Lesson Policies
If you prefer a downloadable/printable policy outline, please click Policies for 2023-2024.
Details for lesson policies are provided on this page.
Email Communication
Please designate " @pakmusic.org " as a safe sender with your email system.
- The School’s primary method of communication with regard to news and events, scheduling, registration and requests for payment is by email.
- Registered families will receive email notices during the course of the year as various participation or registration forms come due.
Visiting & Use of the Premises
Understanding that the school’s various locations are accessible to the general public, your enrollment with Pakachoag requires and assumes as follows:
Children may not run, yell, or handle instruments or equipment without approval and supervision.
Pakachoag Music School is not responsible for the loss or destruction of any student’s property left on the premises.
For enrolled students*, you are, or your designated caregiver is, responsible to wait with your child/ren until your child(ren)’s assigned teacher is ready for them to enter their scheduled class or music lesson.
You acknowledge that you or your designated caregiver must be available promptly at the conclusion of the lesson or class to pick up your child/ren and that it is you, as parent, or the designated caregiver, not school staff or teachers, who is responsible for your child/ren’s safety and actions at all times prior to and immediately following a scheduled lesson or class for the enrolled student.
For siblings or accompanying guests, you are, or your designated caregiver is responsible for supervising siblings or your accompanying guests on the premises during your visit at all times (including during the enrolled student’s lesson or class time) and you, as parent, or the designated caregiver, not school staff or teachers, are responsible for the safety of children and any accompanying guests at all times.
Please note that supervision of siblings and younger enrolled students includes accompanying children when using the bathroom; and monitoring that bathrooms are left in a sanitary condition, as found.**
*Students who drive themself to or from a lesson are assumed to be the designated adult.
**Please kindly report any unsanitary bathrooms to school staff as soon as possible.
Missed Lessons / Classes & Make-Ups
Regular attendance is expected of all students, understanding that illness, family emergency, or religious observances may require lesson or class cancellation. Please provide 24 hours notice when possible if you cannot attend a lesson or class.
Student Absences
For weekly Private Lessons, the school provides one make-up in December/early-January for any student absences from September to December and a second make-up in June for any absences from January through late-May.
For students enrolled every-other-week (this is usually adult students, by special arrangement), we provide one make-up for any student absence from September through late-May.
For Group Lesson students, one make-up is provided for any lesson where both students are absent September to December; and a second make-up for an absence January through May.
Enrolling for 8 or fewer lessons? (Toward end of school year or by special arrangement)
No make-ups are provided for student absences when the student registers for 8 lessons or fewer in one registration, regardless of whether additional school-year prepaid lessons are added at a future date. Only full “school year” registrations are eligible to receive make-ups.
Teacher Absences
Teacher absences will be made up. Families are expected to be available for student and teacher make-ups during the designated flex weeks through the end of the public school calendar year. In cases of inclement weather, cancellations will be announced on the Weather Page.
Sports Schedules
Please note that we do not provide special accommodation or offer additional make-ups for sports-related absences. This is out of respect to teachers who rely upon a predictable income tied to their weekly schedule.
Missed Make-Ups
Missed make-ups and additional student absences, out of fairness to a teacher’s schedule and income, cannot be made-up or credited. Any/all absence(s) must be made-up by mid-June each year.
Tardiness
Lesson time lost due to student tardiness will not be made-up. Teachers reserve the right to not teach a lesson if a student arrives 15 minutes or more following the scheduled start time.
If a family/student contacts the office in advance regarding a late arrival, the teacher will remain available through the end of the scheduled lesson time.
Teacher Absence
All teacher absences for each academic year will be made-up by mid-June.
Any outstanding teacher absences that cannot be met by the teacher will be credited to the student’s account for summer lessons or refunded.
School Year Lesson Count Questions: May 25th Deadline
Any Inquiries regarding school year attendance tallies must be presented to the office no later than May 25th. Please email admin@pakmusic.org with your request. The office will work to resolve any questions prior to June 8, 2024.
Weather Absences - Teacher or Student
A School designated cancellation may occur at any time of day depending upon current or anticipated weather conditions. Please check the Weather website sub-page under News & Events. Please read that page to understand how cancellation decisions are made. PLEASE NOTE: We do NOT call or email families directly for weather cancellations but ask that you check the Weather web page.
If the School is open and a family chooses not to attend a lesson for weather related reasons, the lesson cannot be made-up, although you
may choose to use that lesson as your qualified student absence make-up. We do understand that families may choose to opt out of attending a lesson due to local weather situations.
Please note that your teacher may request an online (usually by zoom) lesson in place of an in-person lesson when bad weather precludes in-person. Any online lesson prompted by bad weather will usually be scheduled for the same day and time as your regular lesson.
Vacation Weeks & Holidays; Make Ups
School Vacation Weeks
Public School vacation weeks are not part of the school year schedule of lessons.
These weeks are sometimes used for scheduling make-ups and include Christmas Vacation Week (through New Year’s Day), February Vacation Week, and April Vacation Week.
Families are not required to agree to schedule a make-up during a school vacation week. However, please note: if you agree to schedule a make-up during a vacation week and then cancel less than one week prior to the scheduled make-up date, the make-up lesson is forfeited.
