February Invoice information, looking towards the spring

 Am I the only one that's amazed at the weather over the last few weeks?  I was pleasantly surprised to see the pear trees blossom last month.  I can only remember a couple times since I've lived in Texas where they blossomed that early.  And pear blossoms can only mean one thing: Spring is upon us.  And that means Spring Break, UIL contests, and testing.

For the first tie in many, many years, all of my schools have the same Spring Break this year!  YAY!  I get a whole week off with my family!  That's good for all of us, as it means there's no weird schedules for lessons.  We will come back from break on March 18 and pick up where we left off.

All of my schools will be going to UIL contest over the next 6 weeks or so. (Good luck to the middle schools in Region 2 that are going TOMORROW!!!)  After that, there will be festivals, STAAR testing, and the typical end-of-year activities.  These all mean changing schedules, and students away from school on days they normally have lessons.  I'll repeat the mantra I start with every year: Flexibility is key!  As I always do, I will try my best to get each of my students in for a lesson each week, and I will do what I can to work around the varying schedules as they come up.  Though most of the band directors I work with are very good about communicating changes to their schedule with me in advance, it would be very helpful to me if you could let me know about these things too, just in case.

I hope everyone has a great spring break!  I look forward to seeing all of you after!

November-December Invoice Information

 Good Evening!

I hope everyone had a great holiday season!  

I apologize for combining the November and December invoices, and any confusion or concern that may have caused.  As I'm sure many of you can relate, we had quite the busy 5 or 6 weeks over the holidays.  We had family in town for both Thanksgiving and Christmas, and then my husband, who helps me with the billing, and I both ended up with some extra performing opportunities in December.  Neither of us has pursued many freelance jobs over the last 12 or so years while our boys were in middle school and high school as we focused on supporting them and their activities.  But, since we are empty nesters now, except for the holidays it would seem, we took some jobs this year that we wouldn't have previously.  But that meant that he and I pretty much didn't see each other very much for about three weeks.  And since we have to work together to get the billing done, and billing in the middle of the month always causes a lot fo confusion, we decided that it would be best to just wait until January and bill for both months.  I think we did the same thing last year.  I'm not sure that it's going to become an annual occurrence.  I hope not!

I want to say congratulations to all of my students that participated in the various all-region and all-state band auditions.  While I had many make all of the bands at every level, including 6 high school TPSMEA/TMEA all-staters, I'm very proud of all who tried out.  A lot of work goes into preparing for auditions, and all of you are to be commended for your effort and progress.

And a big THANK YOU to parents for supporting your child.  Thank you for letting me be a part of their exploration and love of music!

October Invoice and looking forward to the holidays

Whew!  What an October!  So many marching contests and the beginning of region band auditions!  I know we've all been so busy, and that will continue while school is in session.  I don't know about you, but I will be THANKFUL for THANKSGIVING break which is just a few short days away.

I apologize for the lateness of the invoice this month.  With the 1st landing on a Wednesday, and a busy weekend, my husband and I were unable to make enough time to work on it.  As always, your patience and flexibility is much appreciated!!!

With the holiday coming, and different dates for that depending upon the school district, I may be asking to meet for lessons on unusual days.  And, as high school students prepare for their various region band auditions, and I am leading masterclasses in various locations, that variability will likely continue through December as well.  As always, I will strive to meet each student once a week if it is at all possible.  And where I can't do that, I will try and have make-up lessons for those students at a later date

While my schedule has been very full for some time, I have still managed to add a few more new students to my schedule.  For them, I would like to extend a very warm welcome.  I have a couple of my previous blog posts that will be helpful to you in getting started with lessons. Here are the links to those posts:

https://www.hudsonmusicstudio.com/2020/10/welcome-new-flute-students.html

https://www.hudsonmusicstudio.com/2020/04/how-to-pay-for-lessons-in-remote.html

Have a great Thanksgiving, and a restful holiday!

August Invoice and Welcome New Students!

What an amazing start to the school year!  It has been great seeing so many of my old students return, and getting to know the many new students starting lessons this semester.  I'm looking forward to great things from my students!

