July 7, 2025 • 20 mins
Is Your Studio Policy a Contract or Just a Really Long PDF?
You’ve got a policy, but is it doing what you think it is?
In this episode, I’m talking about what a studio policy really is and what it is not. I’ll share how mine started, how I completely reworked it, and what finally helped me create something that made sense for both me and my studio families.
We’ll talk about what a policy is meant to do, what does not belong in it, and why short and clear usually works better than long and formal. I will also walk through some of the systems and waivers that can support your policy without overcomplicating it.
You’ll hear real-life takeaways based on experience, along with guidance supported by MTNA, Piano Inspires, and small business best practices.
If you want help writing or updating your policy, join me for the next Scrappy Session on Friday, July 18th at 11:30 am Eastern. We will sit down together, and you’ll get a fill-in-the-blank workbook, a clear outline, and dedicated time to actually get it done.
Register at
www.scrappypianoteacher.com/scrappysessions
To get notified when the Scrappy Studio Policies Booklet is released later this month, subscribe at
www.scrappypianoteacher.com
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:02):
Hey everybody, I am Jacqueline Rosick, you can call me Jackie
and you are listening to the Scrappy Piano Teacher podcast,
the show for independent music teachers who are trying to
figure things out, staying resourceful, building smart
systems and not pretending at all to have it all together.
Whether you are teaching out of your basement, dreaming of a
(00:24):
multi teacher studio, or just trying to survive some back to
school planning without prying into your coffee, this podcast
is absolutely for you. And today we are talking about
policies. Now if you are listening to this
in real time, it is July. July for us in the states is
(00:47):
wrapping up the 4th of July. Fireworks, barbecues, parades,
all that fun stuff. And I don't know about you guys,
but every year after the 4th of July, that's when it really
starts hitting me fast. All lessons are a common.
So yeah, policies, how can we not be thinking about them?
But I don't want to just rattle off a list of what to include in
(01:09):
a policy. I want to dig a little bit
deeper. And I want to talk about what a
policy actually is, what it does, what it does not do, and
how you can write when that works for you, not just when
that sounds good on paper. Because we always talk about,
hey, you need a policy. You need a policy.
Better check your policies. Like, OK, great.
(01:30):
What the heck actually is a policy?
All right, so story time. When I first started teaching
piano, I was a teenager. I was 14 years old.
Definitely, definitely not qualified to teach piano, but
there I was. And I did work for someone else.
So I had no clue what a studio policy was.
And honestly, did I care? No, I didn't.
(01:52):
I was 14. Who cares, right?
I just was so excited that I wasa cool piano teacher.
I got to show up and teach. So that's what I did.
Years later when I'm on my own, I'm working in an office full
time, so I'm driving to studentshomes after work.
And I had about 10 piano students at the time.
And honestly, I didn't really think that I needed a policy or
(02:14):
anything like that. I had heard about them, you
know, but it was like, yeah, I don't teach enough students.
This really isn't like a totallyserious thing right now.
I don't need a policy, which by the way, now that I know what I
know, 10 students is plenty and I should have had a policy, but
that's OK. Here we are right?
I survived anyway, when I finally left the cubicle life go
(02:35):
all in, teach full time. I realize I probably need a real
policy now, but I was totally overwhelmed.
I was like what am I even supposed to do?
And all the legal stuff freaked me out.
I still don't like all that legal stuff.
I didn't know where to start, soI bought one of those books that
has a sample policy in it and I copied the format.
(02:58):
I changed the names and payment info to my stuff and I called it
good. And I'm so thankful that I had
that resource. Don't get me wrong.
So whatever I say, if I ever make it sound like I'm
ungrateful for all that I had inthe past, I'm not at all.
I'm very, very grateful for it, but obviously I made a lot of
mistakes. So that's what I'm here.
OK, continuing. My policy out of the book was 2
(03:22):
pages long and it was probably fine, but I really wanted to be
taken seriously, so I thought itshould be a little bit longer.
So I added more. And I remember actually thinking
like, maybe I can talk about howto practice, maybe I can talk
about this. Like I remember purposely
thinking about what I could do to beef it up.
(03:43):
And so I just kept adding more and more fluff.
I was breaking it into sections,like we're talking like 2
columns on a page. So 4 pages with two columns.
I made it look super official. I'm so proud of it.
And you will be so shocked to know that nobody read it.
No, nobody was reading it. And I totally caught on to that.
