Tuesday, April 12, 2022 by Averil Spence-Clarke | Uncategorized

HI eVERYONE:

                           Happy Easter!!

As many of you know, I had two bunnies playing on my lawn a couple of nights ago but I haven’t found any Easter eggs as yet!!  L

Maybe they were just practicing…….J but I’ll be checking again tonight.

All I am sure of is that we will be soon be sharing lots of eggs.  

Update to Lesson Schedule:  Easter Weekend  Friday, April 15^th – Monday, April 18^th:  No scheduled lessons

April 19^th, Tuesday:  Regular schedule resumes.  There will be makeup slots available on the portal.

Trip to England:

I will be leaving Windsor on Monday, May 23d returning on Saturday, June 25^th. JJJ

Thank you all for your support and best wishes for a great trip.

I am truly looking forward to spending time with Christopher & getting re-familiarized with the young man/musician he is growing into!!

Lessons:  For those interested, the goal is to conduct at least one to two lessons while I am in England.

Unfortunately, I will not be able to confirm this until I am there as I am not sure of what communication services will be available.

If lessons are a possibility,  I will email the dates of lessons in a timely manner. 

Exams:  There will not be any in-studio exams hosted this year.  L

All students MUST be prepared to do a review/quiz of their current level in order to move to the next level.

These can take place during the summer session or 2^nd /3^rd  week of September depending on the student’s state of preparedness.

Summer & Fall 2022 Schedule:

If all continues along the positive trajectory re: COVID, I hope to resume in-person lessons on my return from England.

Definitely, as of September, lessons will be a combination of in-person & virtual.

Parents, I know that virtual offers many conveniences & certainly during flu/cold season etc. it gives us another option for regularizing lessons.

Hopefully, we can come up with a winning combination for everyone.

Summer lessons are conducted on a three on, one off basis:   three weeks of lessons and then one off (teacher vacation).

July:  Week 1:   July 5,6,7^th        Week 2:   July 12, 13, 14^th        Week 3:  July 19, 20, 21^st            Week 4:  July 26, 27, 28^th  Studio Closed

August:  Week 1: August 2,3,4^th        Week 2:  : August 9,10,11^th         Week 3: August 16,17,18^th        

Studio Closed:    August 22^nd – September 5^th     (TBC)       

Please understand that lessons can be cancelled on short notice as I know that vacations, “fun activities” etc. often happen on the spur of the moment.

Do know that each week’s lesson can be scheduled as convenient for that week & does not have to be maintained for the whole summer.

I plan to teach on Tuesdays 12:00 pm – 5:00 pm, Wednesdays  2:00 – 7:00 pm  & Thursdays 10:00 am – 2:00 pm.

The portal has the available times posted for your convenience.  

For those students or families who are booking one hour slots, please book 2 back to back slots and I will edit them into a block hour.

If there is a problem, do feel free to call/text and we will find a schedule that works for you.

Fall Session Starts:   September 5^th or 6^th , 2022  (TBC) Usually based on the GECDSB calendar which is not yet available.

If you book on Sept. 5^th and classes resume after the 5^th, I will make the transition to the following week on the portal.

Timeslots are currently posted for those who wish to reserve their preferred times early.

Confirmations will be sent out mid-August.

Again, any questions or concerns, please contact me for clarification.

Cheers

Mrs. A.

Monday, December 20, 2021 by Averil Spence-Clarke | Uncategorized

To ASC Music Studio Students & Parents:

Hello!!  It has been a while since I have seen you all.  I miss the smiles, hugs, stories, jokes and the sheer “awesome presence” of students and parents.  My “Fist of Doom” has not had a workout in a long time and my Treasure Box is still lost in the gloom of my basement!!  Smiling at you from behind a mask on the front porch when you visit is not the same!!

I have been following the news in regards to schools and their plans for the 2022 year.  From what I can ascertain, no true consensus has currently been reached but it seems likely that virtual may once again be the reality.   For myself, I have to continue to teach virtually for the foreseeable future.  Along with taking care on behalf of my mother, It is also nearly impossible to sanitize instruments or the teaching environment and I would not want to create any risks for my students and their families.  

On the positive side, virtual lessons continue to WORK surprisingly well.  As you know, I was probably the most skeptical because technology and I were not even distant friends, but I too have been in learning mode.  I am happy to say that I am much better at dealing with the weather related & other technological challenges that crop up every so often. Students continue to make excellent progress and I know that many parents enjoy the ease of access with no interruptions for driving, weather, colds & flu etc. J.  

 So…….. as we approach the 2022 New Year and are starting to think ahead to hopefully better times,

Lessons will still continue to be offered “virtually” for the foreseeable future.

WINTER & SPRING SCHEDULE:  The Studio will be closed for the following Holidays 

December:   Lessons are optional this final week!!  Last day of lessons for this semester is Thursday, December 23^rd. Please email or cancel online if you do not plan to attend.

Christmas Holiday Break:  Friday, December 24^th, 2021  -  Monday, January 3^rd, 2022  

Family Day: Monday, February 21, 2022 

March Break:  March 14 – 19, 2022   For any interested students, lessons can be booked through the portal for Tuesday, the 15th or Wednesday, the 16th only between the hours of 11:00 am – 7:00 pm).  If you have any challenges, please contact me.

Easter Break: Friday, April 15-18, 2022  

Victoria Day: Monday, May 23, 2022  

May this Season Bring Peace, Happiness, Love, Laughter

&

Time, Cherished & Shared with Your Loved Ones.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!

Cheers

Mrs. A.

“Educating the mind without educating the heart is no education at all.” — Aristotle

Wednesday, September 8, 2021 by Averil Spence-Clarke | Uncategorized

To ASC Music Students & Parents:

Hi Everyone,

I hope  that all of you and your families are doing well and are looking forward to our next year of the  “new norms”.

As we start this school semester, I wanted to take a moment to share my appreciation for all my students and parents and your commitment to music lessons this past year.

All of the students have been making tremendous progress, in what has been a year filled with challenges. Moving fully to online lessons was a new experience for everyone. I am so grateful for your willingness to adapt to this new approach, and for your family’s flexibility as we all learned to interact in new ways.

While I love having all the students come to my studio in person, I’ve been delighted by the exciting, online skills that they have added to their “Musician’s Toolkit”.  Along with the school environment, students have discovered how to learn in a virtual environment, how to adjust to the “technological” mishaps that occur (sometimes fun, sometimes weird but usually just frustrating), how to be self motivated, and to work on “outside the box” learning methods.   These are not small things, and I really believe that these new abilities will open up opportunities for all these young people in the future.

2020-2021 was a difficult year for many music studios, but because of your support, I was able to keep doing what I love: teaching music to kids. For that I am extremely grateful.

All my students are maturing into marvellous musicians and are a delight to teach… even through a computer screen.  🙂

I am hoping that we will soon be able to return to in-studio lessons, but, face-face or online, I can’t wait to see how far they’ll go this year and beyond!

Wishing you and your family a wonderful 2021 – 2022 year of new opportunities and growth!!

 Sincerely, 

Mrs. A.

P.S. Best Wishes to students as they start into their new grades.  CONGRATULATIONS  to those students transitioning to High School and University or College!!  As in our music lessons, remember to be "S.M.A.R.T" and you will find yourselves adapting to the experience faster, easier and better!!