Before lessons ended in June you probably sent a message to your piano parents outlining a few important reminders for studio start-up in September. And, chances are, half of your piano parents did not pay attention to these reminders because of the hustle and bustle that comes with the end of a school year.
As the start of another school year approaches, you will undoubtedly be receiving a ton of identical messages from parents who missed these reminders.
Mid-summer is, therefore, the perfect time to resend start-up reminders to your entire studio and avoid a flood of messages that will require responses. Right now, families are relaxed, set in their summer routines, and ready to read an email from their piano teacher.
But do you really want to steal time away from your summer to compose a thoughtful studio email? Of course not… which is why we have written the email for you!
Today we are sharing a mid-summer email template that you can “copy and paste” with a few tweaks to send to your piano families so everyone has a smooth start to the school year.
The Mid-Summer Piano Studio Email
While the primary purpose of the mid-summer piano studio email is to save your summer from a slew of piano studio emails, it has two secondary goals.
The first is to remind piano parents to remind their children to practice the piano. Two months away from the bench will result in dramatic skill regression and frustrated students come September. And everyone knows that a frustrated student is a student who is on the verge of quitting… so let’s avoid that!
The second is to get piano parents pumped about another school year. Great teachers know that fresh and exciting studio objectives and projects keep families coming back and studios going strong.
With a few easy edits to the email template below (just copy and paste) you can get off to a smooth start when another year of piano teaching rolls around.
Hello everyone!
I hope you are all having an enjoyable summer and that it has been filled with adventures and memory-making.
Wow! What a wonderful summer I have had so far! Aside from a ‘little bit’ of relaxing, I’ve also been doing a lot of reading, learning and planning, as I prepare for another exciting year of piano lessons.
A lot of information was given to you when lessons ended in June. I know it was a busy time for everyone so this email is to touch base with you about September Start-Up in the hopes that it arrives when you have a moment to write some things on your calendar.
- When do lessons start? Set a reminder and mark your calendar: our fall term of lessons will begin on _______. Keep an eye out for an email the week of _______ when I will confirm schedules and send more details.
- What do your children need? See below for details on the book(s) your children will need. Having these materials ready for the first day of lessons will ensure an efficient start – so please order or purchase them this week to avoid any delays.
- Is your piano dusty? Summer is full of family fun and this might mean that your children may not have been practicing as much as they do during the school year. This is understandable 🙂 I can promise, however, that your children will be even more excited about returning to lessons if they feel prepared and ready to learn. Setting up a practice schedule for the weeks leading up to the return of lessons is a great idea. Plan for at least 15 minutes of practice a day during the summer and, if possible, schedule it in the morning before the day’s activities begin.
In addition to the regular fun we have at the studio, I have been planning some new and exciting ways for your children to enjoy the piano and become even better musicians. Here are just a few things your children can look forward to:
- New tween and teen piano games! Yes, even the older students in the studio will get off the bench for some hands-on, game-based learning 🙂
- New music! I’ve been busy collecting a lot of repertoire during the summer months and am so excited to share the new tunes with your children this year.
- New studio events! Stay tuned for the calendar I will be sending home during the first week of lessons. It will outline our group piano game days, studio-wide practice challenges and even a backyard spring recital!
I can’t wait to reconnect with you soon and I look forward to hearing about your summer fun.
Take care,
Andrea
Summer Is A Great Time To Collect New Music
If you use the summer months to build your library of supplementary repertoire, then you will want to check out all of the books in Andrea and Trevor Dow’s Very Useful Piano Library. This 17-level piano book series contains exciting resources packed with pedagogically perfect piano pieces, laugh-out-loud lyrics, note reading games and activities, technical exercises, practice trackers, and more.
Click on a cover below to check out some recent releases:
Joanne says
Thanks, this is great! Do you have any new practise challenges to share? I’ve used all of the ones on your site a couple of times now.
Joanne says
I mean the challenges that take a few weeks to complete like the arrrrgh pirate challenge.
Mary McGovern says
Hmmm…which challenges are these, Andrea?
Andrea says
Hi Mary – we have a lot of printable practice incentives that you can do “studio wide” – search “incentive” in our big search bar on our home page and you’ll find them 🙂
LINDA KIRKCONNELL says
This is wonderful. I’ve been working on preparing an email to send parents. Yours is much better! mine always get too wordy. 🙂 Will definitely use this! Thank you.
Andrea says
Glad it will save you some time, Linda! Yes, short and to the point is always best 🙂
Michele Tamtom says
Amazing. I was looking for an uptick today. Im feeling a bit of a schlump myself and needed this bit of incentive to move things forward. Thank you Andrea and Trevor.
Andrea says
Hi Michele – it’s easy to feel overwhelmed as you look towards a new year or term… totally get it 🙂 Hopefully what we share in the coming weeks will help get you re-charged and save you some time 🙂
Jill herbold says
What perfect timing! I am composing an email to my parents right now. I can definitely use some of your content to add to my message. Thanks!
Andrea says
Hi Jill – love it when the timing is perfect! Hope it saves you some time 🙂
Karen says
Our schools begin Aug 7, so I was going to send an email in the next few days to have parents be on the look out for the studio policy and registration forms coming in the mail. The schedule is all set and I have a full studio! About 2/3 of my studio will have taken at least 4 lessons during the summer, but it seems not much practice has happened, so I like the idea of getting that practice started now….I do start the first day of school. Thankful for the games.
Andrea says
Hi Karen – sounds like perfect timing for contact for your studio! Congrats on a full studio – that’s so great to hear 🙂 And yes, games during the first week back is a great way to ease everyone back to routines gently… but with some great learning!
Drema says
Hi Andrea! What a great reminder – I had also been thinking of sending some mid-summer studio emails too! Thanks~~
Lacey says
Hi Andrea,
We’ve never been able to stop teaching during the summer. We teach year-round, taking a week or two off for Christmas/New Year and closing a day or two for other holidays. How do you stay afloat financially losing your income for an entire summer??? We can’t even imagine what this would look like or how bills would get paid without that income. How do you do it???
Paula says
In Canada, a lot of students take the summer off – in my studio I had only 1 private student (out of 27) sign up for summer. So I taught a summer piano camp that brought in new students, and I always put away money during the school year to live off of during the summer. In actual fact I’m looking forward to having the whole month of August off!
Ruth says
I encourage summer lessons requiring students be signed up for at least 5 lessons during June and July to “keep their spot for fall”. Out of 30 students only one adult and one student (who broke his arm) did not sign up and most of them had lessons more than 5 lessons if they were in town. I used a candy incentive for morning practicing hopefully encouraging the idea of getting it in before school in the fall. Now I am looking forward to a 2-week break/vacation before school starts and my fall term begins.
samantha says
i love this letter. I am using it this week, and i am attaching my other favorite blog – The Practice Nest 🙂