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POLICIES & PROCEDURES

POLICIES & PROCEDURES

Enrollment & Tuition

New students and their parents are invited to attend an admissions meeting on campus or a consultation phone call. The consultation provides an opportunity to ensure appropriate student placement, scheduling, and orientation to the program. School policies and procedures will be reviewed at this time.
 
When enrolled, students will receive a DAMPA binder where they can store all their music and class study materials. 

DAMPA is a month-to-month business that operates year-round; Fall, Winter, Spring, and Summer. When you enroll, there are no lengthy contracts. However, we expect that your commitment is ongoing throughout the year. In the case of any circumstance in which lessons must be terminated, please complete a withdrawal form by the 15th day of the student’s final month. Registration can be completed either on-site by our administration team or through the phone. The office is available during business hours to assist with the process. 

Our public DAMPA calendar can be viewed online. Events are listed on the DAMPA website here

Tuition is to be paid prior to the start of lessons, and will be auto-billed on the first day of each month. Our tuition starts at the following prices:
 
• 30-minute weekly private lessons: $249/month
• 45-minute weekly private lessons: $319/month
• 60-minute weekly private lessons: $399/month
 
In the instance that the first lesson falls in the middle of the month, your first month’s bill will be prorated. An enrollment fee is charged at the time of registration. There are no long-term contracts or semester plans at DAMPA. We operate year-round. If you wish to stop your lessons or pause your lessons, we require a written notice by the 15th day of the student’s final month to avoid future billing.

We accept Visa, Mastercard, American Express and PayPal. Workshops, performance opportunities, festivals, competitions, guest performances, and masterclasses are encouraged. These will sometimes have additional registration costs. Registration for these events is non-refundable. Sheet music and lesson books are not included in the monthly price of lessons. They will be charged separately. 

In the case that a payment card has been declined, an admin will reach out as soon as possible to kindly update your card information. After DAMPA sends official notification of a failed charge, a $10.00 Failed Card Fee will be added to your account for each completed lesson that has not been billed on time. If the account cannot be reconciled within a month of notification, all future lessons will be removed from the schedule until your account has been brought to current. If lessons are removed from the schedule due to non-payment, DAMPA cannot guarantee the same lesson day/time for future lessons scheduled. 

Cancellations, Makeups, and Credits

As a courtesy to our teachers time reservation, we require a minimum 24 hour notice for cancellations. This can be done via calling, texting, or emailing us at [email protected]. If administration or faculty are notified less than 24 hours in advance, that will be considered a No Show”. Therefore, the lesson will not be eligible for a makeup
 
With proper 24-hour notification, we will work with you to schedule a makeup lesson. We will reschedule based on your teacher’s current availability. If no makeup time can be found, your lesson will be reserved as a “Makeup Credit”. The Makeup Credit can be used within the next two months. If a teacher cancels a lesson, we will work with both you and the teacher to find a makeup time. If you are discontinuing lessons next month and a makeup time cannot be found, we can credit your account. The credit can be used for future lessons. Or alternatively, we can refund the lesson back to the card we have on file for your account.
 
If an admin has contacted you about scheduling a makeup and does not receive confirmation of availability, the makeup will not be scheduled until confirmation is received. In the situation that a makeup lesson is not scheduled a month after being contacted by the front desk office, your lesson will no longer be eligible for a makeup.
DAMPA follows the same policy as the public school district with regard to illness. If a student has not attended school for the day due to illness, they will not be able to attend their lesson at DAMPA. Please keep your child home if they have symptoms of illness such as fever, rash, runny nose, vomiting, diarrhea, body aches, coughing, etc. To return to lessons or classes, it is asked that the child be free of symptoms for 24 hours. DAMPA allows up to two same day cancellations for unexpected sickness per year, which is applied as a “Makeup Credit” to be used within the next two months. After the third sick leave call-out, a meeting with our director will be scheduled to come up with a solution moving forward.
If a teacher cancels your lesson and no makeup times can be found, your lesson will be eligible for a credit. This is a single lesson discount applied to your next month’s bill. Credits will not be applied to your account unless explicitly requested, and there must be attempted correspondence with administration or your teacher to find a makeup time first.

