Why do we ask for a commitment?
Growth and Learning takes Commitment to Yourself
At M.U.S.E., we believe the process of learning an instrument can change and impact a child’s life in a very positive transforming way. Not only does this experience challenge the physical motor skills and coordination of doing multiple tasks at one time, but learning an instrument uses all parts of the brain and helps your child to develop connections vital to many other physical and mental functions they need to be successful in their academic growth and future lives.
Learning an instrument and being a part of the school band instills teamwork, commitment, discipline, organizational skills, listening and focus skills, problem solving, develops fine dexterity and memorization, creativity and enhances self esteem. There are so many benefits that carry over into academics and your child’s developing brain. You will be amazed at their growth and how it affects them.
All of our teachers look forward to this opportunity to bring the world of instrumental music into your child’s life. Like anything new, it takes time, practice at home along with classes at school, and encouragement to be successful. Just as in all sports or in creative disciplines like dance or art, it takes effort and consistent practice over time to develop your child’s coordination and muscle memory. It doesn’t just happen overnight or even within a couple months, but when the skills suddenly come together and the connection is made, your child’s sense of pride and accomplishment is invaluable.
We believe we have developed a great formula to insure your child’s success. We ask parents to follow our simple guidelines to help with this learning process. It is key that we work together as a team – child, parent and teacher. We think it is especially important to talk with your child and let them know that to play an instrument they will need to make a commitment to be part of the team(their school band), to practice and to continue with their lessons through the school year. We support you in making a commitment together and we honor this by committing our teacher and ourselves to this exciting journey. There will be times when students may get discouraged or have a drop in enthusiasm. Sometimes it happens when skills or music gets challenging. We ask that you help them through this. Your child’s MUSE teacher can also help and it’s important to communicate with them if you need some input. If you can help your child from the very beginning by setting up a place and time to practice either as a study break or another time in their day, it will help them feel more prepared and comfortable when they come to class each week.
Our program is more than just weekly lessons. We also offer many performance and extra activities to motivate and support students as well. Please take advantage of these as they are meant to enhance your child’s musical experience. They include: Beginner Start-up Instrument Workshops, FREE Band Workshops several times a year at different locations in your area, our annual Winter and Spring multi-school concerts, individual school performances, our annual Solo and Ensemble Festival, Honor Band for 2nd year students nominated by teachers, parades and summer band camps. We also have awesome teachers!! Teachers have their own incentives to encourage students to practice as well as rewarding them for their efforts. We ask parents to be involved and show interest by encouraging their child to practice, bringing them to workshops, concerts and asking them to play for family events and holidays. These fun activities give your child a chance to share how much they’ve learned and the music they can play. This all supports our teamwork commitment and the positive focus important to your student’s experience and success. Every student’s part in the music we play and their contribution is important to the whole experience, personally and for the group.
We are so excited that you are considering joining our program. We can guarantee we will work hard to make this a positive experience for your child and to make the process of learning an instrument fun and a positive growth experience.
M.U.S.E. Billing and Withdrawal Policy
FOR REGISTRATION, we require a minimum installment payment of the first three month’s class tuition along with the $35.00 materials/ registration fee for every student to participate in our instrumental programs. At time of registration, parents may choose to pay in full, pay quarterly or monthly through our website STRIPE payment processing system.
To “Pay in Full” means there will only be a one time charge of the full amount including the materials/registration fee.
The “Quarterly” option is the total tuition balance divided into 3 equal payments which are charged on the 10th of every 3rd month. The first charge includes the materials/registration fee.
The “Monthly” option is the total tuition balance divided into 9 equal payments and charged on the 10th of each month. The first charge also includes the materials/registration fee. The Monthly payment option is only available through September 30th. If you register in October , ONLY Full or Quarterly payment options are available.
WITHDRAWAL POLICY –
Tuition Refunds – If your student goes to a couple classes in the first month and decides not to continue or does not attend classes at all, we will refund all payments made only through Sept. 30 for all 9 month programs, October 31st for all 8 month programs.
Withdrawal Deadlines – For 9 month programs, the deadline is November 15th, 8 month programs decline is December 15. If you decide that our program is not for your child by these dates, you are not obligated any further as long as the first minimum installment payment, detailed above, has been paid in full. There are no refunds up to that point.
For Full paid accounts, if your child drops by November 15th, the remaining 6 months of tuition will be refunded to you. If you chose Quarterly payments, there are no further payments due and we will cancel your quarterly subscription in our system. However, if you chose to break up your tuition cost by Monthly payments, the obligation of the first installment payment must be satisfied before the monthly subscription can be cancelled. So this would mean 3 payments including your first charge, must be completed in our system. Once this is satisfied, we will cancel your monthly subscription if your student drops by November 15th.
If your student attends ANY classes after your program’s deadline, you are responsible for the balance of the school year’s tuition and your student is committed for the remainder of the school year. The balance still must be paid even if your student decides to drop later in the school year. All Quarterly and Monthly tuition payments through our Stripe subscription payment system will continue as agreed. By your signature check in our Billing Policy box when you submitted registration, you have agreed to our billing and withdrawal policies. A copy of the subscription order with your signature check in the policy box is emailed to you upon completion of your student’s registration.