This is out of fairness to teachers who plan ahead to structure their schedules assuming that a minimum number of students will be present for their visit.
School Calendar "Flex Weeks"
Families are expected to be available for make-ups during the designated flex-weeks in late-May and June, typically around the dismissal date for the Worcester public schools.
How flex weeks are used by teachers varies according to their own schedule status. A flex week may be a “regularly scheduled lesson week” for some teachers, may function as a make-up week for some teachers, or might be a week where no lessons are due and scheduled.
Missed make-ups cannot be made up.
Summer Lesson Absences
There are no make-ups, refunds or credits for summer lessons missed by the student.
We provide up front flexibility when choosing summer lesson dates. Please check your calendar in advance before registering.
Any teacher absences will be made-up, refunded, or credited.
How to Know When Make-Ups are Scheduled
If you miss a lesson, your teacher must cancel, or bad weather results in a cancellation, please check with your teacher at your next lesson if you wish to know when to anticipate a make-up lesson.
Most make-ups are scheduled at semester-end during the designated ‘flex’ weeks or during a public school vacation week and usually on the same day that your regular lesson is scheduled.
The office is unable to confirm when make-ups might be scheduled by your teacher. Because teacher schedules vary widely, teachers oversee their own make-up schedules.
Missed make-ups cannot be made-up.
School Open Holidays
The School is open on Columbus Day, Veteran’s Day, Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Good Friday. Please check with your teacher if you have questions. If you choose not to attend a lesson on any of these days, you may use it as your one half-year student make-up.
If a teacher is not in attendance, the lesson will be made up.
If a Holiday falls during a public school vacation week, no regular lessons are scheduled.
Please see additional information on flex weeks and make-ups above.
School Closed Holidays
The School and office are closed for: Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day and Friday after Thanksgiving; Christmas Eve, Christmas Day; New Year’s Day; Memorial Day; and the Fourth of July.
Performance Program Policies
"Miss" Fees
For students participating in the performance program, please note that if a student withdraws from or misses a performance class, accompanist rehearsal, and/or recital with less than one week’s notice (prior to class date) for any reason other than documented sickness or family emergency, a $15 no-show fee will apply for each sign-up activity (e.g., class, accompanist rehearsal, faculty warm-up schedule) missed.
Please click Current Families: Student Performance Program for complete performance program information.
Refunds & Withdrawal
If a student withdraws anytime during the school year (September to March 15), any student make-ups or weather cancellations outstanding are forfeited. Families will not be charged for teacher absences. A refund is provided for any weeks paid beyond the adjusted lesson count.
Every-week Private Lesson Students: Four-lesson notice required for withdrawal. The student may choose whether or not to attend the final four lessons. Billing is adjusted based on the number of lessons transpired plus four.
Every-other-week Private Lesson Students (by arrangement only): Two-lesson notice required for withdrawal. The student may choose whether or not to attend the final two lessons. Billing is adjusted based on the number of lessons transpired plus two.
Group lesson students: Six-lesson notice required for withdrawal.
- If all students withdraw concurrently, students may choose whether to attend the final six lessons. Billing is adjusted based on the number of lessons transpired plus six.
- If one student withdraws from a group lesson with two students and the remaining student wishes to continue, the withdrawing student’s billing is adjusted based on the number of lessons transpired plus six. Both students may attend the remaining six lessons and the remaining student has priority in registering for private lessons in the same time slot as the group lesson without lapse.
- If one student withdraws from a group lesson with three students and the remaining two students wish to continue, only the withdrawing student’s billing is adjusted based on the number of lessons transpired plus six.
Suzuki Program: Students choosing to enroll in the Suzuki Violin Program incur an additional annual fee. This is in addition to the private lesson tuition. There is no refund when withdrawing from the Suzuki Program, unless at least 5 months are outstanding at the time of withdrawal, in which case you will be charged the mid-year enrollment fee.
8-lesson block students: No make-ups are provided for student absences when the student registers for 8 lessons or fewer in one registration, regardless of whether additional prepaid lessons are added at a future date. Only full “school year” registrations are eligible to receive make-ups.
- No refunds are provided after March 15th.
- Pre-registration deposits are non-refundable.
- The $40 annual registration fee is non-refundable.
- Group Classes (e.g., Suzuki Program) missed by a student cannot be made up.
- If withdrawing, any weeks paid beyond the adjusted lesson count will be refunded.
Non-Discrimination Policy
Pakachoag Music School does not and shall not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion (creed), gender, gender expression, age, national origin (ancestry), disability, marital status, sexual orientation, or military status, in any of its activities, programs, or operations. These activities include, but are not limited to, hiring and firing of staff, selection of volunteers and vendors, and provision of services. We are committed to providing an inclusive and welcoming environment for all members of our staff, faculty, students, volunteers, and vendors.
Covid-19 Waiver of Liability and Safety Guidelines
We are requiring that all private lessons students complete a waiver of liability for 2021 (Spring, Summer, Fall). Whether or not you plan to visit us in-person, we request this form be on file so that we are ready in the event you choose to schedule a visit.
To accompany that waiver, please review the COVID-19 Handbook for Pakachoag Enrollees and Visitors .
We sincerely appreciate the flexibility that adult students and families are providing as we move through the uncertainties and disruptions of COVID-19.