Joyful Sounds Music Studio Inc

Joyful Sounds Enrollment Information



Payments

All lessons and classes occurring during the regular School Year (Sept to June) have monthly payment plans. These payments are charged on the 1st of the month. Please ensure your credit card information is up-to-date for payments to occur. All monthly payments have factored in the amount of classes or lessons for the school year, including possible holidays and closures. Most months have 4 lessons. Some have 3; Some have 5. The cost has been averaged out across the year for equal payments to make it easy on your budgeting plan. No matter if your lesson or class falls on a Monday or Thursday, every day gets equal totals for the year.



Camps and other events such as Parties, PD Day Camps, Workshops, etc. will have one-time payments due at registration, or a deposit and remainder due close to start date. All specifications can be found when registering for specific items.

Some classes may have a materials fee upon registration. Again, this will be laid out on any registration pages.



Late Payments

Our front office works diligently to connect with any families who may have payment issues on the first of the month. If late payments are not made by the 10th of the month, an additional $10 charge will be added to the account. Another additional $10 charge will be placed if account is still in arrears by the 20th of the month. Failure to pay for classes or lessons on time may result in being removed from programming.



Make-Ups

Private Lesson Make-Up Days:

Life happens. Things come up. Your private lesson is a set scheduled time each week with your professional teacher. If you cannot make your lesson, please mark yourself Absent in the MyMusicStaff Portal or let our Front Desk team know. There are 8 days set aside in our School Year for Make-Up Days: Early January, Early May and end of June. During those times (see our School Year Calendar), students can sign up for any missed lessons due to illness, vacation, etc. This is an added value of being part of the Joyful Sounds Family. Most music studios do not offer make-ups for missed lessons on student reason. The are no financial credits issues for student absence.

If a teacher has to cancel due to illness or other reason, the studio will do everything possible to create a make-up option, or financial credit will be applied to the family.

Kindermusik Make-Ups:

While you are an enrolled Kindermusik Family, you have access to unlimited make-ups. Having a sick day? Away? Simply log into my.kindermusik.com and choose from the Make-Up options that are age appropriate for your child. Unsure? Give our front desk team a call – we’re happy to help!

Note: this option is for actively enrolled families only. Once your enrollment ends, you cannot access make-ups, so do not let them pile up.



There are not other Make-Up Options for Group Classes other than Kindermusik at this time.



Snow/Weather Days

Now that we are Virtual experts, our goal will be to move any snow cancellations to the virtual learning format. You will simply log on and have your musical experience from home!

If classes or lessons needs to be moved to virtual, there are three options to check for cancellations:

1. You can call the studio at 861-2702 after approximately 8am to hear our voicemail.

2. You can check our website (www.joyfulsounds.ca)

3. You can check our Facebook Page or Instagram pages (Joyful Sounds Music Studio) with virtual information.

If ever you feel you cannot make Kindermusik classes due to weather when we remain open, remember you can access your unlimited make-up and come on a different day. You MUST register for a make-up option.

There are no financial credits issues if a student does not attend a virtual lesson or class on a snow day. Exceptions would involve power outages that may happen due to hurricanes, inclement weather, etc.



Withdrawal Policy

If you need to withdrawal or discontinue for any reason, please provide written notice to info@joyfulsounds.ca before the 1st of the month, prior to the next billing cycle (1st of the month). If written notice is received after this time frame, the next month will be charged as per normal, and you will be able to attend all classes and/or lessons that month.

Example: if you wish to end classes at the end of May, ensure your notice is received by May 31st in order to stop the billing for June 1st.

If the 1st is on a weekend, please ensure your notice is received before the weekend as charges will go through on the 1st regardless of weekend or weekday.

Parking, Participation & More

There is plenty of room to park at our large studio location. Please be courteous of the accessible parking spaces and do not park right at the bottom of the stairs to the entrance.

2023 – there is significant work happening outside the building, so some parking spaces may be compromised while the work is completed on downstairs units.



Participation

We value parent connection and interaction with student’s music education experience.

Parent/Caregiver participation is mandatory in Kindermusik. Foundations, Level 1 & Level 2 classes have caregivers participating during full class; older classes (Level 3, 4 and Musicians) have some in-class participation. Level 5/Musicians students will have weekly homework tasks (about 10 minutes per week). We believe that the caregiver is the most important educator in a child’s life, and it is essential that you enjoy your time at Kindermusik and help your child learn to express themself with music. Have fun!

Our Private Lesson and other Group Class students - caregivers should be in touch with Front Desk and instructors as needed. Refer to weekly dictation books for practice expectations, and view attendance and record practice minutes in MyMusicStaff for private lessons.

Behaviour

While we know it is impossible for children to be happy all the time, it is expected that children and their families will behave in a manner that is respectful and safe at all times. If a child becomes upset beyond consoling, please feel free to use the waiting areas or outside the studio for a “cool down” period. Any physically aggressive or overtly negative behaviour will not be tolerated, and if such behaviour continues, the student may be asked to leave the program. This would be a last resort, and many conversations and positive connecting would be the focus before getting to this stage. Arrangements can be made for any parents wishing to have their child observed for specific behaviour patterns – social or otherwise. Our main goal is always that the child's needs come first - and that we find a way to connect to what they need.

Footwear

Please remove all outdoor footwear before entering the large group & Kindermusik classrooms. There are several shoe racks available, and the main entrance MUST be kept clear for our families that need accessibility. If you choose to attend class in bare feet, please ensure that you are coming with clean feet! We have lots of babies that enter the studio and are constantly exploring! We do recommend in general that babies and toddlers do come to class in bare feet as it provides the best sensory experience. “Grippy” socks/slippers also work well. No hard sole shoes for Kindermusik children.



Classes

All classes and lessons will begin on time. Please be on time for your class – for our Kindermusik classes, try to arrive a few minutes early to use the washroom or change diapers, so that your child can enjoy the ritual of the Hello Song and not miss this special moment.

Private Lessons must run on time as they are scheduled back-to-back. If you arrive late, your lesson will take place, but it will be shorter so that the following lesson is not affected. Your instructor will encourage you to get set up right away so that the most can be made of your lesson time.

JOY

A lot of heart and soul has gone in to making this studio the warm, inviting, and special place that it is. Please treat it with respect and let your educator know if something needs to be attended to. Please ensure that the exterior door is fully closed when entering or exiting, and please depose of garbage in a trash can or take it with you.

Waiting Room

The waiting room is for the parents of un-parented Kindermusik classes, and private lesson students and families. Please respect the area and tidy up after yourself. Please remember that there are often LESSONS IN PROGRESS, which means the waiting room must be a joyful but QUIET ZONE. Rough play, jumping, throwing items, etc is not permitted.

Please note: If children bring snacks, please ensure that they do not contain chocolate (dry goods are preferable that do not melt or stain) as well as no peanuts and no eggs. There are many families who use this room on a daily basis – we all need to be responsible. Note: Coffee cups with liquid in them are not a favourite item in the classrooms or garbage cans –dry garbage only.

Should you choose to go out and run errands instead of being in the waiting room for Kindermusik Level 3-Musicians classes, please leave a number that you can be reached at in the case of an emergency. We most likely have these on file.



We look forward to making music with you!