Please note that crediting your lesson will affect your teacher’s payment. Out of respect for our teacher’s time commitment and investment in training your student, we ask that you make an effort to maintain a consistent lesson schedule or be as communicative/flexible as possible with unexpected scheduling conflicts, in order to keep credits to a minimum. After a third instance where crediting due to scheduling issues occur, a meeting will be scheduled with the director, teacher, and student to find a solution moving forward.

Please make every effort to arrive at your scheduled lessons on time, and contact an administrator as soon as possible if you know that you will be late. If you arrive late, your instructor will do their best to work within the remaining time. However please understand that due to scheduling constraints, the lesson will not be extended beyond the originally scheduled time. No make-up lessons will be scheduled for late arrivals. No tuition deduction will be made for missed time due to tardiness. Teachers are not required to stay on campus past fifteen minutes of a missed lesson time.

DAMPA is open year-round, and we do not close during the Summer. Lessons are scheduled on a first come, first serve basis. If you withdraw for the Summer, we cannot guarantee that your same time slot will be available in the Fall. It will be available to new students. We are aware that it is common for our students to go on vacation for portions of the summer. Makeups, subleasing, extended absence discounts, and Zoom lesson options are available if you cannot attend routine weekly lessons in the studio. Please contact our front office staff to coordinate your Summer schedule.
Private lessons are held according to our published calendar. You will have the same lesson appointment time each week, and will be billed each month for four weekly lessons. There will be no additional charges for months that have a fifth weekly lesson. Makeup lessons will not be offered for lessons that fall on a holiday based school closure, since there are months where the student will have an extra fifth lesson.
 
Any permanent schedule change requests must be made by contacting the office. Please limit lesson changes to no more than three times per calendar year.
Group classes must meet their minimum student enrollment to continue on the schedule. In the instance that a group class is cancelled due to low enrollment, you will be notified and a credit will be issued which can be applied to other services. There are no make-ups available for missed group classes. In any instance where a teacher has to cancel a group class, you will receive a credit to be applied to your next month’s bill. Group classes are non-refundable.

Performances are available for all students at DAMPA. Students prepare in advance for all DAMPA events and family members are encouraged to attend. Dates for all events are posted in advance on our website. Students register to participate by completing the appropriate form by the deadline (available from the student’s teacher or administration). We encourage all students, regardless of experience level, to participate in our very popular performance events – working toward a goal creates student motivation and progress! We strongly encourage all families and students who attend performance events to stay for the entire duration of the event, as a courtesy to all performers. If you are unable to stay for the entire duration of the performance or block assigned, please let the front desk know ahead of time. 

Safety and Ethics

The waiting room area is provided as a courtesy to our students’ families. It is expected that everyone wait quietly, without disturbing ongoing lessons. Please be aware that the waiting room is passively supervised, however DAMPA Staff are NOT responsible for the care of children before or after their lesson times. If you need to drop off students earlier than 10 minutes prior to their lesson, please notify our front office beforehand and plan to have them picked up promptly.

Children must wait for their parents/guardians to pick them up inside the school. Please do not ask them to meet outside the school without giving notice to administration. DAMPA assumes no responsibility for children who leave unaccompanied without permission.

