.

* Snow days: We are open. If you feel the roads are unsafe, lessons will be moved to an online platform.

POLICY REGARDING CANCELLING LESSONS

If there is a problem with lessons, practicing, attitude, etc., please call and speak with Miss Jacqui, Mr. Joey or your instructor. Sometimes all it takes is a helpful hint to solve a potential problem.

Four weeks notice by EMAIL ONLY is required if a student decides to terminate lessons for any reason.

If a student must withdraw immediately, they will forfeit a fee equal to four lessons from the date of written notice. Please Note: Payment for a Semester or Year in which a student discontinues will not be refunded.

LATENESS

If a student is running late, the teacher will wait up to 15 minutes. Once the student is over 15 minutes late, the teacher is no longer obliged to wait and may leave for a break, turn off the computer for online lessons, or head home early (and the lesson is forfeited). However, if notice is given that lateness is to be expected, a teacher will wait as long as needed. Note that the teacher cannot extend the lesson past the agreed upon weekly timeframe.

SNOW DAYS / INCLEMENT WEATHER

* Snow days: We are open. If you feel the roads are unsafe, lessons will be moved to an online platform.

HOLIDAYS

Holidays (ONLY the ones listed below) are factored into our calendar and your payments.

Therefore if your lesson falls on a holiday in a given week, you will not be charged for that week, and it does not need to be rescheduled.

Please refer to our listed dates below that the studio is Closed:

Family Day - 3rd Mon of Feb
Good Friday
Easter Monday
Victoria Day Last Mon of May
Canada Day - July 1
Thanksgiving Monday - First Mon of Sept
Labour Day
Halloween - Oct 31
Dec 23rd to Jan 2nd

SUPPLY TEACHERS

Verellen Music Academy reserves the right to provide a supply teacher while a regular teacher is ill or away. Teachers at VMA work hard to minimize such absences. When one cannot be avoided, a supply teacher may be provided as approved by the Director. Experience has shown that occasional exposure to a different teacher is often beneficial to a child. When a supply teacher cannot be found in time students will be contacted by email and will have their lessons cancelled and rescheduled (and this will NOT count towards the max one allowable reschedule per session.)

CARE OF CHILD

Verellen Music Academy does not assume any responsibility for the care of students or any children while they are on school premises. All students under the age of 18 MUST be accompanied by a parent or caregiver while attending private lessons, group classes, and events hosted by Verellen Music Academy OR must have the expressed written consent of the Verellen Music Academy administrator present for transfer of care.

DO PARENTS SIT IN ON LESSONS?

For both in-person and online lessons, this is an excellent question and the short answer is: sometimes. At VMA we believe in the Parent, Teacher, Child learning triangle which states that all three participants (including Parent) must be actively involved in lessons to help ensure a child thrives. We also wish to develop lateral benefits of music lessons such as the opportunity for a teacher to become a positive role model for a child and this often requires them to have alone time. With online lessons sometimes parent involvement is critical, especially with young children. On a child by child basis, the teacher and parent will mutually decide what is the best fit. Sometimes having a parent present for most or all lessons allows more engagement, behaviour management, and support from the parent but, in other cases, it can be a distraction or nervous situation for certain children. Please communicate with your teacher about what is best for your child and expect a two-way positive discussion. At bare minimum every teacher will ensure a quality conversation is had at the end of the lesson with the parent to get them up to speed.

PHOTO / VIDEO CONSENT

By enrolling with Verellen Music Academy you hereby give consent for us to take photos and videos of your children to print and post at the school, use on our website, social media, or other academy related materials. We will never sell or directly profit from any said images nor will they ever be shared with a third party for any reason. We do not use the full name of any student with any photograph or video. You may opt out of this consent by sending an email to info@verellenmusicacademy.com but please note that means we also cannot include photos or videos of your child for contests, Rockstar of the month, etc.

TERMINATION OF ENROLMENT

Verellen Music Academy reserves the right to immediately cancel the enrolment of any student / family for reasons of disruptive behaviour, aggressive communication, inappropriate conduct by student and/or parent, frequent absences, repeated late payments, or other reasons at the sole discretion of Verellen Music Academy. In such rare cases, remaining tuition (if applicable) would be refunded.

PAYMENT METHODS

You have two options to pay for lessons:

Option 1: Monthly:

When paying which Option 1 (Monthly) The only acceptable form of payment is by credit card payment on the 1st of each month. (Done automatically, not manually)

- The amount you pay is based on the amount of lessons you have in a given month. (4 or 5, depending on the length of the month.)

- A 2.9% monthly fee applies, when processing credit cards on "My Music Staff," our invoicing system.

Option 2: Pay for Semester or Year:

If paying for the year upfront (you can still stop lessons as per our “Cancelling Lessons” policy below), your payment options are:

Interac E-transfer payable to info@verellenmusicacademy.com
VISA or MASTERCARD – a 2.9% service fee applies.
CASH
Debit

DECLINED CREDIT CARD FEE (New)

A $20 fee will be added to any declined Credit Card payment. For this reason we advise that you keep us updated with new cards, expired cards, and more.

PERSONAL PROPERTY

Verellen Music Academy does not assume any responsibility for personal property (including, but not limited to clothing, cameras, cell phones, purses, wallets, vehicle etc) lost, damaged, or left unattended on Academy premises, in common areas, or the parking lot behind the building.

Attendance Policy