Parents/guardians/students: Please read this contract completely and carefully. We take our rules and policies very seriously; you need to know what you are agreeing to before registering for any of our classes.

Contract

By registering for any class or program at The Academy you hereby have agreed to follow all rules, policies and etiquettes stated within this handbook.

Payments

We accept all forms of payments.  Checks need to be made payable to “AAPAC”. Credit cards used onsite will be charged an additional 4% of the total transaction to cover the fees we incur from the credit vendors. We also accept credit/debit on our website through PayPal only.  

Payment is due at the first lesson of each month. We do not send monthly invoices; it is your responsibility to make payments on time. Invoices are sent for delinquent payments only.

Multi-Class and Multi-Student Discounts. We are happy to offer 10% discounts to students or families that take 2 or more tuition classes. The 10% is applied to the second (or more) class(es) of equal or lesser value, unlimited. However, if payments are made after the 15th of the month then all discounts are no longer applicable.

How Tuition Prices are Figured For the academic year (September through June), student tuitions will be based on the average four-week month. We figure the per-class and monthly tuition price based on the total number of classes in the term. The monthly tuition is the total term tuition divided into monthly payments. June’s tuition amount is not prorated due to the extra number of rehearsals. September tuition is due in full but also covers December tuition, as they both only have 2 weeks of classes in each.

Punch Cards Adult students are asked to purchase pre-paid punch cards. Our receptionist (Office Manager) will remind you when your card is almost empty or empty. We will no longer allow students to attend class when they are more than one class “over” on their punch card.

Drop-in Classes Most dance classes and all fitness classes we allow drop-ins, which are at the discretion of the instructor.

Missed classes should be made up at the level below the student’s current level by the end of the term. No refunds or credits are given for missed classes; lessons must be made up or forfeited.  When numerous students have had several absences from the same class we will schedule a make-up class at the end of the term.

Late Payments There is a $15.00 charge for payments made after the 15th of the month.  There is also a $15 charge for all returned (NSF) checks. Should a student’s tuition be past due 30 days, the parent/guardian will be notified. If not paid in full by 60 days, it will result in the students’ inability to attend class until tuition is brought to current. Tuitions that are past due 30 days or more will also have all multi-class discounts removed.

Attendance/Punctuality Requirements

Consistent attendance is required to master curriculum at each level. Missed classes should be made up at a level below or above the student’s current level.

Punctuality Students must be punctual to class. Being late is not only rude, but a distraction to the other students. No student will be allowed to participate if they arrive after the first ten minutes of class. They will be asked to watch class, take notes and fill out a class observation form.

Class Preparedness Dance students who do not have their hair up in a tidy bun or have proper dance attire on will not be allowed to participate in class. No exceptions. All students who are late or not prepared (i.e. don’t have their script with them) will be asked to observe the class and complete an observation form which will be provided by the instructor.

Students are asked to arrive approx. 5-10 minutes early so that they can mentally and physically prepare for class (i.e. use restroom, put belongings away, put up hair properly, stretch, go over script or sheet music etc).

Students who fail to attend 80% of classes per term are not eligible to perform and may be removed from participation in the performances/recitals at the director’s discretion. NO EXCEPTIONS.

Absences for all students should be called in or emailed to the academy no less than 1 hour ahead. It is important that you notify us if you will miss class, especially for classes with low enrollment. We will not hold class if we only have 1 person in attendance. If we know we will have too many absences that day, then we can contact the remaining student and save them the drive into town.

Injured Dancers are encouraged to come observe class and complete an observation form or take notes so they are familiar with the curriculum, lessons and corrections being taught when they return to class.

Stage Craft Days Drama students in levels intermediate and advanced are expected and required to attend the stage craft days as it is part of their class curriculum. Missing stage craft days is highly frowned upon and is taken into consideration for future class level placement and roles given, or could result in being removed from a performance or not welcomed back into the program. Building a set is a team effort that requires responsibility and commitment from the entire cast.

Communication

It is our goal to keep the Academy families well informed of all activities and events. To do this we use two methods:

E-mail – Updates are sent on a regular basis via email so it is important that we have a current email address for each family and that you check your emails regularly.  We ask that you add us to your Contacts so that we don’t go into your “junk” mail. Families may want to include their upper level student’s email address as well.  If your email address changes during the year please be sure to inform the office. If you don’t have email you must note that at registration on the form. We will postage mail info only to people who do not have email or access to email.

