Thanks for your interest in teaching positions with our school. This page will give you an idea of our philosophy of teaching how our school can best meet the needs of our teachers.
To view our current open positions, please check out the link below.
No Phone Calls Please. Only suitable applicants will be contacted for an interview.
Who We Are
We believe music is valuable in people’s lives. We provide a place for teachers to share and encourage this value while working in an uplifting, sustainable, positive, growth and learning-centric space and community. We choose team members who have passion, are committed to growth and learning, and practice compassion.
Starland School Of Music is a privately owned music school and retail store that was founded in 1979. We are Alameda’s oldest and largest music teaching school with over 550 students attending classes. We teach lessons to people of all ages. About 80% of our students are under 18 years old.
We realize that most of our students will not become professional musicians. We strive to create a fun but educational environment with a well organized administration.
Why Teach at a Music School?
As a music teacher, you have a few options to create a career for yourself. You can either teach privately (in your home or students’ homes), or you can teach at a music store or school. Both have upsides and downsides.
Teaching Privately
If you teach in your home or the student’s home, the upside is you can keep all of the money you charge to the student- no expenses for receptionists or advertising. The downside is that it can be hard to keep your schedule constantly full with new students. Getting a full schedule can be difficult and expensive if you pay for classified ads or small online ads. Even if you are a good, well-liked teacher, it can take a long time with referrals and word of mouth to fill your schedule. If you are driving to student’s houses, you also factor in the driving time between students which limits the amount of teaching you can actually do.
The other downside of teaching on your own can be the difficulty in enforcing your attendance and tuition policies. For example, if students tell you they are going on vacation for the next two weeks, it will be difficult to still make them pay for their lesson time. Many students will refuse to pay for those lessons because they’ll think: “I’m not getting my lesson, so why should pay?” Chances are you can’t book another student in that lesson time for just 2 weeks, so if you don’t charge the student, you just lost 2 weeks of pay. If that scenario happens a couple of times a month, it can greatly reduce your earnings.
Teaching In a Music School
Each music school is setup differently. Generally, the downside is you don’t get paid as much per student. Teaching rates that in-home teachers and music schools charge are usually pretty similar. So, pay per student to the teacher is lower because of rent, advertising, receptionists and other expenses. This can be offset, however, by having a consistently full schedule of students each day. Being paid a little less per student and having 10 or 11 students in a day will mean you earn more overall.
Another upside to teaching at our music school is that you do not have any collections hassles. You will have more time to focus on the teaching. Our music school provides a professional educational environment which is stimulating to the students. It is also free from distractions found in a home, such as ringing phones, doorbells, TVs and noisy family members.
Why Starland?
Year Round Enrollment
Over the course of the year, students can move or quit. This leaves teachers with gaps in their teaching schedule. Many music schools only advertise in August and September for new students. We are continually registering new students for our private music lessons – even during typically slower months like May or June.
We spend a lot of money on advertising and marketing year round to keep our teacher’s schedules as full as possible.
Extras are Taken Care Of
In many studios there is no receptionist on duty. This means that the teachers are faced with all the details when they should be concentrating on teaching. We have a full time front team to handle routine questions as they arise and most of the “details”, from enrolling students to collecting fees. This means the teacher is free to focus on teaching and not get distracted by details that are handled by the administration.
Your Time is Respected
We’ve developed and found a way to handle student absences in a way that isn’t disruptive to your day, and you still get paid for the lesson.
We have a system of creating virtual makeup lessons for students during their usually scheduled lesson time – so no more having to work on your days off doing makeup lessons. We also pay instructors even when there’s a gap in their scheduled teaching day.
Comfortable Teaching Environment
Starland has been designed to provide the best environment possible for learning and teaching music.
We provide attractive rooms for teaching with heating and air conditioning. Pianos or digital pianos are available for piano instructors. We also pay a cleaning company to clean the rooms weekly.
Teaching Materials at
Your Fingertips
We are a full service retail store that carries mostly teaching materials and instruments. We have a helpful, musically educated team with the ability to special order books when requested. You won’t have to search for books for your students or worry that they will have a hard time finding the materials you want them to have.
Part of a
Vibrant Community
Starland is a vibrant community of people who share the value of teaching and creating music. We encourage teachers to support each other and to synergize together. One way we do this is by organizing a yearly recital. Occasionally we provide a chance to just socialize as well.
We're also Compliant with the State of CA
The State of California's AB-5 passing in 2019 redefined how workers are classified - either as independent contractors or employees. This law requires music schools (among many other businesses) to change how teachers are hired. All of our instructors are employees, and receive all the benefits that come with that.
Contact us if you're interested in becoming a substitute teacher at Starland. It's a great way to get started!
"I was pleasantly surprised by how easy and enjoyable subbing at Starland was. The front desk staff was consistently helpful, and all of the systems for scheduling, attendance, assignments, and billing helped to make the teaching experience as a whole more streamlined.” - Lucas, Woodwind Substitute Instructor
We hope that you like what you see, and feel encouraged to join our community of music makers! To view our open positions, click the link below.