Policies & Agreements

Student agreement

You will see this every time you book a session, but here it is on our website:

As a student of the Effervescent Voice Academy, I agree to:

  • Commit to lessons for the agreed-upon term

  • Committing towards my own growth, by implementing effective practice strategies at home

  • Show up on time for lessons, with all of my needed materials, ready to learn

  • Try new and weird things with my voice

  • Manage my own schedule through the use of Acuity to reschedule or cancel lessons at least 2 hours in advance of my lesson time

  • Respect the studio’s physical space, the teacher, other students, and my parents for paying for my lessons

  • Opt for online lessons or to cancel if weather makes it impossible to attend my appointment

  • Support and encourage other studio members in their growth

As a parent/provider of a student in the Effervescent Voice Academy, I agree to:

  • Set up and manage my payments through my Acuity account (Your payment information is held securely within the software)

  • Commit to lessons for the agreed-upon term, and I understand that there are no refunds

  • Support my student in whatever ways possible to make their musical growth a priority

As your Effervescent voice instructors, we agree to:

  • Make lessons interesting and engaging

  • Care for you as a whole person

  • Take your musical interests and goals seriously

  • Be as flexible as possible to accommodate your schedule conflicts

  • Give you tools to help you grow musically, vocally, personally and in responsibility

  • Exude awesomeness

Policies and Procedures

We utilize our website and Acuity to handle both scheduling and payments online. At your Initial Fit Session, we will discuss with you the lesson, package and payment options and you may choose the frequency of lessons and payments that works best for you.

You are allowed to reschedule any private lessons, or cancel up to 2 hours before a scheduled appointment, but there will be no refunds given for unused benefits. Rescheduling semi-private lessons involves all of the singers, the teacher and the room. Please call the office to coordinate a reschedule of semi-private lessons. (605) 366-0990.

It is the STUDENT’S responsibility to manage their schedule using the Acuity Online Scheduler. This includes:

  • Cancelling lessons up to 2 hours AHEAD OF TIME for tech week or vacations, etc.

  • Rescheduling private lessons

  • Cancelling or rescheduling due to sickness

Other Lesson Options:

  • Online Lessons are an option if weather makes it impossible to get to the studio.

  • Video Feedback make a video of your song (via the Marco Polo App) for your teacher to give feedback on at their convenience (within 24 hours).

  • Accompanying Sessions if the student is doing a competition/ contest, and uses one of our staff members as an accompanist, this is no additional fee, but will count as your lesson for that week. This applies to video recordings for auditions as well.

Missed Lessons: Missed lessons with no prior notification will NOT be made up or refunded. 3 missed lessons in a row with no communication, will result in the student being dropped from our schedule, your package being cancelled, and no refunds. So don’t do that.

Purchasing Sheet Music: You may be asked to purchase sheet music for songs that you are working on. We will try to make those purchases minimal, reusing your books frequently, since they have a lot of options in them. Music may be purchased locally at either Poppler’s or Schmidtt Music. Both located on 41st Street, near Costco.

Student Responsibilities:

  • Show up on time, alert and ready to have fun and learn.

  • Bring your music, a water bottle, and a recording device (usually your phone)

  • Manage your own schedule (see above)

  • Respect the studio, your teacher, other students and your parents for paying for your lessons.

Parent Responsibilities:

  • Set up a payment plan and create an account in Acuity. Your credit card information will be securely stored within the software.

  • Set your child up for success. Whatever that means for your family. Thank you for purchasing lessons and music for them, and investing in their musical growth.

‌Package and Pricing Options

During the school year, you have the option to choose a 9-month Membership (see membership pricing page for details).

Every summer, things change for many of us, so we offer some summer options with a lower commitment level to keep you involved without losing the progress you have made during the year.

No refunds will be given. When you choose a membership, you are making a monthly commitment, no matter how busy you get. If you purchase a lesson, you have the freedom to reschedule that session up to 2 hours before the scheduled appointment. (That being said, we’re not monsters. If something life-changing comes up, please contact us and we will discuss our options.)

How Long Do Lessons Last?

Everybody is different. Every BODY is different, so there are no clear cut answers to this question. Many students start to see results within 6 weeks. These are really just beginning changes. If you’ve been a singer for a long time, you might have several “A-Ha!” (fizzy) moments early on and see fast progress. Others may not see the breakthrough they’ve been hoping for, for years. It is not unusual to have long seasons of plateau.

As a result, many voice students study continuously for years, others choose to study for only a season. The human body is always changing, and because it is our instrument, we can continue to learn how best to use our voices over the course of our lifetimes. And we get it. Things change, interests change, people evolve. There are natural transition times in our lives like switching schools, moving, graduations, a job change, etc. Our goal is to get you to a self-awareness point of being able to trust yourself and your instincts. Maybe you’ll get so good at it, you’ll want to become a voice teacher yourself! That’s how we started our staff at effVA.

When students graduate from high school, we like to celebrate them! Please don’t leave the studio before we get a chance to shower you with love.

You may discontinue your membership at any time during the year with two weeks’ notice, however, you may not renew membership until the following school year begins in September. You may schedule lessons at the drop-in rate even if you cancel your monthly membership payments. There are no refunds for unused lessons.

If you wish to discontinue lessons with us completely, we would like to do an exit interview with you to see why you made your decision and see if there is anything we can do to make the Effervescent experience a better one for everyone.