(04:07):
So I was like, I know what I'm gonna do.
I'm gonna ask for signatures. So I asked for signatures.
I started having people initial their initials next to each
section. I would go over it in detail
with parents during meet and greets.
I would explain every single section.
I would totally watch their eyesjust glaze over while I'm
(04:30):
talking about all of that, pretty much insulting their
intelligence. All because I'm like, look at
how important I am, guys. So then when a parent would do
something that offended me or maybe I would realize like, oh,
I need to fix that. I've never talked about this to
a parent or I've never had this situation happen.
What would I do? I would go back to my policy and
(04:51):
I would add it in there so that it would like magically never
happen again. A policy sometimes just becomes
like a list of grievances over the years that teachers, we just
keep adding them on to our policies.
And that's what I was doing because I'm like, this made me
mad. I'm going to add it to my
policies. And I can always say, you know,
per my policy, you're not allowed to do that.
Just thinking that would fix everything and you guys, it
(05:14):
really doesn't. It does not fix everything at
all. I am guessing that if you have
been teaching for more than 5 minutes, you have probably been
there too. You probably know a little bit
about what I'm talking about. And it did take me a while, but
a few years ago I finally stopped and asked like what
actually is a policy, right? Like what is the purpose?
(05:36):
What is the definition? Who came up with a policy?
Who says we have to do this? You know, I, I started asking
these kind of questions, like a define your terms kind of
situation. And when I did that homework and
I did that deep dive, I ended upcompletely reworking my policy.
And so now it is just one page. It is clear, it's easy to read.
(05:58):
It's still firm, but friendly. I think it's friendly and it's
not packed with fluff. All that beefy stuff that I
spent so much time trying to dream up to make my policies so
amazing. Yeah, I took a lot of that out.
And now that I have great systems going on, I know I'm
always talking about systems systems, but because I love them
(06:20):
and I know it would help everybody out.
Systems that have helped me, waivers that have helped me.
I also found a way of getting inall of the housekeeping things
that you want to talk about, youwant to bring up to the parents,
kind of like that air of grievances that you have.
There is a way to do that outside of your policy.
(06:42):
By doing it this way, it has made such a big difference in my
studio. It has increased communication.
It has helped me on my end with bitterness.
Like I'm not resentful when people quote UN quote break the
rules. So here's the thing.
Your policy doesn't matter. It does matter.
(07:02):
It is such a big deal. You need to have a policy.
That's all that there is to it. But it is just one piece of the
puzzle. It's not just, oh, I have a
policy and I'm good to go. It's not the whole thing.
So let's talk about what a studio policy actually is.
Not. Your policy is not automatically
(07:23):
a contract. I didn't know that.
I always looked at it as a contract, but it's not even if a
parent signs it, which you should have them sign it.
OK, but hear me out. Legally, it's more like your
studio's terms of service. It should explain three main
things, how things run, what families can expect from you and
(07:44):
what you expect from them. So it's going to set the tone
for your studio relationship. Now, can it be legally binding?
Yes, if certain conditions are met.
But a signature alone doesn't doit.
It has to be clear, understood by both parties and aligned with
(08:06):
your state's contract laws. I know, I know.
Looking at your state's contractlaws, that's kind of ick.
I mean, I think it's ick, but itis what it is.
When you are a business owner, you do have to look that stuff
up. OK, let's say in your policy you
have written no refunds ever. All right?
(08:27):
If that's buried in a bunch of like legal jargon or it feels
super 1 sided, it might not holdup if there's ever a dispute.
OK, so what's the real point of your studio policy?
What is it? Well, it's there to set
boundaries. You're going to have a much
easier time with your boundarieswhen they're when you have clear
policies, you're going to communicate your expectations,
(08:49):
you're going to build trust. And honestly, it's going to help
you on the burnout end. All right, I have decided that
burnout, you know how like you see things where it's like this
will save you from burnout forever or whatever or this got
me out of burnout or this was myproblem and now I'll never
burnout again. I don't believe in that.
I think you're going to get burned out no matter what you do
because we are living a imperfect life, but it's going
(09:13):
to help you on the burnout and much more.
It's not magical. Policies are not magical.
It only works when it's backed up by good systems.
Again, clear payment processes and real communication.
So let's talk about some of the other pieces you might want to
consider to have to go along with your policy.
First of all, like I mentioned before, get a signature.
(09:34):
It shows that both sides read and agreed to the policy.