We have had to set this policy to continue to hire and keep our wonderful teachers. We commit a teacher to your school to start our programs based on the number of students enrolled at the beginning of September. Our teachers’ pay is based on student enrollment. We have to be able to offer them a secure job with a solid number of students. Many of them teach at several schools so if we promise to take on a school into our program, we are promising that teacher a solid income. We feel it is only fair that parents and students make a similar commitment to their enrollment in our classes. There are only a few allowable exceptions to our optional withdrawal policy. For example, if a child has a medical reason that keeps them from being able to take classes or if parents decide to leave the school or move out of the area, then withdrawal would be accepted after parents have contacted the MUSE Office manager.
Registration and Tuition Payment Options
Payment is due with your registration before your child can attend our MUSE classes. Tuition pays for class attendance and the other activities we offer to enrich your child’s instrumental learning. Instruments are not included in the cost for MUSE tuition. (See more information about Instrument Rentals on our “EXPLORE MUSE” homepage menu).
To register under “Sign Up For MUSE”, you will have 3 payment choices:
Option #1 – Full Paid Tuition
Option #2 – Quarterly payment option
Option #3- Monthly payment option
Registration starts in the summer so we can plan ahead with our teachers for our various school enrollments. This is especially important for keeping programs in your school and committing a teacher for the year.
We currently offer Monthly and Quarterly Payment Plans. to help break down tuition cost into manageable payments. Our NEW STRIPE processing system automatically sets up the recurring payments for the MUSE class(es) you choose. If your card expires, you cancel your card or close the bank account associated with your card, you must log in to your Stripe account from our secure website, under “parent log in” to change or update your card. You will need your user name/email and password to log in. Please complete this before card expires or as soon as you receive a new card so your account stays current and avoids late fee. DO NOT SEND any card info by email. Your card will only be charged the agreed # of payments for your chosen class on your school registration page. We will accept personal or bank generated checks but ONLY if arrangements are made with Teri Allard, our MUSE Office manager. Monthly payment by check is not an option.
*PLEASE NOTE : Your child cannot attend any MUSE classes until first payment is made. You must pay the required 1st installment to be cleared for classes. Teachers will receive updated registration lists. School Schedules are available on our website so parents can plan ahead. It is the parent’s responsibility to get registration and tuition payments and/or payment plans set up before your child can attend. We do not pro-rate classes for “late starts”.
Returned Checks, or Credit/Debit Card Transaction Failures
There will be a $25 return fee for all payments, card or check, that do not process. For any accounts set up on our Payment Plans, if the scheduled payment does not process, Stripe will attempt several times to take the charge. You will be notified that account is not processing. At that point, you need to resolve the payment issue within 24 hours. We reserve the right to cancel your payment plan and will require full payment for the balance on account if this is not taken care of. It is the parent’s responsibility to let us know ahead if you have cancelled a card or closed an account which you have set up for automatic payments. If we need to contact you about this, we expect a return call for resolution within 24 hours from our voicemail message about your account issue. Classes will be suspended for non-payment if account is not brought up to date with payment.
Make-Up Days
If your student is absent for any reason, please let your MUSE teacher know by email. Teacher email address located on the teacher bio pages. The teacher can let you know what they are working on in class so your child can practice material at home and then get help if needed when they are back in class. They also can get extra help by attending our free workshops throughout the fall and winter months. This is an added bonus we’ve found really helps our kids excel and a great way to add in extra time for a class they might have missed.
Teachers are obligated to make up as many days as possible for classes scheduled on Monday Holidays (Martin Luther King Day, Presidents Day, and Veterans Day). Teachers missing any class for illness or for any other reason, will be making up class within 4 weeks of absence. In some cases, if an alternative day for make-ups cannot be found, the instructor has the option to lengthen the time to the current classes on a given day. Teachers are asked to communicate with parents about a plan for make-ups so parents can arrange student pick-up plans. In some cases, a MUSE substitute may be able to cover for a teacher who is ill or has a class they cannot attend. Students should receive a total of, on average, 3-4 classes a month (not including Christmas & New Years Holidays, Spring Break, and Thanksgiving).
Teachers are not obligated to make up classes for the following holidays: Thanksgiving (or early dismissal day Wednesday of that week), Winter Break, and Spring Break.
Class Start Up Dates
Class schedules with fall start up dates can be found on each school’s page under “Sign Up for MUSE” in the top menu of our new website. It is the parents responsibility to register and set up payment before their child can attend any MUSE class. Our classes run through the last week of May. In some cases, teachers may extend into June if they need to make up classes in our private schools or for Portland Public District when we have the Portland Junior Rose Parade. Beaverton School District requires us to finish our classes by the end of May each school year.
REMINDER : We do not pro-rate classes for “late starts”.
Attendance and Behavior Issues relating to Tuition
When you register your child online for our MUSE classes, we ask parents to read through our Classroom Conduct & Behavior Policies and sign in order to submit their registration. If you send in a paper registration with payment, you are still responsible to read our policies and print a copy for your reference.
Students can lose their privilege to participate in the program if there are repeated infractions related to:
- Disrespect for teacher and fellow students
- Disrespect for classroom, equipment or instruments
- Referral slips/ warnings/ copy to principal & parents
- Forfeiture of tuition upon Suspension from class, Auto Debit will charge full remaining balance for Payment Plans on date of suspension if after the optional drop date.