First off,
we truly appreciate that you have chosen to take your musical journey with Mill Pond Music Academy. We have the best Music Family in town! We now have 200 students of all ages and stages on our schedule and we need to make sure that everyone (including parents, students and instructors), is on the same page with all the details regarding attendance, payments, makeup lessons, practicing, late arrivals, recitals, etc...
WHAT DOES MILL POND MUSIC ACADEMY OFFER?
We offer 5 types of weekly Lessons:
PERFORMANCE OPPORTUNITIES
MPMA offers several performance opportunities for students and instructors alike throughout the year in coffee houses, churches, recitals, virtual performances, etc.
FREE INSTRUMENTS
Yes, you read that correctly. MPMA often receives offers of free pianos, guitars, and band instruments. We share those instruments fee of charge directly with our enrolled students. Often, instruments that come into MPMA need refurbishing and we do ask that parents pay for that.
CLASSES:
Prodigies for Preschool (3-5 Year olds) 8 Week Sessions in Fall, Winter, Spring, "Summer"
SAVE $25 when you sign up for both THEATER camps!
BREAK A LEG Theater Camp (ages 8-12) 8 Week Sessions in Fall and Winter
BREAK ANOTHER LEG PERFORMANCE CAMP (ages 8-12) 8 Week Sessions in Fall, Winter, Spring, "Summer"
PRIVATE LESSONS
REGISTRATION
We use a system called MY MUSIC STAFF for registration, attendance, cancelations, scheduling, communication, invoicing and billing.
TUITION PAYMENTS
WHAT YOU'RE ACTUALLY BUYING: SCHOOL YEAR PACKAGE
40 Weekly Lessons (this is the plan everyone is on when you start in September)
Think ahead. Here are some benchmarks you want to reach:
SUMMER PACKAGE July and August 8 Lessons for the price of 7 $245
We prefer (require) that payments are made online via the student portal on the 1st of every month via PAY PAL using the auto-pay feature.
If absolutely necessary, MPMA still accepts
LESSON CANCELATIONS
Let's face it, they happen! Both teachers and students get sick, go on vacation, observe a holiday. There's nothing wrong with that. Simply reschedule the lesson on your teacher's schedule at the same time as you cancel through the student portal OR your teacher will use the missed lesson time for lesson planning specific to your student and send them an e-lesson through the student portal. Many teachers are able to find a substitute in case of their absence. Mill Pond Music Academy does not refund tuition due to student absences for any reason.
SCHEDULING | CANCELATIONS | SELF SCHEDULING
When you register and get on the calendar through the MPMA office, the spot you reserve is yours until you request a change. With 200 students, MPMA cannot make frequent adjustments to your schedule. Please make the commitment to be at your lesson as frequently and promptly as possible.
Cancelations are done by parents through the student portal. NO need to contact the office as your teacher will be notified immediately when you cancel/reschedule. Please observe the 24 hour notice policy. Payment in full is still expected.
Self-Scheduling is easy! Go to your student portal. Look at your instructor's calendar. Where there is an AVAILABLE time slot available, you may put your name in and take your lesson at a different time that week or sometime down the road. Or even schedule 2 lessons in one week to get caught up. OR... take extra lessons when you have time to "bank lessons" ahead for when you might miss. Again, there is no additional charge for fitting in extra lessons as long as you don't go over 40 lessons (face to face lessons + e-lessons) between September and June 30.
INVOICING AND BILLING
MPMA will send out monthly INVOICES for tuition, music books, annual ADMN fee, Gift Shop purchases on the 1st of each month with a REMINDER INVOICE going out on the 10th. Lessons are paid in advance on a monthly basis unless you've made an official request for a different plan.
The AUTO PAY feature in your student portal is the preferred method of payment. If you go through our website to the student portal, you will see all kinds of information regarding how you can safely enter your payment information and select the AUTO PAY feature so that your payment goes out on the 1st of each month as soon as you receive the invoice. The great thing about AUTO PAY is that you instantly receive and invoice and your account is instantly reconciled.
we truly appreciate that you have chosen to take your musical journey with Mill Pond Music Academy. We have the best Music Family in town! We now have 200 students of all ages and stages on our schedule and we need to make sure that everyone (including parents, students and instructors), is on the same page with all the details regarding attendance, payments, makeup lessons, practicing, late arrivals, recitals, etc...