Even if it doesn't make it fullylegally binding, it's still
going to help you. You might want to consider
adding in so this is not in yourpolicy, but maybe if you can
staple to it so it's almost likea packet, a photo and video
release. Even if you're not big on
posting right now, just get it signed one way or the other and
(09:57):
keep track of who has it signed and who doesn't.
This is a big deal, you guys. You got to make sure that you're
covered. If you ever want to post a
recital photo or student highlight later or it gets out,
you want to make sure about is covered because that is a big
deal right now. OK, Another waiver you would
want to consider is liability. This is especially important if
(10:18):
students are coming into your home.
You want something writing that covers basic risks like
tripping, slipping, you know, all the things, all the usual.
It is that make it lawsuit proof, but it shows that you're
proactive and it's going to helpyou out with that.
Another one that you can add medical or allergy info if you
ever offer snacks or kids bring water bottles.
(10:39):
It's just smart to have it on file.
And then the other one, my favorite one is the housekeeping
stuff. You know, where do I park?
What door are they supposed to use shoes on or off?
You know, that kind of thing that does not belong in your
policy. Put it in your welcome to the
studio e-mail or in the one of your student binder.
This will help keep your policy clean and focused.
(11:00):
What I do is as soon as a student joins, I already have a
welcome e-mail template and it has all the housekeeping stuff.
It has where they need to park. It talks about where they need
to come in. It talks about trying not to go
into my neighbor's yard. It even warns them about my
neighbor's dog that barks at them like a psycho.
So all that stuff you can put inyour welcome to the studio
(11:20):
e-mail, and that's a great time to do it because parents are
excited and that's like kind of a friendly thing.
But I keep that separate from the policy because that is where
the fluff comes in. People just aren't going to read
it if it's all mixed together. So keep your policy clean and
keep it focused. All right, so school years
coming up. I know, I know, it's still
summer, but we got to get ready for the school year.
(11:42):
So what can you do right now? Well, first of all, I would
recommend open up your current policy and ask yourself a few
questions or if you don't have one, you know this is your time
to start. But ask yourself, is it clear
and easy to understand? Would a brand new parent get how
tuition cancellations and communications work in your
studio? Are you using your own voice or
(12:03):
are you trying to sound like a lawyer?
It's OK guys, take it from me. Everybody tells me I sound like
Reese Witherspoon from Legally, and you know, I could take that
many different ways, but it's myvoice, it's me, it's who I am,
and that's OK. So you're allowed to sound like
yourself. You can also ask yourself, is
there any fluff that belongs in a welcome letter instead?
(12:26):
You might be surprised. Here's something that you can
try if you're stuck. Just try it, OK?
Write your policy your way, thenhear me out Copy and paste into
ChatGPT. I know, I know AI Oh my gosh,
it's like a thing. It's like a thing now.
All right, I have opinions too, but you write it.
(12:48):
It's in your words, you've done the work.
Copy and paste into ChatGPT and ask it to shrink it to one page
and see what comes out. You might be really surprised at
how much you can trim and still keep your voice and still keep
what you need in that policy. Just give it a shot.
(13:08):
And then if you don't like it and you're like, EW, AI Jackie,
then don't keep it. Whatever, that's fine.
I won't get mad now. A few weeks ago I put out a post
and I think I put it in my e-mail.
I put it in a couple places. I asked other teachers what
mattered most to them and their policy and here's what they
said. There was 4 things that really
stood out to me. The number one thing was to keep
(13:31):
it short one page if possible. Less is more when people
actually read it. I know you guys want to cover
your butts, but there is so manyother ways to do that.
Get them to read it OK? The second thing that came up
the most was being super clear on missed lessons.
Oh my gosh, missed lessons, missed lessons, missed lessons.
(13:55):
Are you nodding your head? Listen, you got to be super
clear. What happens if a student
cancels or doesn't show up? You've got to lay it out
plainly. I know, I know you probably
already do, and they probably don't listen, I know.
But make sure that it is like atthe top, super short, super
clear, easiest verbiage that youcan think of on your missed
(14:17):
lessons. Just throwing that out there.
I have other thoughts on that too.
Maybe I'll get to that here in abit.
OK, the next one was obviously explaining tuition.
They got to know how much it is,right, Make it very clear how
much it is, What's included withtheir tuition?
Do they get books? Are recitals covered?
Is there registration fee, all that stuff.
(14:39):
Another thing is how do they pay?
And I know that might seem like that's cool, like they can do
sell or Venmo or cash or card, really whatever.