Here are some reminders about the August invoice you just received:

• If your lesson rate changed for this school year, it is reflected on this invoice.  Most of the schools I teach at did raise lesson rates this year, so most of you will see that change.
• Some schools have different rates for middle school and high school lessons.  If your child graduated to high school, then that rate increase is also reflected on this invoice.  I know that can be a bit of a jump when combined with the base rate increase.  Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns about that.
• If you plan to use Zelle to pay me for the first time, please be aware that I only accept Zelle payments through my email address, not my phone number.  We have had a number of issues when Zelle asks for a phone number in addition to the email address.  I don't know why it has started doing this, but please just skip that part.  If you want to send a small test payment first to verify that it is me you are paying, that is fine.  Just let me know.

Looking forward to September:

• My schedule is already very full, but I have several new students signed up and looking for spots.  I know I say it all the time, but flexibility is key!  My schedule will change and evolve throughout the year.  I will always do my best to give every student one lesson each week, and I will keep you apprised of changes as they happen.  There will be bumps in the road, but as long as we take them in stride, everything will work out.
• Some schools are already conducting various assessments at this time.  While most band directors are very good at keeping me in the loop about these things, it would be a good idea if you would let me know if you know in advance.  I will work my schedule around these as much as I can.

Collaboration with Christine Davis - Principal Flute in the Buffalo Symphony

Christine and I go way, way back to my childhood in Buffalo.  She and I have reconnected over the last few years, and I went to Buffalo in August and spent some time working with her, and she is preparing some teaching videos geared towards high school students and audition preparation based on our collaboration.  I will be sharing those videos with the appropriate students as they arrive.  Don't worry middle-schoolers - You'll get to see them when the time is right for you.

Welcome New Students!

I can't wait to meet and get to know all of you!  I know you probably have a lot of questions about lessons, so I have a couple of blog posts that you should read to help you get started:

https://www.hudsonmusicstudio.com/2020/10/welcome-new-flute-students.html

https://www.hudsonmusicstudio.com/2020/04/how-to-pay-for-lessons-in-remote.html

June-July Invoice and Beginning a New School Year

Wow!  What a summer!  I hope everyone had a fun and relaxing time!

I want to apologize right away for the weird billing for June and July.  I was out of town for almost two weeks straight in June, and then we had family at our house for about 2 weeks after that, and with all busy-ness, it was almost half way through July before my husband and I could catch our breath to think about the billing. So he made the executive decision (because he does the billing for me) to just combine the two months and wait until now to do it.  I apologize for any inconvenience this may cause any of you.

So with that in mind, here are some things to keep in mind as we start a new school year:

• If you have a past due balance at this time, I will not schedule more lessons until your full balance is paid.
• If your school or district has raised private lesson rates, that new rate will start with the August bill, which we will send out NEXT month.
• A reminder that if you use a credit card or select the "Pay a Bill" option with PayPal or Venmo that the credit card fees I am charged will be added on to your next bill.  We are looking at setting up a webpage with a storefront that will make the payment options more clear, and will add that fee for you up front, but it will be a while before we get that done.
• As I set up my schedule, I will give preference for lesson times to those students who have been with me for a long time, and those who took lessons over the summer.
• I will be out of town for a few days the week of August 14, so I will not be teaching a full schedule until the following week.
• As always, flexibility is key.  I will undoubtedly add several more new students than I expect, and will run into unexpected scheduling issues, so my schedule may go through several revisions for the first couple months of school.

And on that note, I want to welcome the several new students who started lessons with me this summer.  Here are two previous blog posts that will help you:

https://www.hudsonmusicstudio.com/2020/10/welcome-new-flute-students.html

https://www.hudsonmusicstudio.com/2020/04/how-to-pay-for-lessons-in-remote.html

I look forward to seeing everyone soon!

Summer Lessons Begin! Important Billing Info

 And just like that, school's over and we're into summer!  Wow!  What a great year it was, and now we're getting ready for the fall, and that means summer lessons.  Summer lessons are great for students as we can focus on more individualized issues, and since it keeps students practicing, it is a time when students can make a lot of progress in a short period of time.  I always get excited when I see students for the summer because I know they will return to band in the fall much better prepared than students who didn't take summer lessons.

