Summer Options 2017

Wednesday, April 19, 2017 by Ron Ferlito | RFM Studio News!

HELLO STUDENTS AND PARENTS!

It's that time when people are thinking about plans for the summer so I wanted to be sure you did not forget about music education options during the summer months. Hopefully, most of you will be able to continue right along with your regular weekly schedule of lessons to take advantage of the many benefits of summer lessons. These include greater flexibility for lesson and makeup scheduling, more availability of practice time, and a chance for kids and adults to give greater attention to their musical pursuits while less is going on in other areas.

However, since many people travel and have varied schedules during the summer months it may not be conducive to continuing regular, ongoing weekly lessons as most of you do during the school year. Unfortunately, when you stay away from something completely over the entire summer break it can cause students to forget what they have learned or even worse - lose interest as new opportunities present themselves. In order to avoid having to do a lot of "catch-up" review lessons when returning after summer, it is recommended to at least have a few lessons and fun activities to hold the student's interest and also continue to develop skills. That is why I have prepared a number of options for summer activities to fit each family's preferences and varied schedules.

Here is a brief overview of the three basic options for continuing musical activities this summer during June and July:

OPTION ONE (best option if possible): Ideally you will be able to continue on with whatever monthly plan you are currently enrolled in for ongoing weekly lessons. This can be for either or both Summer months. If you are on a semester tuition plan, you may place your plan on "pause" or choose another option for one or both months and resume in August without those months counting against using up your semester plan or makeup lesson expiration dates.

Anyone continuing their current plan through one or both summer months will secure their lesson time for the following school year by meeting the minimum attendance requirement. (Some restrictions apply-see "Scheduling" below). You can also redeem makeup lessons and defer lessons for makeup as per normal policies.

OPTION TWO: You may choose the "Keep It Warm" summer tuition option. If you are planning lots of travel and other activities during June and July this may be a great option for you rather than having to suspend lessons for the entire summer. This plan allows you to cut your lessons in half (and your monthly tuition) by scheduling only 2 lessons per month instead of the normal 4 or 5. Combined with very flexible scheduling options this plan would allow you to schedule lessons around travel and other plans, and keep the student engaged and moving forward with their curriculum during the summer, without it being a regular weekly obligation.

Anyone completing the "Keep It Warm" plan through BOTH summer months will secure their lesson time for the following school year by meeting the minimum attendance requirement. (Some restrictions apply-see "Scheduling" below). You can also redeem makeup lessons and defer lessons for makeup as per normal policies.

OPTION THREE: You may choose by itself or in conjunction with one of the other 2 options to participate in one of the Summer Music and Recording Camps. This will be a full week of fun and educational experiences to break up the summer doldrums! There will be at least one or two sessions for each age group offered at various times throughout the summer. (See "Camp Dates and Pricing" below). Each camp at our home will include a full week of music activities including games, videos, swimming, class discussion and working on group and individual songs that will be recorded and presented to all parents on the final day. Each student will have their own professionally recorded multi-track audio recording done and available for free download, streaming, and sharing by the final day of the camp, and also a multi-camera HD video of their chosen song available for download, streaming and sharing by no later than Labor Day - September 4th, 2017.

Physical copies of audio and video content from the week, including each student's individual and group pieces will be available for purchase by the Winter recital in December - in time for great grandparent and other gifts to share for the holidays! This is a tremendous value since each student not only receives the experience and education of recording, but there will be a lasting treasure of the completed recording to share forever!

SCHEDULING: As you may have noticed, schedule changes have become increasingly difficult as more students have been added with my roster now approaching 60 students. As a result, you may value your time slot when school resumes after the summer. Unfortunately I can not guarantee or hold your time unless you meet the minimum attendance requirement of at least half your normal attendance through the months of July and August. This can be met in any combination of activity such as one full month on and a full month off, two months of the "Keep It Warm" plan, redeeming makeup credits or any other configuration. Participation in a recording camp combined with any other activity this summer will also qualify a student to hold their time slot when school resumes. However, every attempt will be made to get everyone a suitable time slot even if you can not meet the minimum attendance requirement. In addition, at times you may be requested to adjust your time due to conflicting schedules with others, geographical considerations for remote lessons, or other reasons. In these cases I will continue to offer compensation in the form of lesson credits or refunds when possible. I thank you in advance for your cooperation and flexibility.