Like I'm flexible. I mean, I know I get that, but
you want to be super clear and you don't have to offer
everything. Can I throw that out there?
You don't have to offer them though.
(15:00):
PayPal, Zelle, cash, check, everything in the world.
Guess what? I offer Stripe, that's it.
Now, if a student's going to show up with cash, I'm not going
to be like, no, don't give me your cash.
I will take it. But yeah, I just do.
I do my auto billing through my music stuff.
And guess how many issues I havewith that?
(15:21):
None at all. None at all.
OK, I'm getting off base here. All right, what they saying?
We're saying keep it short. Super clear on this lesson.
Explain your tuition. Oh, and when it's due, your due
dates and late fees if you have them.
There's another podcast right there.
OK, the last one that a lot of people talked about was
(15:41):
repeating it often and I am so on board for this.
This is what I'm constantly telling people.
You don't just send it at the beginning of the year and hope
that they read it and then just call it a You need to reference
sections and newsletters, mention it in conversations,
bring it up when it's relevant. You know, if you know that
Johnny's mom is most likely going to still show up with
(16:03):
Johnny on a week that you don't have and then she's going to
argue that she shouldn't have topay for that week that you're
not going to be there if you just like are expecting it
because that's Johnny's mom's MO.
Well, that you know, just beforehand, like, hey, Johnny's
mom next week, no lessons. It is a flex week.
It's covered in the calendar with our even tuition or even
(16:27):
billing tuition's going to be the same.
Just kind of try to to reinforceit consistently.
If you have a private Facebook page, you know, constantly,
constantly whenever I'm giving my family's updates in my
monthly newsletters or whatever,and I have something relevant
that is mentioned in the policy,I will quote the policy.
I'm like, hey guys, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.
(16:47):
If you have any questions, it isin the policy and then I'll like
put it there and say, but you know, if you still want to chat,
just shoot me an e-mail. Keep it just really casual and,
and they appreciate that and it's nice to have reminders.
You know, parents got a lot going on.
They have a lot going on in their brains.
So we're going to give them somegrace and give them just some
reminders. Think about this way.
(17:08):
The more normal it is to talk about your policy, the easier
it's going to be for the families to follow it and the
easier it's going to be for themto respect it and for you to
feel respected. All right, now if you are
listening to this and you're thinking I really want to fix
mine, but I do have some things to help you.
I will be putting some links in the show notes of other
(17:29):
resources that might be helpful to you if you are interested.
On July 18th, I will be having ascrappy session, so this will be
my first. The Scrappy sessions are going
to be monthly workshops where we're going to have a mini
workshop for 1/2 hour and then an actual hour of work where
we're going to knock it out together.
And July 18th at 11:30 AM on Eastern Time is going to be on
(17:52):
drafting and getting our calendar set for the entire year
with the studio as well as revising or writing, drafting,
all that good stuff. Your studio policy.
So you're going to get my free calendar, which by the way is
already on the website scrappypianoteacher.com that's
available now whether you come to the Scrappy session or not.
(18:14):
I'm also going to be offering A1page policy outline and a fill
in the blank workbook. If you're not sure how to word
things or where to put them, it'll all be right there.
And then it's going to give us actual time to sit down and just
get it done because you know, sometimes life just gets in the
way. Now if you can't come by live,
that's going to be no problem. I am going to be releasing the
(18:37):
workbook and a replay. Also, another thing is, and this
is really exciting, my gosh, I need like a background drum
thing. I'm so going to find one.
I'm creating a booklet. It's a resource with templates,
waivers, formatting tips, examples.
The workbook is going to be in there.
It's going to have some legal stuff too.
(18:57):
Very proud of it if you want to know the truth.
So it's going to be available asa digital download.
And at the end of the July, I hope to have it ready to be sold
on Amazon. So if you want me to send it to
you when it's ready or send you a link, you can head over to
www.scrappypianoteacher.com and just get on the e-mail list and
that way you will stay up to date.
(19:19):
OK guys, I'm so thankful for you.
Thank you for checking out my episode on policies.
I know that these can be quite controversial and we all have
very, very, very strong opinionson it.
But if you do want to take a look at the show notes, I did
cite my sources. Obviously I am basing a lot on
my own experience, but there is research in this as well.
If you enjoyed this episode, I would so appreciate obviously a
(19:41):
five star review on whatever platform you're listening to,
but I think it would be better if you just shared it with a
teacher friend that you think this would help out.
