Starland Student FAQs

If you’re still free during your normal lesson time, you can join your class via Zoom. Give the front team a call and we can help you get set up. 

If you aren’t free during your lesson time, you can either cancel in TeacherZone, or reach out to us at the bottom of this page and we can cancel it for you. During your normal lesson time, your teacher will make a virtual lesson on LessonMate for you. It's an online custom makeup lesson that you will do from home. Feel free to find more info here: https://www.starlandmusic.com/lessonmate/

We do not offer reschedules or refunds for student absences. 

TeacherZone is our scheduling and billing software. Through TeacherZone you can view your lesson schedule, cancel a lesson, chat with your instructor or front team, and update your payment information. Parents and students have separate logins, but you can access the student account through the parent account. Your login is your first and last name lowercase, and the password is “starland” until you login and update it. 

(ex. Username: amyjones Password: starland)

For more help with TeacherZone, check out the tutorial page here.

LessonMate is the way Starland handles student absences for private lessons. On the rare occasion you need to miss a lesson, as long as you give at least a 24 notice, you will receive a virtual lesson  from your teacher.

During your normally scheduled lesson, the teacher will use that time to create and post a detailed, personalized make-up lesson in your LessonMate account. Using text, video, PDFs, MP3s and YouTube clips, LessonMate will help students understand the material and practice goals while promoting consistent progress.

You will receive login credentials once the teacher creates your first LessonMate lesson. Your login is your email address, and the password is the student’s first name lowercase.

Yes! If your lesson time no longer works with your schedule, let the front team know by phone or email. If the teacher you’re working with doesn’t have a suitable time, we’re happy to help you find another fit that does. Please note, this does not apply to needing to miss only one or two lessons. Read the section on missing a lesson for info on how to handle absences. 

We ask that you refrain from attending lessons in person or bringing your student if you are feeling unwell. In the event that a student arrives sick, we will contact their parents (if applicable) and offer a virtual lesson through LessonMate. If you become aware of any illness prior to your scheduled lesson, you may opt to either join your lesson on Zoom at your regular time or choose a virtual lesson through LessonMate.

Practicing between lessons is essential to learning music. A good standard goal for practice is to aim for at least 30 minutes per day. Practice for a six year old though is different from practice for an adult or teenager. The biggest goal for the younger kids is to play a bit of music every day. A good goal to set is 15-20 minutes all or most days of the week. Scheduling daily practice time and keeping it consistent is a good place to start. Children will need your support and encouragement when practicing. The best way to do this is sitting with them, or nearby when they practice, and maybe even ask them to teach you what they’ve learned!

On the rare occasion that your teacher isn’t available to teach, another awesome Starland instructor will cover for them. Occasionally working with a different teacher offers students an opportunity to get a slightly different perspective from their regular teacher. This has proven valuable in maintaining a high-quality and well-rounded learning experience.

It’s important to note that the guest instructor will be paid whether or not the student attends the lesson. For this reason, we are unable to offer makeup classes or alternative options for any student absences. 

If we cannot arrange another teacher to cover, your lesson will be banked in TeacherZone. You may use your banked lesson to schedule a makeup lesson with your instructor. If you and the instructor cannot agree upon a makeup lesson time, you may submit a request for a refund. All banked lessons and refund requests expire 90 days from the original absence.

The easiest way to update your billing info is through TeacherZone. Login to the parent account (for adult students, just your normal account) on your web browser. On the left hand menu you’ll see the option “Payment/Billing”. Once you open it, you can edit the card on file, or enter new payment info. 

You can also give the front team a call or stop by the front desk and we can update it for you.

Finding the right fit for an instructor is so important to your experience. If at any time you feel like your instructor is not a good fit, please contact Aimee, our School Director, or Patrick, our Enrollment Coordinator. Both Aimee and Patrick know each teacher well, and can help you pinpoint what exactly isn’t working, so we can find you a better fit. 

The first thing to do is contact the front team. You can send us an email at starlandmusic@gmail.com or call us at 510-523-4797. In order to stop lessons completely, we need a 30 day notice. To put lessons on hold (valid for up to one year), we need a 2 week notice.

We have two options for stopping lessons- you can either put lessons on hold, or do a full withdrawal. 

Going on hold works best if you know you plan to return. It's a 2 week notice, and you leave a non-refundable hold deposit, equal to one month of tuition, that pays for lessons when you come back. (Pre-paying your first month back) You can be gone for up to one year. 

The other option is a full withdrawal. For that, we need a 30 day notice. If you decide to return at a later date, you will have to pay a new one-time $59 registration fee. It’s one time as long as you’re enrolled in the school.