During the summer months you may keep your regular time if you wish or arrange any other times because of greater flexibility since kids are not in school. I will normally be available Tuesday through Saturday 8AM to 9 PM so there will be lots of options for scheduling and makeup lessons, however some summer times may have to be changed if they overlap times for the summer camp, travel considerations (for remote lessons), or periodic teacher short breaks.

CAMP DATES AND PRICING: Summer Music and Recording Camps will be held during up to four weeks this summer:

Week One: June 12-16
Week Two: June 26-30
Week Three: July 10-14
Week Four: July 24-28

Each camp will take place at my home studio from 10AM to 1PM Monday through Friday and include a light lunch that we will provide. There will be a program from noon to 1PM on the last day of each camp for all parents and any guests when each of the students' recordings will be presented during an informal "recital". The age levels and size of each group will be determined by your date preference ranking responses and the ratio of older to younger students that request various dates. For this reason we will need to know the quantity and ages of any students you are considering enrolling, your preferred dates ranked from 1 to 4 and/or any dates you definitely could not attend. I will be asking all of you about your intentions during the next few weeks, but your answers do not obligate you to participate or not. I will attempt to accommodate everyone with their first or second date preference. This will only be an informal poll to determine if there will be enough participants to justify all four sessions and what the age distribution of each will be. Your commitment is indicated and your position is secured with full payment through early registration discount incentives (see below), however a firm verbal indication of intent and promise to pay by no later than the first day of camp will also be honored.

The full cost of each camp will be $140 for the first student and $130 for each additional sibling enrolled from the same family. There is an additional $10 per student discount when combined with at least one month of summer enrollment in either option described above plus any discounts for early registration as described below. Since all of these discounts can be combined it is possible to bring the tuition for each student down to as little as $102! Even at full price this is an extraordinary value compared to other similar summer "day camp" activities and includes 15 hours of instruction and activity as well as the lasting treasure of professionally produced audio and video recordings of each student's best performances.

EARLY REGISTRATION DISCOUNT INCENTIVES: There will be 2 cutoff dates for early registration for any activities this summer including regular lessons, "Keep It Warm" periodic lessons, and summer recording camps. You can pay for all or some of your summer activities in advance to take advantage of these discounts. The more you pay for and the earlier you pay it- the greater the savings! Or, you can choose to continue to pay for all lessons by their normal due dates of the first of each month and any summer camps by the first day of each camp.

Early Registration Cutoff Date 1: 15% discount on all tuition and activity for July and August that is paid by midnight Monday, May 1st. (The same deadline as regular monthly May tuition)

Early Registration Cutoff Date 2: 10% discount on all tuition and activity for July and August that is paid by midnight Monday, May 15th. (The Monday following the recital)

Don't worry about any complicated paper or online forms to fill out. I will go over all of this with each of you individually to help you choose the best combination of activities for the summer and will prepare a specific invoice with the appropriate discounts and due dates already calculated. You can then pay online with any debit or credit card by the agreed upon date or pay at any lesson or the recital on May 13th.

CONCLUSION: So that's it! I hope I was able to simplify the numerous options presented here to help you design a package of summer musical activities that will best suit your family's needs. If you have any questions just text me or jot them down to ask me at our discussion during one of the next lessons. In the meantime be sure to talk these options over with your student and check your calendar so I will be able to record your preference ranking for camp dates if you are interested in attending and possible dates and times for summer lessons.

Ron Ferlito Music

Great News From Your Music Teacher Ron Ferlito!

Summer Options 2017

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