Or maybe, you know, share in a Facebook group or on your
Instagram page. And if you do, tag me because I
would love to cheer you on and work on this together.
(20:01):
And don't forget to subscribe tothe e-mail list at
www.scrappypianoteacher.com for some free resources and
additional resources as I keep working to upload all my good
stuff. Thanks so much for joining me
once again on the Scrappy Piano Teacher Podcast.
And remember, keep smiling, keeploving, keep teaching, and take
(20:21):
care. Bye.
Hey everybody, I am Jacqueline Rosick, you can call me Jackie
and you are listening to the Scrappy Piano Teacher podcast,
the show for independent music teachers who are trying to
figure things out, staying resourceful, building smart
systems and not pretending at all to have it all together.
Whether you are teaching out of your basement, dreaming of a
(00:24):
multi teacher studio, or just trying to survive some back to
school planning without prying into your coffee, this podcast
is absolutely for you. And today we are talking about
policies. Now if you are listening to this
in real time, it is July. July for us in the states is
(00:47):
wrapping up the 4th of July. Fireworks, barbecues, parades,
all that fun stuff. And I don't know about you guys,
but every year after the 4th of July, that's when it really
starts hitting me fast. All lessons are a common.
So yeah, policies, how can we not be thinking about them?
But I don't want to just rattle off a list of what to include in
(01:09):
a policy. I want to dig a little bit
deeper. And I want to talk about what a
policy actually is, what it does, what it does not do, and
how you can write when that works for you, not just when
that sounds good on paper. Because we always talk about,
hey, you need a policy. You need a policy.
Better check your policies. Like, OK, great.
(01:30):
What the heck actually is a policy?
All right, so story time. When I first started teaching
piano, I was a teenager. I was 14 years old.
Definitely, definitely not qualified to teach piano, but
there I was. And I did work for someone else.
So I had no clue what a studio policy was.
And honestly, did I care? No, I didn't.
(01:52):
I was 14. Who cares, right?
I just was so excited that I wasa cool piano teacher.
I got to show up and teach. So that's what I did.
Years later when I'm on my own, I'm working in an office full
time, so I'm driving to studentshomes after work.
And I had about 10 piano students at the time.
And honestly, I didn't really think that I needed a policy or
(02:14):
anything like that. I had heard about them, you
know, but it was like, yeah, I don't teach enough students.
This really isn't like a totallyserious thing right now.
I don't need a policy, which by the way, now that I know what I
know, 10 students is plenty and I should have had a policy, but
that's OK. Here we are right?
I survived anyway, when I finally left the cubicle life go
(02:35):
all in, teach full time. I realize I probably need a real
policy now, but I was totally overwhelmed.
I was like what am I even supposed to do?
And all the legal stuff freaked me out.
I still don't like all that legal stuff.
I didn't know where to start, soI bought one of those books that
has a sample policy in it and I copied the format.
(02:58):
I changed the names and payment info to my stuff and I called it
good. And I'm so thankful that I had
that resource. Don't get me wrong.
So whatever I say, if I ever make it sound like I'm
ungrateful for all that I had inthe past, I'm not at all.
I'm very, very grateful for it, but obviously I made a lot of
mistakes. So that's what I'm here.
OK, continuing. My policy out of the book was 2
(03:22):
pages long and it was probably fine, but I really wanted to be
taken seriously, so I thought itshould be a little bit longer.
So I added more. And I remember actually thinking
like, maybe I can talk about howto practice, maybe I can talk
about this. Like I remember purposely
thinking about what I could do to beef it up.
(03:43):
And so I just kept adding more and more fluff.
I was breaking it into sections,like we're talking like 2
columns on a page. So 4 pages with two columns.
I made it look super official. I'm so proud of it.
And you will be so shocked to know that nobody read it.
No, nobody was reading it. And I totally caught on to that.
(04:07):
So I was like, I know what I'm gonna do.
I'm gonna ask for signatures. So I asked for signatures.
I started having people initial their initials next to each
section. I would go over it in detail
with parents during meet and greets.
I would explain every single section.
I would totally watch their eyesjust glaze over while I'm
(04:30):
talking about all of that, pretty much insulting their
intelligence. All because I'm like, look at
how important I am, guys. So then when a parent would do
something that offended me or maybe I would realize like, oh,
I need to fix that. I've never talked about this to
a parent or I've never had this situation happen.
