Wednesday, 16 August 2017

August Studio Newsletter

Posted by Stephanie

:: Hello! :: I hope your summer was great. Please read carefully below, as there are a couple changes to the studio.

:: Travel radius and non-returning students :: I wanted to give you notice that I am implementing a travel radius for at-home lessons, which will affect Sienna and Riverstone. This means for students in those neighborhoods, if you'd like to continue with me it would have to be at my home studio. Also, I know I have a couple students entering a new and/or busier stage of life so if you are not planning to continue lessons. Please let me know your decision so I can plan.

:: Fall Scheduling :: I know I am usually by this time all over the scheduling process. However it's been a busy summer and that has affected my new semester planning. I'm asking for a bit of grace at the beginning of this semester!

You can schedule as normal-- please let me know 3 times/days that work for you and I'll do my best to work with you. I'll be teaching Monday - Thursdays 3:30 - 7:30pm.

:: Calendar :: This week is the last week of summer lessons. The first week of fall lessons will be September 11-14th. This will be a 12 week semester. My google calendar is not up to date (EDIT: calendar is up to date as of 9/1), but I am working on it-- thanks for your patience.

Monday, 3 May 2017

May Studio Newsletter

Posted by Stephanie

:: Recital Planning :: Our spring recital is in 3 weeks on May 20th at 2:00PM. Please feel free to invite your friends and family! I'll be sending an email invite so you can forward it. Our annual recital has two purposes-- to be a relaxed yet very real performance opportunity for students, and it is also a great community service opportunity for the kids to be involved with this assisted living residence -- great life teaching moment :)

What they should wear: Student dress is "Casual Sunday Best". For guys, this means nice (no holes or fraying) jeans or khakis and a collared shirt is okay; t-shirt, shorts and athletic shoes are not okay. For girls, this means a daytime dress or skirt/pants with a blouse is okay; t-shirts and athletic shoes are not okay. We want to look nice but feel comfortable!

What they're playing/What's the "procedure": At this point,student's performance material is set and it should be starting to sound be sounding pretty solid. Students should remember to bring your music to recital, even if they've memorized it. Next week is "learn recital etiquette" week. So we will learn or continue to review what will happen when it's their turn to perform.

I will be there at 1:30 setting up. I will have a very brief meeting with all students before we begin. If you remember the past couple years, I like to start on time if possible. :) I am anticipating the recital length be no more than 45-60 minutes. If you have other questions, please feel free to email, text or ask me at your lesson.

:: Administrative :: There are 3 lessons left in the semester, this is INCLUDING the added make up week. Here's the calendar: stephaniegee.info If you haven't already, last payments should be made this month.

:: Summer Planning :: Summer lessons are a great opportunity for improving note reading, to pick out some fun music (popular, church music or other) and for flute students to get a jump start for the new school year of band. That said, summer can also be a great opportunity for a break. Please let me know by the end of May if you'll be planning on summer lessons.

Summer lessons are "a la carte"- No bimonthly payments like the school year, but instead you pay as you go week by week. This is so that if schedules change (yours or mine) we are very flexible. Summer lessons are held Tuesday Wednesday and Thursdays, between 2:00PM and 6:30PM. Scheduling in the summer is first come first serve, however if you have a couple options that's always VERY helpful.

My calendar is up to date (same link as above) so as you can see, I plan on teaching the weeks of June 20, June 27, July 11, July 18, July 26, Aug 8, Aug 15.

Monday, 3 April 2017

April Studio Newsletter

Posted by Stephanie

:: Recital Planning :: Thank you for hanging in there with me as I figured things out. Our recital will be May 20th at 2:00PM! Please let me know if your student will or will not be available to perform. I encourage all piano students to participate, and it is always nice to have a couple flute students participate. But as always, I don't mind if Middle or High school students who are already in a performing group at school do not participate in recital. Beginners can participate too-- even if it's a 30 second song and I'm playing a duet with them so they aren't scared/alone. :)

Our recital is held at Colonial Oaks Assisted Living over here on Lexington and Dulles Avenue. It is very relaxed and we always get a lot of applause and encouragement from the residents-- I think they have started to look forward to seeing the kids each year! Any participating students who need an hour of community service-- I will sign for it!

I will be working with students the next couple of weeks to settle on recital pieces, and by the beginning of May they should be starting to polish and some will start memorizing then. If you have any questions about recital don't hesitate to ask! Many of you are pros at this now, but I'll send details about what to do and what to wear as we get closer to the date.

:: Calendar + Extra make up days :: The actual end date of my spring semester is May 11th, but since I've had some unforeseen sick days and a Monday holiday I missed, I will have an extra make up week at the end of my semester, May 15-18. If we've missed a lesson and you have already paid for it, please plan to have a lesson that week to make up for it. If you aren't in need of a make up, but want to see me the week before recital, I may schedule a couple FREE GROUP LESSONS that week. Let me know if you're interested so I can get that ball rolling.

There are 8 weeks of lessons between spring break and the end of my semester, not including the newly added make up week. Here's the calendar: stephaniegee.info

:: Payment Reminder :: Most of you are already paid through the end of Spring. If you haven't, payments are due for the 2nd half of the semester.

Monday, 3 January 2017

January Studio Newsletter

Posted by Stephanie

:: Spring 2017 Calendar :: Happy New Year! The spring 2017 calendar is now available via iCal or on google calendar. It's also available to view on my student page. Please note, we'll start back with lessons January 9, 10, 18 and 19 . I'll be out of town in between those days, so that's the reason for the gap.

I've planned 16 weeks of teaching in this spring semester. Also on the calendar are designated make up lesson days in the middle and at the end of the semester; and the Spring Recital date is tentatively set for Saturday, May 6-- earlier this year so we don't occupy mothers day weekend.

:: Payment Policy Changes :: As always, I accept cash or check; if you are with Bank of America I can accept mobile transfer. Payment options are now as follows:
- By cash or check, ONE payment for 16 lessons (due in January)
- By cash or check, TWO payments for 8 lessons each (due January and March)
- By cash only in monthly payments If you want to pay by CASH you may continue to use the monthly payment option, but if you'd like to pay by check please do so with the 1 or 2 payment option.

The other policy change is that I will no longer be extending credit for cancelled lessons unless I am the one that cancels the lesson. Instead, please take advantage of the designated make up lesson days OR let me know of lessons you will miss (because of travel, activities, etc.) at the beginning of the semester. This way you will not have to pay for unattended lessons. Also, please remember my old policy - aside from medical emergencies, make-up lessons will not be granted for "no-shows", i.e. not letting me know of a cancellation or reschedule by midnight (12AM) the night before your lesson.