Setting up Your Private Studio: Creating Studio Policies

I recently moved to the Chattanooga, Tennessee area and am in the process of building up a new private studio. While I’ve been teaching flute privately for over four years and had somewhat of a process for enrolling new students, I knew the system I had set up wouldn’t work for managing a larger studio. Essentially, all a student or parent/guardian had to do was reach out, I’d send them my availability and ask them to read my policies online, and then ask the parent/guardian to sign a form saying they “read and agree to the policies on my website.” Everyone signed this form, but what I discovered was that no one actually read these policies. And I didn’t enforce them. 

For example, I once had a student who would frequently tell me they weren’t coming to their lesson on the day of their lesson, sometimes even during their lesson time. They said they were out of town, they had a sports practice, it was grandma’s birthday – their reason for missing was most often for something they would have known about way in advance. It was super frustrating! However, I figured I’d rather have the experience of teaching the student. I also didn’t want to confront the parents and I knew the extra income was helpful, so I would just deal with it and say “Okay! See you next week!” Yet, that was quite disrespectful of my time as a teacher, and it opened the door for the parents to take advantage of me in other areas as well. 

Writing your studio policies and then adhering to them is imperative. If you don’t already have a studio policy, your first step is to write one. They are equivalent to a class syllabus – they clearly set expectations, prevent misunderstandings and awkward conversations, serve as the authority when tough decisions arise, and protect you by serving as a contract. 

Before a student begins taking lessons from you, provide the parent/guardian with a physical copy of your policies, go through it with them, and ask them to sign. Had I gone through my policies regarding missed lessons with those parents in-person, I’m sure I could have avoided a lot of headaches!  

As you begin to write your studio policies, here is a list of the categories you should consider adding as well as numerous questions for consideration. 

Scheduling

1. When are you available to teach? What about on weekends or holidays? 
2. How are lessons structured? Do you offer a certain amount each semester to all students, bi-weekly lessons, or a la carte lessons for students who just want one here and there? 

Payment

1. What are your rates? 
2. What are the acceptable forms of payment? Keep in mind that if you accept anything other than cash or check, there is often a fee associated with using that service. Do you build that fee into tuition, or do you front the costs? It’s also worth noting here that companies like Venmo prohibit you from using a personal account on their app for business payments. Avoid getting yourself in trouble by collecting payment honestly and legally.  
3. When is payment due? Do you collect tuition at the beginning of the semester, once a month, or per lesson? 
4. What happens if you are not paid on time, if a check bounces etc.? 
5. Are there other fees you want to ask the parent/guardian to pay, such as music fees, registration fees, or recital fees?  

Cancelation Information

1. What happens when a student needs to miss a lesson? How far in advance do you want them to notify you? 
2. What happens if you have to miss a lesson? 
3. What is your make-up policy? 
4. What if a student is late or is a no-show? 
5. How do you address illness? 
6. Do you offer refunds? 

Ending Lessons

1. How and when can students stop taking lessons? What happens if they’ve already paid for that lesson? 

Required Materials

1. What will you do if a student shows up without an instrument or their books?
   • How will you make sure students get the correct books – will you send them links, or will you buy them and ask the students to pay you back? 

Practice Expectations

1. What will you do if a student is not practicing? 

Miscellaneous Policies

1. Methods of Communication
   • How do you want students and parents/guardians to reach you? If over the phone or texting, are there certain times when you will and will not answer? 
2. Parking Instructions
3. Studio Etiquette
   • Depending on where you hold lessons, there might be other things you ask of students. For example, if lessons are given at your home, do you want them to take their shoes off? 
   • How do you feel about parents sitting in on lessons? What about siblings? 
   • Phone usage 
   • Food and Drink
4. Punctuality
   • What happens if a student is dropped off early or is picked up late?
5. Performances
   • Are students expected to play in a studio recital? When is it? Where is it, and do you need to charge an extra fee to rent that space or will you front that cost yourself? 
6. Other Studio Offerings
   • Do you want to offer group lessons? If so, what will that look like? 
   • Will your studio participate in any community outreach, like playing for an assisted living community or at the mall? If so, what will that look like? 

In addition to these questions, there are a handful of incredible resources online that can also help you write and revise your studio policies. If after teaching for a while you find that you need to add or remove something, go through the changes with the parent/guardian and have them sign again. 

Setting up your private studio is no small task, and creating your studio policies is just one part of that. Stay tuned for more information in the future on other tips, tricks, and documents I use to organize and effectively run my studio!