What would I do? I would go back to my policy and
(04:51):
I would add it in there so that it would like magically never
happen again. A policy sometimes just becomes
like a list of grievances over the years that teachers, we just
keep adding them on to our policies.
And that's what I was doing because I'm like, this made me
mad. I'm going to add it to my
policies. And I can always say, you know,
per my policy, you're not allowed to do that.
Just thinking that would fix everything and you guys, it
(05:14):
really doesn't. It does not fix everything at
all. I am guessing that if you have
been teaching for more than 5 minutes, you have probably been
there too. You probably know a little bit
about what I'm talking about. And it did take me a while, but
a few years ago I finally stopped and asked like what
actually is a policy, right? Like what is the purpose?
(05:36):
What is the definition? Who came up with a policy?
Who says we have to do this? You know, I, I started asking
these kind of questions, like a define your terms kind of
situation. And when I did that homework and
I did that deep dive, I ended upcompletely reworking my policy.
And so now it is just one page. It is clear, it's easy to read.
(05:58):
It's still firm, but friendly. I think it's friendly and it's
not packed with fluff. All that beefy stuff that I
spent so much time trying to dream up to make my policies so
amazing. Yeah, I took a lot of that out.
And now that I have great systems going on, I know I'm
always talking about systems systems, but because I love them
(06:20):
and I know it would help everybody out.
Systems that have helped me, waivers that have helped me.
I also found a way of getting inall of the housekeeping things
that you want to talk about, youwant to bring up to the parents,
kind of like that air of grievances that you have.
There is a way to do that outside of your policy.
(06:42):
By doing it this way, it has made such a big difference in my
studio. It has increased communication.
It has helped me on my end with bitterness.
Like I'm not resentful when people quote UN quote break the
rules. So here's the thing.
Your policy doesn't matter. It does matter.
(07:02):
It is such a big deal. You need to have a policy.
That's all that there is to it. But it is just one piece of the
puzzle. It's not just, oh, I have a
policy and I'm good to go. It's not the whole thing.
So let's talk about what a studio policy actually is.
Not. Your policy is not automatically
(07:23):
a contract. I didn't know that.
I always looked at it as a contract, but it's not even if a
parent signs it, which you should have them sign it.
OK, but hear me out. Legally, it's more like your
studio's terms of service. It should explain three main
things, how things run, what families can expect from you and
(07:44):
what you expect from them. So it's going to set the tone
for your studio relationship. Now, can it be legally binding?
Yes, if certain conditions are met.
But a signature alone doesn't doit.
It has to be clear, understood by both parties and aligned with
(08:06):
your state's contract laws. I know, I know.
Looking at your state's contractlaws, that's kind of ick.
I mean, I think it's ick, but itis what it is.
When you are a business owner, you do have to look that stuff
up. OK, let's say in your policy you
have written no refunds ever. All right?
(08:27):
If that's buried in a bunch of like legal jargon or it feels
super 1 sided, it might not holdup if there's ever a dispute.
OK, so what's the real point of your studio policy?
What is it? Well, it's there to set
boundaries. You're going to have a much
easier time with your boundarieswhen they're when you have clear
policies, you're going to communicate your expectations,
(08:49):
you're going to build trust. And honestly, it's going to help
you on the burnout end. All right, I have decided that
burnout, you know how like you see things where it's like this
will save you from burnout forever or whatever or this got
me out of burnout or this was myproblem and now I'll never
burnout again. I don't believe in that.
I think you're going to get burned out no matter what you do
because we are living a imperfect life, but it's going
(09:13):
to help you on the burnout and much more.
It's not magical. Policies are not magical.
It only works when it's backed up by good systems.
Again, clear payment processes and real communication.
So let's talk about some of the other pieces you might want to
consider to have to go along with your policy.
First of all, like I mentioned before, get a signature.
(09:34):
It shows that both sides read and agreed to the policy.
Even if it doesn't make it fullylegally binding, it's still
going to help you. You might want to consider
adding in so this is not in yourpolicy, but maybe if you can
staple to it so it's almost likea packet, a photo and video
release. Even if you're not big on
posting right now, just get it signed one way or the other and
(09:57):
keep track of who has it signed and who doesn't.
This is a big deal, you guys. You got to make sure that you're
covered. If you ever want to post a
recital photo or student highlight later or it gets out,
you want to make sure about is covered because that is a big
deal right now. OK, Another waiver you would
want to consider is liability. This is especially important if
(10:18):
students are coming into your home.
