As a first year full-time studio teacher, I have to say this has been quite a learning experience. I have learned a lot about the responsibility level of some students- even their parents- and I have also learned that my teaching and time is valuable. After teaching for a year with a fairly light cancellation policy, I have realized that while trying to cater to the parents and students, I really am hurting their progress and dedication to their instrument by being so lenient. After researching a variety of teachers’ cancellation policies, I have found these ideas particularly helpful.
In my current policy, I state that excused absences (when a student misses a lesson with 24 hours’ notice) is an uncharged lesson. In essence there are two effects of this policy:
- A student who comes to fewer than 4 lessons for the month
- Less money flows in to fund the studio.
Neither of these outcomes is acceptable for the studio. You want your students to have consistent progress, and you want to devote yourself to your students and not have to work part-time at Starbucks to make up for all of that lost income. In any studio teachers‘ policy there is no room for cancellations or excused absences. With these out of the picture, you do have the option to give students windows for make-ups and rescheduling. Here are some options to consider in your policy:
- No Set Make-Up Policy: Make-ups and reschedules are offered on an individual basis according to your decision. This can become a big headache with students hassling you for different times and juggling an ever-changing calendar.
- No Make-Ups or Reschedules: There are some teachers’ policies that have an “absolutely no make-ups under any circumstances, not even illness” policy – which seems a little severe. Another option is to give each student one “free pass” to use for a make-up lesson each semester. Other lessons missed, for whatever reason, are not made up but the student must pay.
- 24-Hour System: Here the student may have a make-up or reschedule for whatever reason, provided 24 hours’ notice is given- if less than that, no make-up. Go by the minute! Make sure your answering machine, voice mail, or e-mail have a date and time stamp. Illness is the one exception: if the student wakes up sick or comes home from school during the day, a make-up is allowed.
- Illness Only: Make-ups are offered only for illness, regardless of hours’ notice. With this approach, unless illness is involved, the student must choose between the lesson and the other activity. The hazard here is that students/parents are tempted to use illness as a cover-up for non-illness conflicts- so this option can be dangerous.
How do you schedule make-ups without going crazy organizing your calendar?
- Weekly make-up slot: Set aside one place in your schedule for make-up lessons. Those needing a make-up will come at this time, whether in the same week or in another week if the make-up slot is already full. If the make-up time is sufficiently unattractive, such as the last available slot on Friday or early on Saturday morning, few students will use it, preferring to choose the lesson over the other activity or simply to forfeit the fee and receive no lesson. Of course, you also are inconvenienced by this unattractive time.
- Monthly Make-up Day: Offer a monthly make-up day, such as the last Saturday of the month. Those needing make-ups that month attend that day. The lessons can be a group lesson or individual lessons. The drawback here is that the teacher is using free time to give make-up lessons, and students who miss more than one lesson receive only one make-up. This option is popular with teachers who also teach group lessons and/or who bill by the term.
- End-of-term week: During the week after the end of the term, give all make-up lessons for that term. Some students may have more than one lesson that week, perhaps, or doubled lesson duration. This means teaching in your vacation time. Term-billing teachers also use this.
- Swap system: Many teachers use this. It puts the burden on the person who wants to change- you are not required to make phone calls. You give the parent a list of students who participate in the swap system, and it is up to them to call and try to reschedule. When parents see how difficult it is to arrange a trade, they often decide to honor the lesson appointment. On the other hand, parents may find another student whose schedule is a close match and which makes swaps a breeze.
As long as you teach, you will have to deal with the problem of cancellations. Find some method that works for you and stick with it. Make sure it is a prominent part of your studio policy. That means that the moment you change your policy, you go over the changes with your current students and parents in the lesson and send a detailed letter/ e-mail of the changes. Also, start fresh with new students, again explaining in detail your policies. Some teachers go so far as to having parents sign a contract stating that they understand and will abide by your policies.
How do you handle cancellations? How do cancellations affect your students’ progress? Do you use any of these methods, and if so, does having a strict policy foster respect between yourself, students and parents?
About the Author
Nebraska native Sarah Luebke completed her MM in vocal performance at the University of Kentucky, and her BM in vocal performance at St. Olaf College. Recently she has been seen performing the female lead, Jane McDowell, in "The Stephen Foster Story" and the ensemble of "Big River" with Stephen Foster Productions. Other performances include the soprano soloist of Bach's St. John Passion, La Fee in Massenet's "Cendrillon" at the Intermezzo Opera Festival, Najade in "Ariadne auf Naxos" at the Brevard Music Festival, Monica in "The Medium", Rose Maybud in "Ruddigore", and Fiordiligi in "Cosi fan tutte". She currently resides with her husband in Florida, teaching a studio of 40 students and auditioning and performing locally.
by ray — Fri Mar 21, 2008 @ 10:26 am
by Atara — Fri Mar 21, 2008 @ 11:41 am
1. I charge for the month up front. If a student (parent!) misses a lesson, they've already paid for it, so there's no uncomfortable conversation the next week like "By the way, you still owe me for last week."
2. I teach in a rented room in a music store, and I make it clear to parents that I have to pay to use the room, and other teachers use it the other days of the week.