WHAT DOES MILL POND MUSIC ACADEMY OFFER?
We offer 5 types of weekly Lessons:
- Private Face2Face lessons here in our Allentown Studio at 42 South Main Street ~$35 per half hour
- Private Virtual lessons~$35 per half hour
- Right At Home (RAH) lessons. We send a teacher to your home. ~$35 per half hour plus $5 per visit to cover gas/travel time
- Asynchronous piano lessons: Can't sync up with our schedule? Unlimited Video Lessons and Practice Sessions with a 15-minute consultation with Mr. Pete each week ~$30 per half hour
- Group Piano with Piano Marvel~$35 per 45-minute lesson
PERFORMANCE OPPORTUNITIES
MPMA offers several performance opportunities for students and instructors alike throughout the year in coffee houses, churches, recitals, virtual performances, etc.
FREE INSTRUMENTS
Yes, you read that correctly. MPMA often receives offers of free pianos, guitars, and band instruments. We share those instruments fee of charge directly with our enrolled students. Often, instruments that come into MPMA need refurbishing and we do ask that parents pay for that.
CLASSES:
Prodigies for Preschool (3-5 Year olds) 8 Week Sessions in Fall, Winter, Spring, "Summer"
- Thursdays 10:00 am – 11:00 am $199 each 8-week session Includes 10 am Story time (open to the public) and Lesson time.
- Includes the Prodigies Curriculum for bells, boomwhackers, hand signs, singing, solfeggi, and FUN!
SAVE $25 when you sign up for both THEATER camps!
BREAK A LEG Theater Camp (ages 8-12) 8 Week Sessions in Fall and Winter
- Saturdays BREAK A LEG (build your theater skills) 10:00 am – 11:00 am $229
- Grow your Theater skills weekly in improvisation, memorization tips, acting, character work, movement, comedic timing, etc
BREAK ANOTHER LEG PERFORMANCE CAMP (ages 8-12) 8 Week Sessions in Fall, Winter, Spring, "Summer"
- Saturdays 11:00 am - noon (put your new skills to use) $229
- Put your theater skills to the test with performances
PRIVATE LESSONS
REGISTRATION
We use a system called MY MUSIC STAFF for registration, attendance, cancelations, scheduling, communication, invoicing and billing.
- New Students... students that have never attended MPMA before, go to www.millpondmusicacademy.com and click on the INTERESTED STUDENT menu to show your interest. You will hear from MPMA within 1 business day and you will be able to ask questions and get on the schedule. Once on the schedule, you will receive LOGIN information for your STUDENT PORTAL.
- Existing Students... if you have your login information, you can go to our website and click on the green button on the front page that reads: STUDENT PORTAL.
- Through your private STUDENT PORTAL, you will be able to
- make online payments
- select auto-payments for each month
- Cancel a lesson for any reason (which will send a notification to your teacher automatically)
- self-schedule a make-up lesson directly onto your teacher’s calendar
- receive student lesson plans each week
TUITION PAYMENTS
- Lessons at Mill Pond Music Academy at our Allentown location are $35 per half hour ($30 if before 2:00 pm)
- RIGHT AT HOME lessons are offered for parents who would like a teacher to come to them. ~$35 per half hour plus $5 per visit travel fee
WHAT YOU'RE ACTUALLY BUYING: SCHOOL YEAR PACKAGE
40 Weekly Lessons (this is the plan everyone is on when you start in September)
- Runs September 1 - June 30 at $35 per lesson ($140 per month for 10 months regardless of the number of lessons taken that month)
- You pay for 40 weekly lessons (intended to match the 40 weeks of school) but there are actually 45 weeks on the calendar
- There is no Mill Pond Music Academy calendar. Work through the student portal to let your instructor know when you will be in the studio, when you need to cancel, or when you need to fit an extra lesson in to stay on pace with your 40-lesson plan. Your instructor will also let you know what holidays and vacation times that they will not be teaching.
- When you cancel a lesson... unless you schedule a makeup lesson at the same time that you cancel, your instructor will use the canceled time to create a personalized e-lesson plan for you through the student portal with specific instructions for progress, a challenge, video encouragement and some fun stuff as well.
