san diego piano academy

2025 - Lesson Information and Agreement

**By beginning or continuing lessons with The San Diego Piano Academy, you agree to abide by this agreement.**

Lesson Information and Agreement (FAQ)

Tuition and Scheduling

Lessons will be available weekly except on academy holidays.

Spring Semester: January 6th - June 22nd

Fall Semester: July 7th - December 21st

The entire academy will be on break for the following dates:

Winter Break: January 1 - 5

Spring Break: March 31 - April 5

Summer Break: June 23 - July 6

Thanksgiving: November 24 - 30

Holidays: December 22 - 31

What dates are available for lessons in 2025?

Tuition payments are divided equally between the 6 months of the semester. Your monthly tuition reserves your spot in our academy and will be the same each month regardless of the number of lessons you take.

What is included in tuition for the semester?

• 20 weekly lessons
• Access and participation to all events and recitals
• Access to our entire library of online courses and tutorial resources

How will my lessons be scheduled?

• Lessons will occur during the mutually agreed upon time you set with your teacher.
• This will remain your set day and time for the entire semester, with the exception of rare circumstances
• If you need to miss one of your scheduled lessons, please let our administrator, Lillian, know by the 1st of the month.
• Allow a 15 minute arrival window after your scheduled lesson time due to the unpredictable nature of traffic and travel. You will be notified if your teacher's arrival may fall outside of this time frame.

**If a student is sick, it is very important that you let us know. If the teacher arrives to your lesson and does not feel comfortable because the student may be sick, the teacher reserves the right to cancel the lesson. We can either use one of your flex weeks or add a lesson to one of the make-up days.

What happens when a scheduled lesson needs to be cancelled?

Teacher Cancellation

**We keep track of all lessons attended for a semester and will list in your monthly invoice how many flex weeks you have used.**

**The student or teacher reserves the right to discontinue lessons at any time and for any reason. If the teacher quits, any missed lessons planned for that month will be reimbursed. If the student quits, unused, paid tuition will not be refunded. You will also not owe the remainder of the semester's tuition.**

Flexibility (Flex) Weeks

• Each 6 month semester has a total of 26 weeks.
• 20 are weekly lessons
• 3 weeks are scheduled academy holidays
• 2 weeks are for you to use as flex weeks if you need to miss a class.
• 1 week is for your teacher to use as a flex week if they need to miss a class.
• If you are planning an extended trip in the following semester, you can save your flex weeks and request to defer them.
• Unused flexibility weeks will be added to your invoice on the 6th month of each semester as they would become additional classes taken past the 20 for tuition.

Make-Up Classes

• If you need to miss more than your 2 flexibility weeks, your teacher will have 2 additional make-up days available per semester.
• These days are pre-determined in their schedule and may be conducted virtually.
• You can schedule multiple make-up lessons on one make-up day. This can be a really valuable opportunity to dive in more deeply.
• If you are not available for these makeup days or need to miss even more lessons, they will be forfeited.

• If your teacher needs to miss additional lessons past their 1 flex week, the teacher will make them up at a mutually agreed upon time.
• Can be conducted virtually or in person
• If you are unable to find a prompt make-up time, the lesson will be added to one of the pre-determined make-up days.
• The teacher reserves the right to cancel at any time.

If a lesson needs to be cancelled it will be marked as a used flex week for either you or your teacher.

You will still pay your monthly tuition as it reserves your spot in our academy with your current teacher. Plans should be made ahead of time to cover these lessons on the teacher makeup days and/or your flex weeks.

What happens if I need to miss an entire month of lessons?

Can I have additional lessons?

Yes! Students who are preparing for events and would like additional lessons outside of their weekly scheduled time, or students who have attended all 20 lessons in the semester and don’t want to use their flex weeks, can request extra lessons.

Additional lessons are based on your teacher's availability. Each additional lesson will be charged at your teacher's hourly rate and added to your invoice.

Yes. We have found that virtual lessons are an effective way to keep lessons going forward.

Occasionally, your teacher may need to conduct a virtual lesson due to illness or travel, and this will be at the discretion of your teacher.

Your teacher's scheduled make-up day each semester may also be conducted virtually.

Will there be online, virtual lessons?

Payment is due on or before the 5th of every month. A $35 late fee will be added to all invoices that are not paid on time. Invoices will be emailed to you on the 1st of every month.

You have 2 payment options:

How do I pay, and when is payment due?

• You can set up payments through Zelle at billing@sandiegopianoacademy.com and make them manually each month or set them up as auto-recurring. Note: if paying with Zelle, only pay the subtotal line listed on your invoice.
• You can pay directly through the invoice with a credit/debit card. Note that this option will incur a 3% processing fee which has already been added to your invoice. You may also request to have Lillian set up automatic payments for you with this method as well.

What are the student recitals and events I can participate in?

Student Events and Recitals

We will have monthly Friday-Saturday events for 4 months out of each semester.

These events will include: student recitals, faculty recitals, masterclasses, studio classes, special events and lectures, and other community related events.

Please click here to see our events calendar. Participation in recitals and masterclasses is up to the teacher's discretion and readiness of the student.

No additional fees are required to participate in these events. Occasional special events will require the purchase of a ticket for admittance.

Parents will not be allowed to stand up and move around to film their child performing or take photos. You can remain seated and take video if you’d like. This is to ensure there are no distractions for the performers or disruptions for the audience.

We will however, be filming most events and will make these videos available to you within a week after the event.

*Important: let us know if you are NOT comfortable with us using the event video/photos of you or your child for promotional purposes such as our website and social media.*

Will I be allowed to film these events?

Dress for the recital is professional attire. No tennis shoes, shorts, athletic wear, or mini skirts. In most cases, music must be memorized to participate.

What is the dress code for these events?

Click here to access our recital policies

There may be other local performance opportunities, competitions, and testing that are available at the teacher's discretion. Registration fees may apply.

Other Local Events and Competitions

Recording Services

Students preparing for college auditions, competitions, or other events may need to prepare and record a professional video as part of their application.

We provide professional audio/video recording and editing. These services are offered on occasional Fridays during the daytime in the Greene Music concert hall.

The rate for these services is $100 per recording hr.

Online Courses

Over the years, we have built an expansive library of video tutorials for many of the pieces we teach as well as courses on technique, theory, and practicing.

We have found that students who use these videos as a supplement to their weekly practice tend to advance about 3x faster than the average student.

These courses are available to all students of the academy and may be required per the teacher's discretion.

No additional fees are required to access these courses.

What other resources are available to me through the academy?

Referrals

Yes! We offer a $50 referral fee for every family that passes their audition and signs up for lessons past their first month.

Please refer someone to our website: www.sandiegopianoacademy.com.

Next, send Lillian an email at lillian@sandiegopianoacademy.com with the name of who you've referred so we can make sure to credit you the referral discount when applicable.

Are there any special advantages if I refer a student to SDPA?

I have read the lesson agreement in its entirety and agree to abide by the Academy's operating agreement.

*Changes to our lesson agreement may be made any time at the discretion of the Academy. We will inform you of any changes in advance.*

© San Diego Piano Academy 2024