Bulletin Board/Door postings – Important information is posted on the Bulletin Boards in the lobby or on the doors. Please be sure to read them frequently.  If you are in the habit of dropping your child off at the academy you need to remember to come inside at least once a month to check the boards for new information, especially the weeks prior to a performances; we recommend you check your email and/or the bulletin board weekly.

On rare occasion information will be sent home with the student in hard copy or mailed to your home address.

Rules & Etiquette

In addition to teaching technical skills in each art form division, The Academy strives to teach the following skills and life lessons in all we do and experiences we provide, within our expectations of our rules and etiquette:

Appreciation of all art forms ● Appreciation, acceptance and respect of all cultures ● Total Personal Health (mental, physical, emotional, spiritual) ● Teamwork ● Creative Problem Solving ● Mentoring ● Self Confidence ~ Diligence ● Commitment ● Self Discipline ● Respect ● Responsibility ● Accountability ● Work Ethic ● Patience Kindness ● Caring ● Etiquette (personal, classroom, as an audience, and as a performer or professional), and Personal Presentation

A positive learning environment promotes a quality education for all students. The Academy has a zero tolerance policy for bullying, disrespectful behavior, harassment, harmfulness, discriminative, rude or inappropriate comments or acts. The Academy discourages social cliques; we are inclusive, not exclusive.

Staff, students, volunteers and properties must be treated with respect at all times. Inappropriate attire, verbal and physical conduct are not allowed.

Behavioral Steps If a student shows disrespect for a teacher or peer, is a disruption, has behavioral problems or breaks any part of the rules or policies, the steps taken are:

1. Verbal warning to the student
2. Speaking with a parent either via email, phone call, written letter; any or a combination of all.
3. Removal from the class or program altogether.

Invitation to Perform An integral part of learning dance, drama and music is performance.  Performing is a privilege, not a right. Students are expected to perform unless they have been excused by the director at registration, and are also required to attend all mandatory rehearsals leading up to the performance. All adult students are given the option to perform and are not required to do performances.

We are a private school and can facilitate Oregon State and Federal Law of refusing service to anyone for any reason at any time.

Personal items need to be stored properly when at the academy (in the dressing rooms, in bags, on clothing hooks). Please do not leave belongings in the lobby or in walkways. Water bottles and dance attire needed during class time (i.e. pointe shoes, skirt, warmers) should be brought in with them at the beginning of class.

Students are discouraged from leaving the classroom in the middle of class. Please use the restroom or obtain your water bottles before class. Leave all other belongings (dance bag, backpack, school books, etc) in the dressing areas.

“Potty Policy” All students in classes where parents are not also participating, must be potty trained, no longer using diapers or pull-ups, and be able to go to the restroom by them selves. Teachers cannot leave other students unattended to take children to the restroom. Parents/guardians of toddlers (i.e. creative movement, creative theatre or Kindermusik students who may still need assistance in the bathroom) are expected to remain on site (either in the classroom or in the lobby) to take their child to the restroom.

Class Observation Policy It is distracting when Parents/siblings/visitors etc. watch class weekly and unnecessary. However, parents of students are only allowed to observe class under the following circumstances:  

1. All Parents/guardians are allowed to observe the last class of the month to observe their progress.
2. The child is in a 30 min class and of the 0-3 age group (Creative Movement, Creative Theatre, Kindermusik, etc.) or has a handicap that requires attention and requires a parent/guardian to remain onsite to escort them to the restroom or other assistance.
3. The student is brand new to the Academy; parents are allowed to observe the first class.
4. Please ask permission to invite other visitors into the classroom to observe, such as relatives and friends.
5. When observing, please do not talk or use cellular or gaming devices. Disruptive visitors will be dismissed.

Parking We have a driveway that comes right up to the front door. This is driveway is NOT for customer parking; it is a “loading zone” only, intended for drop-off/pick-up only for less than 3 minutes only. If you need to come inside or conduct business please park in the nearby lots or on the street. Please drive VERY SLOW when pulling in and backing out of the “loading zone” and watch for children on the sidewalks. There is no parking allowed in the Laundromat lot to the west of us or in the Salon M lot to the east of us. However, the dentistry across the street from us does allow our patrons to park in their lot after 5 pm on weekdays and on the weekends.