- Getting ready for a recital and need an extra lesson? Went on vacation during that first week of November? Self-schedule as many lessons as you need to through the student portal....up to 40 lessons in 10 months (40 = in person + e-lessons due to cancelations). Research clearly shows that those students who come to lessons and practice regularly see the best results. Our teachers are here to help make that happen for our students.
Think ahead. Here are some benchmarks you want to reach:
- Thanksgiving: 11-12 lessons
- By Winter Break: 14-15 lessons ask your instructor is there is a day over Winter Break that you can come in if needed
- you get the idea
SUMMER PACKAGE July and August 8 Lessons for the price of 7 $245
- About 65% of our students take summer lessons. These may be scheduled to fit your crazy summer schedule as long as your instructor is available. They can be combined into 4 1-hour lessons. You may have to work this out directly with them and get your dates on the MPMA calendar.
We prefer (require) that payments are made online via the student portal on the 1st of every month via PAY PAL using the auto-pay feature.
If absolutely necessary, MPMA still accepts
- Zelle (look for petermeerwarth@me.com or 609-903-6560) Please label with student’s name!
- Cash (place in envelope and please label with student’s name)
- Checks (made out to Mill Pond Arts, please and mailed to Peter Meerwarth, Mill Pond Arts, 42 South Main Street, Allentown, NJ 08501) Please label with student’s name!
- We can no longer accept VENMO.
- The most successful students get their lessons in REGULARLY. Private lessons are a big commitment. Please make every effort to get into the studio! We serve many school districts with varying school calendars, snow day policies, and of course everyone gets sick now and again. If you are sick and able to do a virtual lesson, please consider doing that. If there is a snow day from school, please do not assume that your lesson is canceled. Again, please do not assume that because your school is closed that MPMA is closed. You are still responsible to get your 40 lessons in. Many instructors work on weekends, holidays, school breaks, summers, etc.
- REMEMBER: The entire schedule COMPLETELY resets EVERY September and EVERY July/August so there can be no assumptions that a specific time slot is "yours" rolling from the school year into Summer. Please do not assume that if you take the summer off that you hold last year's time slot. Preference is always given to our current students when it comes time to schedule for summer and fall.
LESSON CANCELATIONS
Let's face it, they happen! Both teachers and students get sick, go on vacation, observe a holiday. There's nothing wrong with that. Simply reschedule the lesson on your teacher's schedule at the same time as you cancel through the student portal OR your teacher will use the missed lesson time for lesson planning specific to your student and send them an e-lesson through the student portal. Many teachers are able to find a substitute in case of their absence. Mill Pond Music Academy does not refund tuition due to student absences for any reason.
SCHEDULING | CANCELATIONS | SELF SCHEDULING
When you register and get on the calendar through the MPMA office, the spot you reserve is yours until you request a change. With 200 students, MPMA cannot make frequent adjustments to your schedule. Please make the commitment to be at your lesson as frequently and promptly as possible.
Cancelations are done by parents through the student portal. NO need to contact the office as your teacher will be notified immediately when you cancel/reschedule. Please observe the 24 hour notice policy. Payment in full is still expected.
Self-Scheduling is easy! Go to your student portal. Look at your instructor's calendar. Where there is an AVAILABLE time slot available, you may put your name in and take your lesson at a different time that week or sometime down the road. Or even schedule 2 lessons in one week to get caught up. OR... take extra lessons when you have time to "bank lessons" ahead for when you might miss. Again, there is no additional charge for fitting in extra lessons as long as you don't go over 40 lessons (face to face lessons + e-lessons) between September and June 30.
INVOICING AND BILLING
MPMA will send out monthly INVOICES for tuition, music books, annual ADMN fee, Gift Shop purchases on the 1st of each month with a REMINDER INVOICE going out on the 10th. Lessons are paid in advance on a monthly basis unless you've made an official request for a different plan.
The AUTO PAY feature in your student portal is the preferred method of payment. If you go through our website to the student portal, you will see all kinds of information regarding how you can safely enter your payment information and select the AUTO PAY feature so that your payment goes out on the 1st of each month as soon as you receive the invoice. The great thing about AUTO PAY is that you instantly receive and invoice and your account is instantly reconciled.