No child age 5 or under may be dropped off without guardian supervision.
The school is not responsible for providing child care for infant students or family members before or after lessons. Guardians with children who are in diapers or potty training MUST remain in the school lobby/classroom during the classes. Students are not to be left in the school for excessive time periods before or after their lessons, unless previously notified and agreed to by administration. Diapers must not be disposed in any waste baskets. All soiled diapers must be disposed of off premise. 
DAMPA holds an open door policy for all private lessons. Parents are allowed to sit in on lessons, however we suggest discussing with your teacher if they feel ongoing sit-ins will continue to benefit your child’s lesson.  All lesson rooms have large glass doors, and all of our teachers and staff have been background checked for your safety. If you are having lessons for your child in your home, an adult from your family must be present and supervise all lessons. 
Parents, legal guardians of minors, students, and adult students waive the right to any legal action for any injury sustained on school property resulting from normal lesson activity or any other activity conducted by the students or family before, during, or after lesson time; including but not limited to hearing loss or hearing damage. Earplugs can be provided upon request. Dallas Academy of Music and Performing Arts is not responsible for any damage done to vehicles or items stolen from vehicles.
Please respect our investment in the training and goodwill of our faculty. In return of DAMPA providing private instruction in music, voice, or acting to the student, the student agrees not to, directly or indirectly, hire or retain the services of DAMPA’s teachers or staff for instruction in a student’s home or outside DAMPA during the period of instruction and for 12 months thereafter. Students who do not honor this provision agree to pay a placement fee to DAMPA in an amount equal to the average weekly fee received or to be received by DAMPA from student for instruction multiplied by 48. DAMPA and student agree the amount of the placement fee shall be calculated on a per-student basis and represents the total damages per student recoverable by DAMPA if there is a breach.
DAMPA Events, Activities, Lessons, Classes, Rehearsals, Performances, and Awards may be documented both through film and picture. These images may be used by Dallas Academy of Music and Performing Arts for advertising and promotion of the school, including but not limited to DAMPA social media. Upon starting lessons at DAMPA, you will be given an image waiver if you agree to allow your child’s image to be used responsibly by DAMPA. If you do not wish for your student’s pictures to be used, do not sign the waiver and please alert the office. Your child will be placed on the NO IMAGE list and we will ensure that no media containing your child are used in any format. 

Discounts and Payments

A sibling discount may be provided to families registering more than one student to private lessons. Discounts will also be offered to multiple family members enrolled into group or semi-private lessons. DAMPA may also waive the registration fee for families registering more than one student at the same time. 
Payments for lessons or lesson materials are to be made through administration only. If you have any questions, please call the school and speak with our front office team at 833-281-2690. 

Teachers and Parents

Our teachers have university training and/or real world performance backgrounds. They have been chosen for their extensive musical or performing arts background in their specific discipline. We have a very diverse and distinguished Faculty, representing many different cultures from around the world. The school will assign a teacher that best suits a student’s needs. You will have the same teacher each week. DAMPA accepts all students, including those with special needs or learning disabilities. However our faculty are not specifically trained or certified to teach special needs students under accredited modalities.
 
The school reserves the right to substitute or change the student’s teacher assignment at any time and will notify the student if any changes will occur. Please contact the Director if you wish to request a change in teacher assignment.
Students will be given a student notebook at their first lesson. All books, materials, and assignments will need to be kept in this notebook. It will need to be brought to and from their weekly lessons. It’s very important that these notebooks are brought to your child’s lesson, every time they have a lesson scheduled. We encourage parents to support and help cultivate their child’s practice habits. If your child is not practicing, please talk to the front desk or their teacher and we will work as a group to remedy the situation. 
Time may be set aside during lessons for Parent/Teacher Conferences and to visit with teachers regarding their child/children’s progress. DAMPA may reach out to schedule a Parent/Teacher conference if our instructor feels it would be beneficial for the progress of the student’s lessons. Please contact the office to schedule a meeting with the Director and teacher by calling 833-281-2690. 

To discontinue lessons and charges to your account, please fill out the withdrawal form and return to the front office. Forms should be turned in by the 15th day of the student’s final month. If the withdrawal form is not turned in by the 15th, the student is still responsible for the following month’s tuition, whether or not they attend lessons. Refunds or prorated tuition will not be provided. 

If you have any questions about policies or procedures at DAMPA, please do not hesitate to reach out! Call us at 833-281-2690 or message us below.

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