Our Studio Policy & Expectations

Please take some time to read over the following Studio Policies and expectations.

When things are running smoothly your teachers time, energy, and attention are able to be focused on the class and its students.

Class Registration

  • All classes are open for a free visit with participation if a seat is available. If no seat is available you may observe the class.

  • Mapleford Studio has open enrollment. New students are accepted at any time but Registration and placement into a class depends on availability of a level 1 class.

  • We encourage you to contact us and get on a wait list for a class! As soon as we can coordinate enough students in a day and time from our Wait Lists, we open a Class Building, CB, class section on our calendar and in our registration.

    Each type of class is in a quarterly Session for Enrollment and Payment.

  • Our registration always includes a package of: one quarter of tuition; materials for the quarter; materials/handouts; office fee; shipping; taxes; and processing fees.

    Please note: materials we order for the students we must often buy for the entire level/year. Your first session quarter may include the cost of the materials of the full level or year. As we are able we try to divide the materials cost between each session quarter. So, as you register for the first session of a class you may be buying most of the materials in the First Quarter which will be used over the entire year or level.

    For Music Pups® registration is open at least through the 3rd week of each session. Classes are offered every Session with a new collection of music! We have 12 Collections of new music learning for our Music Pups. Tuition, not materials or fees, will be pro-rated. All class fees included: Tuition; Books; Cd; Materials; and all processing Fees.

    For our classes which have levels, new student Registration is limited to the first weeks of a level 1 class.

    Many of our level 1& book 1 classes are able to be started as soon as we have 3 or 4 students on a class building list. Please contact us and request to be added to a Wait List or to be added to the Class Building Registration for the class you want!

    The Music for Young Children® Level 1 classes are only able to begin in Fall to January. These classes are Sunshine®, Sunbeams®, Moonbeams®, and My Choice® which are our conservatory styled classes. Please contact us and request to be added to the Wait List / Class Building list for the class in which you are interested.

 

Class Withdrawl

Please speak with your teacher or a staff member as soon as you consider withdrawing from your class program. We may have assistance to enable you to stay in the class.

Please request a Withdrawal form, complete, and return to your teacher or mail to: Mapleford Studio LLC, 9374 Fabian Street, Byron MN 55920. Refunds are for full months of tuition and unused and originally wrapped materials. Therefore, Withdrawal Forms must be received by the 10th (with unused originally wrapped materials) of the month to be able to be prepared for release by the 1st of the upcoming month.

 

Tuition

Our classes run on Quarterly Sessions. Tuition is paid by Session which includes the tuition cost for the number of scheduled class meetings within the Session.

Each Session payment is a Package Price. The session payment includes: tuition (the only part which is pro-rated or returnable); materials; office fees; processing costs; shipping and tax on materials.

The Leveled classes may have materials which are used in multiple Session Quarters and so require additional Session tuition payments. Because of the varied Programs we run in the studio some of the session payment amounts appear varied across our class offerings. Please know we have worked to bring your class payment to the lowest price per Session Quarter as we are able.

Scholarships are available. Families are required to fill out a form and to pay for materials. All other fees and tuition are reduced by % determined by need and family commitment to engage fully in class and in at home activities/assignments. Two scholarships are available in every Music Pups class and one is available in each of all our other classes. 100% of All donations to Mapleford Studio llc go to enable us to provide a larger % of reduced cost to our scholarship families. Mapleford has had scholarship families since 1999.

 

New Inquiries

Students and parents may contact by phone, web page contact, or email to schedule a Free Trial Class- a Try-It Class. All classes and lessons are open for a free visit with participation if a seat is available. If no seat is available you may observe the class. We value the opportunity to meet with potential students and parents to discuss questions that you may have concerning music study.

 

Cancellations

Cancellations: Missed Class, Weather, Holidays

Our preference is to maintain consistent instruction for students. We will post on the Mapleford Studio web page and Facebook page our status in winter weather. If we are open in winter weather in which you are uncomfortable with the road conditions we will work with you with-in our policies for making up the class time missed.

NEW! 6-5-2020 Live Online options for bad weather and makeups. Via the Zoom platform we can now offer additional make-up times as well as keeping continuity of class by holding your regular class online rather than canceling and rescheduling!

Studio Closed - We have a few days per year the Studio is closed, they are noted below. We never schedule classes on these dates so you are not paying for a class meeting falling on these days off.

Student Illness - If the student is sick and unable to attend a class day we do not refund any tuition. We do want to have you attend another Section of your class or request an Online meeting with your teacher to make up the lost class time. It is the responsibility of the student/parent to initiate a make-up. The best avenue is to contact your teacher and/or through the contact page at our website, MaplefordStudio.com. On occasion we may set up an additional class meeting as a make-up class when there are many absences due to illness or bad weather in a session.

Planned Absents– In the case of travel or conflict with other activities, we request advance notice for these known absent’s. Often a class time can be made-up in advance of the date which a student will be unavailable at their scheduled time.

School District Calendars – Mapleford Studio has students from many school districts in our Greater Rochester MN area and therefore we do not follow any school calendars.

Bad weather or Teacher ill - Occasionally a class needs to be canceled because of bad weather or a teacher is sick and there is not a substitute available to hold your class. In these instances we work to reschedule the class or have students attend another class section. If you are not able to attend the make-up class or schedule to attend another section, your class time is lost. Some of these times a teacher will be able to hold class via Zoom.

In regard to a lost class time, do remember we work hard to keep our tuition costs low. Compare our tuition to a private lesson at $25/half hour to $60/half hour locally.

Mapleford Annual Holiday Calendar:

  • First day of class in January is January the 3rd

  • Easter Weekend Thursday thru Sunday off

  • Memorial Day Weekend – Sat thru Monday off

  • Fourth of July Week – Sat to the next Sun off - 9 days

  • Labor Day weekend Sat thru Monday off

  • Thanksgiving – Wed thru Sunday off

  • Christmas – Dec 22 thru Jan 2 off

 For more information