Policies & Procedures
Private Lesson Policy
For the safety of your younger and youngest students, MECA asks that parents walk all students under the age of 13 into our building. Parents may leave the building onve the student’s lesson has begun. After the lesson, parents MUST come back into the building and pick up their student(s). We apologize if this is an inconvenience. MECA’s top priority is the safety and well being of the students.
MECA and or their independent teachers cannot be responsible for children left alone in our building before or after their scheduled lesson(s).
Excused Lessons
MECA has a flat monthly tuition for private lessons. In order to accommodate our families, we have based this tuition on a 47-week year rather than a 52-week year.
Therefore, each family has not been charged for:
1 lesson the week between Christmas and the New Year
1 lesson the week of Thanksgiving
3 lessons of the student’s choice
MECA believes that regular attendance at lessons is imperative to the overall success of our student’s, therefore, beyond the 5 credited absences listed above, MECA has a no make-up policy.
Tuition Payment
We accept payment for tuition via cash, check, Master Card, Visa, or Discover.
Fees
Registration Fee – There is a one-time family registration fee of $25.00. Once this registration fee has been paid, it will not be charged again. It covers all immediate family members who currently take lessons or will be taking lessons in the future. Registration fees will not be refunded for any reason should the student(s) withdraw from lessons.
Late Fee – All tuition not received by the seventh (7th) day of each month, will result in a $15.00 late fee. MECA offers a one-time courtesy removal of this fee. All late fees charged after that one-time removal must be paid.
Returned Check Fee – There is a $25.00 fee for checks returned to MECA for any reason. Once a check has been returned for insufficient funds, MECA requires all future payments to be made either by cash or credit card.
Billing
No monthly bills will be sent home. Please remember that tuition is due by the seventh (7th) day of every month. Absence from a students lesson prior to the seventh day of that month does not excuse tuition payment and a late fee will be charged to the students account.
Monthly tuition is the same every month regardless of the number of weeks in the month. There will be no additional charge if the month holds 5 weeks, nor will there be a reduction in tuition if the month holds fewer than 4 weeks.
Credits
Credits to tuition will be given on holidays that MECA is closed. If MECA has to close due to inclement weather, or if your teacher is absent and no substitute is available students will also receive a credit to their account. Amounts of these credits are determined by a pro-rated price of the current months tuition. Credits are not redeemable for cash.
Teacher Absence
In the event of a teacher absence, your teacher has the right to bring in a substitute teacher. No credits will be applied toward the students account if a substitute teacher is used.
MECA Store Closings
Monthly tuition will be reduced on a pro-rated basis if the student’s lesson falls on the any of the holidays listed below.
New Year’s Eve/Day (If holidays don’t fall during the week of Christmas)
Memorial Day
4th of July
Labor day
Please note that tuition has already been pro-rated to accommodate for not having lessons on both Christmas and Thanksgiving.
Withdrawing
Students may withdraw from lessons at the end of each month. There will be no credits or refunds given if the student withdraws before the end of the month. There are no additional fees if the student wishes to return to lessons once they have withdrawn. Registration fees will not be refunded for any reason.
Lesson time, day, and teacher cannot and will not be held while the student is withdrawn from lessons. (Please note) Students who withdraw for the summer will not be guaranteed their same lesson time, day, and teacher when returning to lessons in the fall.
In the event that the student(s) have not paid tuition in full by the second lesson of the month, MECA reserves the right to automatically withdraw the student from their lessons. MECA will attempt to contact the student(s) before such actions are taken.
Group Lesson Policy
Enrollment
All music classes have a minimum and maximum number of students. MECA reserves the right to cancel classes due to lack of enrollment. Should MECA permanently cancel a class the student will be notified and a full refund will be given. Space in a class is not guaranteed until payment is received in full.
Missed Classes
No make-up class will be given for classes the student misses. If MECA needs to cancel a class, a make-up class will be scheduled.
Withdrawing
If a student wishes to drop out of classes before the class begins, a full refund will be given. If the student wishes to drop out of a class after the first class, a refund will be given less the cost of the first class. If a student wishes to drop out of a class after the second class, MECA will issue a credit to the student’s account for future lessons, classes, or merchandise. Registration fees will not be refunded for any reason.
All teachers at MECA are independent contractors, and not employees. It is MECA’s right to support and enforce the policies and tuition requirements of our teachers.