Safety: Dropping off, Picking up Children All students under the age of 10 years old are not allowed to leave the lobby/waiting room area without checking out with the office manager first. If parent wants their child to walk out the door without them there to check them out, then they will need to sign a permission slip/waiver at registration, or send a note to the Academy with their child for a specific date (i.e. going home with another student that night, etc).

Checking In/Out for Class For safety and organization, all students (children and adults) will need to enter the Academy through the main entrance and check in for class with the receptionist/Office Manager. The receptionist will take roll call as students enter. They may also make note if payments are due or past due at that time. Students need to exit through the main entrance as well, as per the pick-up policy above. All other doors are for emergency egress only, and will remain locked from the exterior at all times.

Late pick-up If students are consistently picked up late (more than 15 minutes after class, more than one time) we will assess a late pick up fee of $10. Siblings and "friends" may not be left unsupervised at the Academy.

Office Management We now have a receptionist who will be at the reception desk during all business hours.  All payments, tuition questions, and all other business must be taken care of with the receptionist. Please do not hand payments to instructors or handle business during class time.

Academy Closings

Class Cancellations In the event that the instructor is ill, or if most of the classes students have called in sick that day, the instructor will call and email each parent/guardian/student a minimum of 1 hour prior to the class to cancel class for the evening as well as post a message on the entrance door.  

Major Holidays There is NO classes on these major holidays: Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, Memorial Day, July 4^th, and Labor Day. There ARE classes held on ALL other holidays and school closure days including furlough, late start and early release school days. 

Vacation Closings The Academy will be CLOSED for Vacation 3 times a year: Winter Vacation (usually the last two weeks in December through New Years), Spring Break (usually the 3^rd week in March) and Summer Break (the last week of July through July 4^th).

Inclement Weather –The Academy follows Silver Falls School District’s inclement weather school closings regardless of road conditions at the time of class. In other words, if school was canceled for that day due to weather or other disasters, there will NOT be class that day. Announcements for closures due to inclement weather will be posted on the main home page of our website www.aaperformingartsco.com . If you are unsure or don’t have internet access, please call the director’s cell phone at 503-998-9947.

Ballet Syllabus

Our Ballet syllabus is based on the internationally recognized syllabuses of the Royal Academy of Dance (RAD) and the American Academy of Ballet (AAB). The director and Ballet Mistress are both members of the RAD and AAB. Ballet students learn these syllabuses and are encouraged to take part in the “Performance Awards” program through the AAB. The Performance Awards provide students yearly goals and a sense of achievement and personal success, as well as holding our standards of instruction to a high integrity. These syllabuses are used and recognized internationally, with a set standard that professionals recognize; it gives students an advantage in the professional world to be able to say “I was trained in the RAD, and I obtained certification through the AAB and was awarded the [insert level of medal achieved here].”

Dress Code

Dancers

Our Dress Code applies to all Academy dance students and company members and is in accordance to the Royal Academy of Dance and AAB International standards. The dress code is designed to allow free movement and proper evaluation of body placement, as well as to teach self discipline for professional self presentation and excellent personal hygiene. 

Ballet Uniforms Every ballet class has a uniform leotard color assigned and attire requirements which are posted on our website and in our boutique. Additionally, ballet students are required to wear ballet pink full footed tights (students en pointe may have conversion tights) and pink leather ballet shoes. Ballet students’ hair must be secured sleekly in a bun with a hair net. Gentlemen must have either black tights or shorts with a plain white fitted t-shirt, with hair cut neatly and off the face.

Please, no tutu's worn in the classroom. Skirts are only allowed if they are part of their uniform requirements or for pointe studens. No boxer shorts, sweat pants or other loose fitting or distracting clothing. Leg warmers, ballet sweater wraps or shrugs are ok for warm-up as long as they are fitted and not baggy.

Where can I get my dance uniform? The Academy has most sizes of the uniform requirements in stock in our boutique at competitive prices, including leotards, tights, skirts, jazz pants, ballet shoes, jazz shoes, warmers, hair supplies and dance bags. If we don’t have your correct size in stock we are happy to place an order for you, passing on our wholesale discount prices to you. Orders will arrive in approximately one to two weeks. Students may also get their uniforms online through dancewearsolutions.com or discountdancesupply.com

Dancers without appropriate dance shoes, uniform, and improper hairstyle will be asked to sit out and observe. NO EXCEPTIONS. Your dance teacher is not responsible to do your hair.