3. When a student cancels in advance, I try to call other students to offer that time slot, even if I don't "owe" them a make up lesson. I think parents appreciate that offer even if their schedule doesn't allow it. I'll even admit that I know in advance that some families can't make it at that time, but I call them anyway just as a goodwill gesture.
by Stengel99 — Fri Mar 21, 2008 @ 7:39 pm
I also charge by the month, and have certain studio hours. I show OPEN SLOTS and OPEN MAKEUP SLOTS in the globel feature. If a student cancels a lesson on MTH, I change the slot to Open Makeup Slot. Other students will see the open slot and book it. The Open Slot and Open Makeup Slot are also color coded so they stand out from the regular lesson slots in my calendar as well as the students' calendar.
by Ronnie Currey — Sun Mar 23, 2008 @ 4:42 pm
But there are occasional exceptions, depending on the good will of the student. Lately, I've gravitated towards charging half price if they cancel the day of, and full price if they don't give me notice. The half price allows some recognition for their letting me know, while they still pay something and acknowledge the late notice.
by Ed Pearlman — Sun Mar 23, 2008 @ 7:45 pm
by Sarah Luebke — Sun Mar 23, 2008 @ 9:56 pm
I asked a few other teachers in my store who teach full-time about their policies and I was surprised to find out that most of them do not credit or even offer makeup lessons. I'm not sure I want to be that strict, but I do need to make a change.
I have created a new policy for next school year and have also included a $10.00 late fee if they pay after the due date. I have had a problem with students paying weeks late and then not wanting to pay the next month because "they just paid last week!" So, as a result I have a few people that are always a month or two behind.
So, here's my new policy. I'd love to hear some feedback from all of you before I make it official. - Thanks.
Current rate is $XX.00 per ½ hour lesson, billed monthly.
The monthly tuition is based on how many lessons (weeks)
there are in that month. Holiday dates are listed below.
Invoices will be emailed to you the 3rd week of each month.
No credit will be given for any missed lessons.
Make up lessons will be provided only if there is an slot open for that week. 24 hr notice is required.
Students may check for available make up slots in my schedule by logging into their account from my website. Make up slots will appear on the calendar in yellow.
All payments are due by your last scheduled lesson of the month. For example: May tuition is due by your last lesson in April.
If you miss your last lesson be sure to pay your tuition before the 1st of the month to avoid a $10.00 late fee. Payments may be made online via paypal.com. A service charge of $3.80 will be added to your next invoice to help cover the service charge.
by maria — Tue Mar 25, 2008 @ 12:49 am
I think this is a fine adjustment to your policy. I also think that if cancellations are a problem NOW- change your policy NOW. This is your business- if its not being run to your standards change it. Don't wait for the coming school year. Finalize everything and implement it starting in April. Type up a letter to parents with a copy of the new policy and send it out this weekend. If most of your students are on your website account, you can do a mass e-mail and mailing just to cover your bases. I just recently changed my policy and have sent out e-mails and changed my website policy. If you would like to take a read, my website is slvstudio.com. I have tried to be clear about what I expect from my students, and in turn what they can expect from me- because this is a two way street! Bottom line- this is your business to run as you like, and if this is a critical time for a policy change, do it now! Don't wait and let your students get into bad habits. Good luck!
by Sarah — Tue Mar 25, 2008 @ 6:47 am
by Michelle Payne — Mon Mar 31, 2008 @ 11:30 pm
by Robert Lunte — Sun Apr 6, 2008 @ 7:18 pm
by Toby Fairchild — Mon Apr 7, 2008 @ 10:23 am
by Gay Greene — Tue Apr 15, 2008 @ 11:07 am
by Sharon Schwanitz — Tue Apr 15, 2008 @ 11:32 am
Another thing I do is if I have someone who called in sick that week, I tell them if I get a cancellation later in the same week I will give them a call to see if they want to come in during that time. If not, I'll just see them next week.
by Jennifer — Tue Apr 15, 2008 @ 12:14 pm
by Sandy — Tue Apr 15, 2008 @ 12:37 pm
by Cindy — Tue Apr 15, 2008 @ 10:16 pm
by Maria Peterson — Tue Aug 12, 2008 @ 2:21 pm
I am allowing two absences per semester. This is because most of my voice students are active performers in their high school musicals and they all get sick at least once. Any more than that must be made up. I am taking Fridays off this semester - but I have designated certain Fridays as "make-up days" which correspond to days off in the school system from which I draw most of my students.
I'm flirting with the idea of giving some kind of end-of-the-year reward to students who do NOT take off at all this year....
by Christine O'Meally — Thu Aug 14, 2008 @ 9:12 pm
If students cancel with less notice then half the lesson fee is chargeable for any reason including illness.
If no notice is given then the whole lesson is chargeable.
Students pay for a month in advance so there is a certain level of commitment.
In exceptional circumstances (death in the family) I have been known to be lenient with my cancellation policy but most of the time it seems to work OK for me.
by Will Hay — Wed Oct 29, 2008 @ 6:37 am
This has always been the part of teaching that makes me cringe... but I do have to put bread on the table. In the past, I have had a tendency to be very lenient - too lenient! I have come to realize that is is better for both the student and I if we stick to the initial policy without wavering. This also applies to students arriving late to their lesson - in which case, they often assume that we will also finish late. This is something I have to work on so that the student respects the scheduled time and practices good punctuality.
Best of luck to all the teachers and students in 2010! ;-)
by Angie — Thu Nov 26, 2009 @ 10:45 am