Now onto the billing -

I know I went over most of this on the last blog post, but just to make sure we have everything covered, here are the important points:

• If you have not paid your full May invoice balance, I will not schedule any further lessons until you do.  Summer is always a weird time for payments with vacations, travel, and just being out of the normal routine, and I don't want anyone to have sticker shock when we get back to school in August.
• Payment for summer lessons is due at the time of the lesson.
• I will not send an invoice for each lesson.
• You will still receive an invoice after each month.
• I will not schedule lessons for July until all June lessons are paid, and them will do the same thing in August.
• We will return to the normal payment arrangements in August.

Scheduling has been a little difficult, but not too bad.  It just happened that almost every school I teach at chose Tuesday to be open for lessons, and that, of course, doesn't work for me as I am at a lot of schools, and they are not all near each other.  Thankfully I have been able to work it out with some of the band directors to teach on different days, so I have had spots available for everyone so far.  I know this has caused some confusion as the band directors have advertised Tuesdays as the day for lessons, so thanks to all of you for working with me to schedule lessons on other days. Just remember that summer lessons are scheduled week-to-week, so you may not always have lessons on the same day of the week.

I will be out of town quite a bit this month, so I will make sure you know which weeks there will or won't be lessons when I contact you about the schedule.  I should be around for all of July, but there will be band camps at the end of the month, so there may be some interruptions due to that.

So, whether you are taking summer lessons or not, I hope all of you have a great summer, and safe travels!  I look forward to seeing you soon!

May lessons and looking towards summer

 Is testing season over yet?  Oh my I can't wait until it is!

Thanks to everyone for your flexibility over the last several weeks.  This time of year presents a whole new level of scheduling challenges.  It's been quite the puzzle, but it seems like we've gotten through pretty well.  

Congratulations to all the bands and their UIL performances!  I'm glad to see so many First Division ratings.  We should all be proud of the fine work that your children do in band.  Every one of them contributes to the success of the band!

Looking towards the end of school, I will be curtailing lessons as we approach the end of the school year.  My focus will become on those that are working towards contest performances and auditions.  I know that for many schools, the last couple weeks become filled with other end-of-school year activities and festivities that often interrupt normal schedules.  Plus, I will be preparing my house for the return of my son from college, and family visits and trips throughout the summer, so the wind-down of lessons for a couple weeks will give me time to do that.

This is the time to look forward to summer lessons.  Like in past summers, I will be available for lessons most weeks over the summer.  I will be away a couple times, of course, but I am planning on being available most weekdays when I am here, excluding holidays.   I know many of my students will also have trips and other activities planned, so for the summer, I do not keep a regular weekly schedule, but set up lessons on a week-to-week basis.  That allows us to work around everyone's schedule, and find a convenient time for lessons.  We are somewhat limited by when schools are open for lessons, but if you're willing to drive a little farther than usual, there are usually other schools that I teach at, not too far away, that can accommodate us on almost any weekday.  So, with that in mind, I will be discussing the possibility of summer lessons with you and your child over the next few weeks.

Once change from past summer's lessons, for those of you who have been with me that long: Last summer is when we switched permanently to the billing-after system for our invoices.  As we hoped, this has seemed to cut down on the confusion surrounding when we receive payments and when you see those payments on your invoice.  Since we are not following a regular schedule each week for summer lessons, we will expect payment at the time of each week's lesson.  We will still send an invoice at the end of each month, however, if you have not paid for that month's lessons at the time of billing, I will not be able to schedule lessons for the next month until the balance is paid in full.  The reason for this is that, again, since we are not meeting every week, and sometimes we may have many weeks without lessons, it helps us to remember any balances due and take care of them in a timely fashion.  Having those balances cleared before the next month, we hope, will eliminate confusion about any outstanding balances at the end of summer. I'm sure we can all appreciate a little less confusion!  =)

As schedules have shifted, I have added several new students over the last couple months.  If you are new, or if you have been with me for a while, but have just missed it, here are a couple of my previous blog posts that you may find helpful:

https://www.hudsonmusicstudio.com/2020/10/welcome-new-flute-students.html

https://www.hudsonmusicstudio.com/2020/04/how-to-pay-for-lessons-in-remote.html

I look forward to seeing all of you soon!