You want something writing that covers basic risks like
tripping, slipping, you know, all the things, all the usual.
It is that make it lawsuit proof, but it shows that you're
proactive and it's going to helpyou out with that.
Another one that you can add medical or allergy info if you
ever offer snacks or kids bring water bottles.
(10:39):
It's just smart to have it on file.
And then the other one, my favorite one is the housekeeping
stuff. You know, where do I park?
What door are they supposed to use shoes on or off?
You know, that kind of thing that does not belong in your
policy. Put it in your welcome to the
studio e-mail or in the one of your student binder.
This will help keep your policy clean and focused.
(11:00):
What I do is as soon as a student joins, I already have a
welcome e-mail template and it has all the housekeeping stuff.
It has where they need to park. It talks about where they need
to come in. It talks about trying not to go
into my neighbor's yard. It even warns them about my
neighbor's dog that barks at them like a psycho.
So all that stuff you can put inyour welcome to the studio
(11:20):
e-mail, and that's a great time to do it because parents are
excited and that's like kind of a friendly thing.
But I keep that separate from the policy because that is where
the fluff comes in. People just aren't going to read
it if it's all mixed together. So keep your policy clean and
keep it focused. All right, so school years
coming up. I know, I know, it's still
summer, but we got to get ready for the school year.
(11:42):
So what can you do right now? Well, first of all, I would
recommend open up your current policy and ask yourself a few
questions or if you don't have one, you know this is your time
to start. But ask yourself, is it clear
and easy to understand? Would a brand new parent get how
tuition cancellations and communications work in your
studio? Are you using your own voice or
(12:03):
are you trying to sound like a lawyer?
It's OK guys, take it from me. Everybody tells me I sound like
Reese Witherspoon from Legally, and you know, I could take that
many different ways, but it's myvoice, it's me, it's who I am,
and that's OK. So you're allowed to sound like
yourself. You can also ask yourself, is
there any fluff that belongs in a welcome letter instead?
(12:26):
You might be surprised. Here's something that you can
try if you're stuck. Just try it, OK?
Write your policy your way, thenhear me out Copy and paste into
ChatGPT. I know, I know AI Oh my gosh,
it's like a thing. It's like a thing now.
All right, I have opinions too, but you write it.
(12:48):
It's in your words, you've done the work.
Copy and paste into ChatGPT and ask it to shrink it to one page
and see what comes out. You might be really surprised at
how much you can trim and still keep your voice and still keep
what you need in that policy. Just give it a shot.
(13:08):
And then if you don't like it and you're like, EW, AI Jackie,
then don't keep it. Whatever, that's fine.
I won't get mad now. A few weeks ago I put out a post
and I think I put it in my e-mail.
I put it in a couple places. I asked other teachers what
mattered most to them and their policy and here's what they
said. There was 4 things that really
stood out to me. The number one thing was to keep
(13:31):
it short one page if possible. Less is more when people
actually read it. I know you guys want to cover
your butts, but there is so manyother ways to do that.
Get them to read it OK? The second thing that came up
the most was being super clear on missed lessons.
Oh my gosh, missed lessons, missed lessons, missed lessons.
(13:55):
Are you nodding your head? Listen, you got to be super
clear. What happens if a student
cancels or doesn't show up? You've got to lay it out
plainly. I know, I know you probably
already do, and they probably don't listen, I know.
But make sure that it is like atthe top, super short, super
clear, easiest verbiage that youcan think of on your missed
(14:17):
lessons. Just throwing that out there.
I have other thoughts on that too.
Maybe I'll get to that here in abit.
OK, the next one was obviously explaining tuition.
They got to know how much it is,right, Make it very clear how
much it is, What's included withtheir tuition?
Do they get books? Are recitals covered?
Is there registration fee, all that stuff.
(14:39):
Another thing is how do they pay?
And I know that might seem like that's cool, like they can do
sell or Venmo or cash or card, really whatever.
Like I'm flexible. I mean, I know I get that, but
you want to be super clear and you don't have to offer
everything. Can I throw that out there?
You don't have to offer them though.
(15:00):
PayPal, Zelle, cash, check, everything in the world.
Guess what? I offer Stripe, that's it.
Now, if a student's going to show up with cash, I'm not going
to be like, no, don't give me your cash.
I will take it. But yeah, I just do.
I do my auto billing through my music stuff.
And guess how many issues I havewith that?
