It’s Wednesday afternoon, and I should be teaching lessons in Lexington, Kentucky right now. Instead, I’m writing this blog post from a friend’s apartment in Providence, Rhode Island. Welcome to my spring break!
Like many of you, I teach out of a music store that is in no way affiliated with the local public school system. We don’t observe school holidays, snow days, or records/conference days, and we certainly don’t observe spring break. At least, we didn’t observe spring break until this year…
To be fair, the store itself still doesn’t observe public school holidays, and the four other percussion teachers are still hard at work this week. In the past, I worked through spring break as well, teaching lessons to whomever was still in town and sorting out money/make-up issues with those students who were on vacation. Frankly, teaching during spring break always seemed like more trouble than it was worth, so this year I decided not to do it. One of the benefits to being a private music teacher is that you don’t have to teach when you don’t want to!
Try as I might, I have found through experenience that I can’t fully separate myself from the public school calendar. If you teach primarily K-12 students, you probably find yourself in the same boat. Right or wrong, most families naturally expect all of their extra-cirricular activities to fall in line with their school’s calendar. They will expect “excused absences” whenever school is not in session. Instead of fighting against this trend, I urge you to embrace it. Here are some tips for helping you follow your school system’s calendar:
- Get a copy of the school year calendar! (you can usually pick on up at Central Office or from the school system’s website)
- Plan ahead. Mark school holidays on your own calendar and talk to families about their plans weeks ahead of time.
- Bookmark your school system’s website and find their cable access channel (assuming both things exist). That way you’ll stay up to date with school closings and other emergency procedures.
- Don’t lament school breaks. Instead of moping around your empty studio during spring/fall/holiday break, take a trip yourself. Another option is to spend that week catching up on paperwork, lesson plans, etc.
- Offer additional services during breaks. Those students who do not go on vacation will often be sitting at home looking for something to do. Take adavantage of this by offering additional services/masterclasses that week (possibly even during the school day hours). Our store is offering a “hands” camp and several music reading workshops this summer to take adavantage of everyone’s extra free time. Remember, the more services you provide, the more people will pay you!
Unless you’re the superintendent of a school district, school closings and holidays are completely out of your control. All you can control is how you react to them and how you manage your time. I’m not saying you should always cancel your lessons when school is not in session (that would be financial suicide for me!). But simply being aware of the calendar and planning ahead can save you from dozens of make-up lessons and even more headaches.
Your Turn
How do you accomodate your local public school system’s calendar? Leave your answer in the comments below.
“Don’t lament school breaks. Instead of moping around your empty studio during spring/fall/holiday break, take a trip yourself. Another option is to spend that week catching up on paperwork, lesson plans”
- Sensible tip!
I completely agree with your decision NOT to teach over spring break, for all the same reasons you mentioned. (More trouble than it’s worth, too many cancellations, and even those who say they want a lesson are likely to cancel anyway.)
I’m a public school music teacher, so I’m very aware of the school calendar. And since that’s my primary income, I don’t sweat it too much when I choose to take time off private lessons.
I teach both privately and at the university level. I have observed all school holidays (except professional development days) and have found that students NEED the break as much as I do! At the university level, the community program observes both breaks in the spring which means extra time to do make ups, etc. A win-win situation all around!
I observe spring break and other school holidays. Between teaching and performing, my schedule is very hectic and I value the breaks to catch up on paperwork and research, read musicology journals, do a little “spring cleaning” and other tasks which get neglected when I’m asked to learn 100 pages of isorhythmic motets in three days to substitute for a singer who can’t show up somewhere.
I also observe my own religious holidays. I need the spiritual break, the peace and quiet, and the time to reflect and refresh myself. Thanks to online booking there are never any mixups about when lessons will occur, and never any problems with unexpected cancellations. I don’t even have to give out phone numbers so that people can exchange lesson times.
So many of my students are in different school systems that I determine my time off around my sons’ school breaks. If students know they will be gone because of their school break, they are allowed two excused absences per semester. Parents must notify me of the absence at least one week in advance in order to avoid the charge for the lesson. This has worked extremely well for all. I know as a parent that I would greatly appreciate this flexibility with so many conflicts and special events that occur within the school year.
I am studying to become a choral music teacher at Indiana University and I remember when I was studying piano during high school, my private piano teacher would take the week off with our lessons. The problem for her was that her students went to different schools around the community so she had to keep track of whose break was when. I really agree with the comment that students need a break just as much as teachers, so when the student is on their school spring break it would be very helpful for the student and for the teacher to take a week off of private lessons.
Great tips. I’ve been trying to get myself to do this for some time now. Yesterday, all my students canceled and it was so nice to have a break. I think I will consider doing this for the next big slow time for me (a couple weeks in July).
Intreesting, need to looking it more, thanks !
Jon, I am situated in the middle of four school districts, each having different days off. I usually allow the students during five week months to take all five lessons for a four lesson charge. This builds a makeup lesson bank to be used when the student is on vacation or sick.
I am getting ready to try something else also. I will be putting an email out, stating that instead of increasing rates, I will be taking one week in the summer and one week in the winter off for vacation. The fee for the two months (July and December) will remain the same, but will only be for three lessons.
That sounds like a great idea, Ronnie. It gives not only you a break for yourself, but also for the students. I also really like the idea of building a makeup lesson bank so you are not having to reschedule many different lessons. Thank you for sharing your great idea on managing your schedule!