School Calendar
The 2023-2024 school year will be divided into three semesters:
Fall Semester
Sep 11, 2023 | Mon | Start of Fall Semester
Sep 25 | Mon | Yom Kippur – No Lessons
Oct 9 | Mon | Columbus Day – No Lessons
Oct 31 | Tue | Halloween – Cancellations Refundable
Nov 10 | Fri | Veterans Day – No Lessons
Nov 23 – Nov 26 | Thu - Sun | Thanksgiving – No Lessons
Dec 23 – Jan 1, 2024 | Sat - Mon | Winter Break – No Lessons
Jan 15 | Mon | Martin Luther King Day – No Lessons
Jan 28 | Sun | End of Fall Semester
Spring Semester
Jan 29 |Mon | Start of Spring Semester
Feb 19 –Feb 25 | Mon – Sun | February Vacation – Cancellations Refundable
Mar 29 | Fri | Good Friday – No Lessons
Mar 31 | Sun | Easter – No Lessons
Apr 15 –Apr 21 | Mon – Sun | April Vacation – Cancellations Refundable
May 27 | Mon | Memorial Day – No Lessons
Jun 16 | Sun | End of Spring Semester
Summer Semester
Jun 24 | Mon | Start of Summer Semester
Aug 30 | Fri | End of Summer Semester
FEES & PAYMENTS
Lesson Fees - Fall & Spring Semesters
Lessons completed and any billable cancellations from the previous month will be billed monthly.
Payments will be automatically deducted from your ACH or Credit Card on file on the FIFTEENTH of each month. Every family must have a valid credit card or ACH bank account information on file. There is a 2.9% convenience fee to pay with a credit card. There is no fee to pay using ACH.
There is a $25.00 fee for returned checks.
Lesson Fees - Summer Semester
Summer lessons will be billed monthly after the lessons have been completed. Only the lessons completed will be charged.
Registration Fee
There is a $35.00 registration fee per family to register for each school year. This will be added to your first payment.
Books
We will provide all the music books for your child. The fees for the books will be billed separately monthly and will be debited from your form of payment on file.
End of Year Recital Fee
The recital fee will be $30 flat fee per family with one performer, and $45 flat fee per family with two or more performers. This will be added to your last invoice of the semester.
Referrals
Our business is run mainly through word of mouth. If you are satisfied with your experience, please refer us to your friends! You will receive $50 off for every family you refer who successfully signs up with us. You will receive the credit at the end of each semester.
Lessons Discontinuation
You must give 4-week notice to Merry Melody to discontinue lessons during the school year. You will be refunded any remaining credits at the end of the 4-weeks.
CANCELLATION/MAKE-UP POLICY
There will be no refunds offered for student cancellations during the Fall and Spring Semesters, except for Halloween, February Vacation and April Vacation.
Each student will have 2 make-up credits per semester to use.
Students are only given make-up credits if lessons are cancelled 24 hours in advance, except for cancellations due to illness or extreme emergencies. In the case of illness or extreme emergencies, our office must be notified before the teacher arrives at your house or no make-up credits will be offered.
We will do our best to schedule make-up lessons for your make-up credits during the semester. However, make-up availability is based on the availability of the teacher and the student thus we cannot guarantee make-up availability. We will try our best to reschedule make-up lessons by:
1. Find a near term make-up day that is mutually agreed upon between the student and the teacher.
2. Lengthen the lessons for the next couple of weeks until the lesson times are made up. For example, if a 30 minute lesson was missed, a student might have two 45 minute lessons for the next two weeks to make up for that one lesson.
3. We will have designated make-up days at the end of each semester chosen by the teacher as a last chance for students to make-up lessons. This is at the discretion and availability of the individual teacher. In the event that having a lesson on the designated make-up day will mean a student having a lesson two days in a row, the teacher will design a special course for the second lesson.
Make-up credits will expire after each semester.
Cancellations during Halloween, February Vacation, April Vacation and Summer Semester, are refundable with no make-ups.
Teacher Cancellations
If a teacher cancels due to illness, inclement weather or any other personal reason, make-ups will be offered based on the availability of the teacher. However, if the lessons cannot be made up, a refund will be issued at the end of the semester.
Inclement Weather
In the case of inclement weather, Merry Melody Music Academy will notify each family individually whether lessons will take place in-person or remotely. If you request not to do the lesson remotely, make-ups will be offered based on the availability of the teacher. However, if the lessons cannot be made up, a refund will be issued at the end of the semester.
Tardiness
Students are expected to be ready for their lessons on time. Under normal circumstances, teachers will wait for 10 minutes if the student is not available. Any tardiness beyond the 10 minutes window will result in forfeit of the lesson. Teachers are not expected to make up the time loss if a student is late.