(15:21):
None at all. None at all.
OK, I'm getting off base here. All right, what they saying?
We're saying keep it short. Super clear on this lesson.
Explain your tuition. Oh, and when it's due, your due
dates and late fees if you have them.
There's another podcast right there.
OK, the last one that a lot of people talked about was
(15:41):
repeating it often and I am so on board for this.
This is what I'm constantly telling people.
You don't just send it at the beginning of the year and hope
that they read it and then just call it a You need to reference
sections and newsletters, mention it in conversations,
bring it up when it's relevant. You know, if you know that
Johnny's mom is most likely going to still show up with
(16:03):
Johnny on a week that you don't have and then she's going to
argue that she shouldn't have topay for that week that you're
not going to be there if you just like are expecting it
because that's Johnny's mom's MO.
Well, that you know, just beforehand, like, hey, Johnny's
mom next week, no lessons. It is a flex week.
It's covered in the calendar with our even tuition or even
(16:27):
billing tuition's going to be the same.
Just kind of try to to reinforceit consistently.
If you have a private Facebook page, you know, constantly,
constantly whenever I'm giving my family's updates in my
monthly newsletters or whatever,and I have something relevant
that is mentioned in the policy,I will quote the policy.
I'm like, hey guys, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.
(16:47):
If you have any questions, it isin the policy and then I'll like
put it there and say, but you know, if you still want to chat,
just shoot me an e-mail. Keep it just really casual and,
and they appreciate that and it's nice to have reminders.
You know, parents got a lot going on.
They have a lot going on in their brains.
So we're going to give them somegrace and give them just some
reminders. Think about this way.
(17:08):
The more normal it is to talk about your policy, the easier
it's going to be for the families to follow it and the
easier it's going to be for themto respect it and for you to
feel respected. All right, now if you are
listening to this and you're thinking I really want to fix
mine, but I do have some things to help you.
I will be putting some links in the show notes of other
(17:29):
resources that might be helpful to you if you are interested.
On July 18th, I will be having ascrappy session, so this will be
my first. The Scrappy sessions are going
to be monthly workshops where we're going to have a mini
workshop for 1/2 hour and then an actual hour of work where
we're going to knock it out together.
And July 18th at 11:30 AM on Eastern Time is going to be on
(17:52):
drafting and getting our calendar set for the entire year
with the studio as well as revising or writing, drafting,
all that good stuff. Your studio policy.
So you're going to get my free calendar, which by the way is
already on the website scrappypianoteacher.com that's
available now whether you come to the Scrappy session or not.
(18:14):
I'm also going to be offering A1page policy outline and a fill
in the blank workbook. If you're not sure how to word
things or where to put them, it'll all be right there.
And then it's going to give us actual time to sit down and just
get it done because you know, sometimes life just gets in the
way. Now if you can't come by live,
that's going to be no problem. I am going to be releasing the
(18:37):
workbook and a replay. Also, another thing is, and this
is really exciting, my gosh, I need like a background drum
thing. I'm so going to find one.
I'm creating a booklet. It's a resource with templates,
waivers, formatting tips, examples.
The workbook is going to be in there.
It's going to have some legal stuff too.
(18:57):
Very proud of it if you want to know the truth.
So it's going to be available asa digital download.
And at the end of the July, I hope to have it ready to be sold
on Amazon. So if you want me to send it to
you when it's ready or send you a link, you can head over to
www.scrappypianoteacher.com and just get on the e-mail list and
that way you will stay up to date.
(19:19):
OK guys, I'm so thankful for you.
Thank you for checking out my episode on policies.
I know that these can be quite controversial and we all have
very, very, very strong opinionson it.
But if you do want to take a look at the show notes, I did
cite my sources. Obviously I am basing a lot on
my own experience, but there is research in this as well.
If you enjoyed this episode, I would so appreciate obviously a
(19:41):
five star review on whatever platform you're listening to,
but I think it would be better if you just shared it with a
teacher friend that you think this would help out.
Or maybe, you know, share in a Facebook group or on your
Instagram page. And if you do, tag me because I
would love to cheer you on and work on this together.
(20:01):
And don't forget to subscribe tothe e-mail list at
www.scrappypianoteacher.com for some free resources and
additional resources as I keep working to upload all my good
stuff. Thanks so much for joining me
once again on the Scrappy Piano Teacher Podcast.
And remember, keep smiling, keeploving, keep teaching, and take
(20:21):
care. Bye.
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