Miami House of Creative Arts Family Handbook

 

Welcome

Welcome to Miami House of Creative Arts!

We're so excited to have your family join our academy. Our goal is to provide exceptional music education while making scheduling, billing, and communication as simple and stress-free as possible.

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As our academy has grown, we've developed the following guidelines to help ensure a positive, organized, and fair experience for all students, families, and teachers. While there may seem like a lot of information, we've found that clear expectations from the beginning help everything run more smoothly throughout the year.

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Thank you for taking a few minutes to read through this handbook. We truly appreciate your partnership and look forward to making music together!

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Getting Started

Students are enrolled for the academic year (September–May). Once enrolled, your student's weekly lesson time is reserved exclusively for your family.

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Please make sure you complete the following 3 steps so we can get started with lessons for this year! 

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1. Registration

Complete the appropriate registration form:

• New Students: Click here

• Returning Students: Click here

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2. Registration Payment

• New students: One-time registration fee of $85.

• Returning students: One-time $1 authorization charge to securely save your payment information for future billing.

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3. My Music Staff & AutoPay

My Music Staff is our secure academy management system that keeps scheduling, billing, lesson information, and communication all in one convenient place. It also allows families to view upcoming lessons, invoices, payment history, and other important academy information.

• Your My Music Staff profile will be created automatically after registration.

• Login instructions will be sent by email.

• AutoPay must be set up before lessons begin.

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Tuition & Billing

We follow a flat monthly tuition model. Tuition is calculated over the academic year and divided into consistent monthly payments. This provides a simple and predictable billing schedule that's easy for families to budget for and for the academy to manage.

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Tuition reserves your student's weekly lesson time and is divided into equal monthly payments throughout the academic year. Payments are processed automatically through My Music Staff, our secure billing system.​

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We understand that many of you travel. We provide ample opportunities for make up lessons and ​while some months have fewer lessons because of scheduled school breaks (November, December, March), we won't be charging extra for months with 5 lessons, so it balances out over the year. 

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Because tuition is calculated across the academic year, individual monthly tuition reductions cannot be accommodated.

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Tuition is automatically charged on the 1st of each month.

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Summer Months (June, July, August)

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Monthly AutoPay runs September through May.

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Since families return at different times in August, August lessons are billed separately at the summer hourly rate.

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During the summer (June–August), AutoPay is paused. Families may purchase flexible lesson packages to use throughout the summer based on teacher availability. Any August lessons before September AutoPay begins will be billed separately.

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Academy Calendar

We follow the Miami-Dade County Public Schools calendar, making it easier for many families to coordinate lessons with school holidays and breaks.

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Families who remain in town during Thanksgiving Break, Winter Break, or Spring Break are welcome to request additional lessons based on teacher availability. These optional lessons will be billed separately at the regular lesson rate.

 

No Lessons

• Labor Day

• Veterans Day

• Martin Luther King Jr. Day

• Presidents' Day

• Memorial Day

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School Breaks

• Thanksgiving Break

• Winter Break

• Spring Break​

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Lesson Cancellations & Makeups

We know that life happens, and we'll always do our best to offer flexibility whenever possible.

 

To help us keep scheduling accurate and avoid miscommunication, all lesson cancellations and rescheduling requests must be submitted in writing.

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• By email: Please copy miamihofca@gmail.com on all scheduling emails.

• By text: Please include the Executive Director, Rosangel Perez, in the group text with your teacher.

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Makeup Credits

• Lessons canceled with at least 24 hours' notice receive a makeup credit.

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• For illness or emergencies, one makeup lesson per month is available even when less than 24 hours' notice is given.

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• One unused makeup credit may be carried over to the following month. Additional unused makeup credits expire at the end of the month in which they were earned.

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Ways to Use Makeup Credits

Depending on teacher availability, makeup credits may be used by:

• Scheduling a makeup lesson on another day.

• Extending several lessons by 10 or 15 minutes each (our preferred option whenever possible because it's often the easiest to schedule).

• Scheduling with a qualified substitute teacher if your teacher is unavailable.

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Lessons canceled with less than 24 hours' notice for reasons other than illness or emergencies are not eligible for a makeup credit.

 

Teacher Absences

If your teacher needs to miss a lesson, it will always be made up or covered by a qualified substitute teacher.

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Attendance

To help us stay on schedule for every family:

• Students arriving late will receive the remainder of their scheduled lesson.

• Lessons missed without notice cannot be rescheduled.

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Withdrawal & Returning

We understand that schedules and circumstances sometimes change.

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If you decide to discontinue lessons, please provide 15 days' notice so we can pause AutoPay before the following month's billing.

Tuition already paid is non-refundable. However, if a student withdraws during the month, we'll gladly do our best to schedule any remaining lesson credits before the withdrawal date whenever possible.

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Because each student's weekly lesson time is reserved exclusively for them, that lesson time becomes available to another family once a student withdraws. As we welcome new enrollments throughout the year, we cannot guarantee that your previous lesson time or teacher will still be available if you return. Whenever possible, we'll do our best to accommodate you with the same teacher or another qualified instructor.

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Communication

Great communication helps create the best experience for everyone.

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Families are strongly encouraged to communicate through the group chat with their teacher and the Executive Director whenever possible, or via email through My Music Staff. This helps everyone stay informed and allows us to respond quickly to scheduling questions, lesson updates, and any concerns.

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Please keep your contact information up to date so you don't miss important academy announcements, which are sent by both email and text message.