No dangling jewelry (necklaces, bracelets, earrings) may be worn for class or on stage unless part of religious requirements. Stud earrings are ok. No colored fingernail polish is allowed on stage. 

Jazz, Tap & Modern Students Are asked to wear form fitting dance attire such as jazz pants, yoga pants, leggings or footless tights with a leotard or athletic top. Ladies: No t-shirts in jazz and modern for please. Ladies must wear their hair in a pony tail/braid securely away from their face. Short hair must be pulled back neatly off the face as much as possible. Tap students, we request that you wear tap shoes that have screwed on taps, not bolted, as they provide better sound, resulting in lighter footwork which is better for our nice dance floors.

All dance students need to arrive and depart wearing street clothes. Please do NOT leave the studio wearing your dance attire only. Not only is it inappropriate, but we don’t want to encourage sexual predators. It is also not healthy for your muscles to cool down too quickly after class. Students who arrive/depart not fully dressed will be asked to cover up.

Do not wear your dance shoes outdoors. Dance shoes are not constructed to withstand harsh surfaces such as cement, gravel or being wet and WILL destroy them. Also, shoes worn outdoors bring in soil and germs to our special dance floors and will damage them.

Adult Dancers May dress comfortably as they deem appropriate in dance or fitness attire of their choice.

Performances

Performance Dates Before registering for any class, but particularly any DRAMA class, please be sure you have our performance dates available and that you can commit to performing BEFORE registering for drama. It is a huge inconvenience to the school and its students when a student drops out after casting has been done. Additionally, if you are already committed to another activity such as a sport or another show, be sure our dates and class times don’t conflict.

Rehearsals During last week of the term we are on rehearsal schedule, not regular class schedule. Rehearsal schedules will be communicated one month prior to performances.

Costuming Performing requires costuming. Ticket sales from our performances go towards paying for future production costuming, set, props, royalties, advertisements, etc. The Academy re-uses as many costumes as possible or supplements with borrowed costumes whenever possible. Usually this covers most of our production needs without going too far over budget. The Academy purchases the most expensive costumes from our budget first. Any costuming that couldn’t be covered by our budget, by being borrowed or reused, will then be asked to be purchased by the student/parent/guardian. The Academy is committed to keeping costuming purchases made by parents to a minimum and as inexpensively as possible.  Basic clothing that is part of their costuming needs such as undergarments, pants, tights and shoes, will be asked to be provided by students/parents/guardians. 

The Academy has 2 large productions per year; the fall/winter show in December and the all-school spring musical in June. We also have several demonstrations, fundraisers and community performance opportunities for our students throughout the year.

Private Lessons

Private lessons are highly encouraged for the serious and focused student. A private lesson with one of the faculty members may be arranged by contacting the instructor directly. Visit our website’s resources page for contact information. Please respect the teacher’s class time and do not try to make arrangements with them between classes. Lessons are payable to the individual instructors.

Philosophy & Vision

The Academy is a collection of instructors who are professionally experienced, highly educated in their fields, passionate and caring adults. Our staff has degrees in their field; training and/or certification specialized to their field of expertise, and many years of professional experiences in their art form. Staff members are carefully chosen based on this criteria as well as their personal enthusiasm to spread the love of their art form. 

Each department within The Academy offers a diverse array of classes available to target age groups and those with specific needs, each having the primary goal to develop artist diversity and to celebrate cultural diversity while developing a love of the performing arts.  Providing a healthy, safe, nurturing, supportive, creative and fun educational environment is our top priority in all that we do.

The goal of AAPAC is to provide professional training and opportunities, teamwork and pre-professional performance experiences that develop first-rate future citizens and community members. We understand that the percentage of people that make a career in an area of the performing arts, versus the number of people actually training or experiencing them is a vast difference. However, the value remains as a HUGE positive asset to each individual’s life. Regardless of each student’s future choice of career, the skills they learn through their experiences here help to form who they are as people, personal character and future leaders.

Scholarships

The Academy offers scholarships to students/families in need based on sponsorships from individuals and businesses. Additional partial scholarships are available as “work scholarships”.

Scholarships are awarded completely at the discretion of the Board of Directors and Executive Director. We cannot guarantee that all who applies will receive scholarships. Students/parents/guardians who apply may be subject to an interview, written essay and/or application process. This will determine the level of need and dedication. Contact the Director for more information on sponsored scholarships and work scholarships.