In the event of any student absence, please notify your instructor in advance. If students miss a lesson due to conflicts, travel, or illness, they will receive one makeup lesson per semester in a group setting. If students miss their group makeup lesson, it will not be rescheduled.
If a teacher misses a lesson, it will be made up as a private lesson at a mutually agreed upon time.
If students are absent without notification, the teacher will attempt to contact the student to determine the reason. After the second consecutive missed lesson without notice or contact, the student will be dismissed and the date of the second lesson will be considered the official withdrawal date. All withdrawal policies will be followed.
Students who are late for a lesson cannot be guaranteed their full lesson time. Faculty will wait for a student for one-third of the scheduled lesson time; students are asked to do the same.
OCM reserves the right to dismiss any student due to frequent absences, disciplinary problems, overdue tuition payments and/or noncompliance with the Conservatory's policies.
We are continuing to monitor developments surrounding the coronavirus (COVID-19) and are focused on recommendations from the CDC, local health officials and government agencies. There may be changes to these guidelines, as new information is received from government and health agencies.
The following guidelines are being implemented to provide further protection for the employees and students at OCM during the COVID-19 pandemic. They supplement previously issued policies and guidelines, and may be subject to modification as conditions require.
Any OCM employee who:
Must notify their supervisor as soon as possible and will be asked to work from home until the guidelines below are met. If the employee has tested positive, they will be asked to assist with contact tracing within the organization. OCM will notify all affected employees if there is a confirmed case of COVID-19 in the workplace.
If the employee is symptomatic, but has not been tested for COVID-19, OR has tested positive for COVID-19, the employee may return to work if:
If the employee (or their immediate family member) is NOT symptomatic but has been directly exposed (Less than 6 feet for 15 minutes with or without a mask, as defined by the CDC) to someone who has tested positive for COVID-19, the employee may return to work if:
If a staff member tests positive for COVID-19, OCM may elect to close the office for a period up to 72 hours to allow for deep cleaning. Staff would be expected to work from home. If an Artist-Faculty member tests positive for Covid-19, Artist-Faculty will follow the guidelines above and teach virtually from their home according to the above guidelines. Artist-Faculty will make-up all lessons which are missed following our current policy.
Any student (or their immediate family member) who:
Must notify their teacher as soon as possible. The student will arrange with their teacher for virtual lessons until the guidelines below are met. If the student or their immediate family members have tested positive, they will be asked to assist with contact tracing within the organization and the teacher will notify all families in their studio of the situation. The teacher will not disclose the names of the students or family members who have tested positive for COVID-19.
If the student (or their immediate family member) is symptomatic but has not been tested for COVID-19, OR has tested positive for COVID-19, the student may return to lessons at OCM if:
When a student (or their immediate family members) tests positive for COVID-19, deep-cleaning procedures will be triggered for the studio where the student attended their lesson. Furthermore, the teacher who has been in close contact with this individual will be instructed to self-quarantine, teaching virtually for a minimum of 14 days.
If the student (or their family member) is NOT symptomatic but has been directly exposed (Less than 6 feet apart for 15 minutes with or without a mask, as defined by the CDC) to someone who has tested positive for COVID-19, the student may return to in-person lessons if:
*Note (from CDC): Recommendations for discontinuing isolation in persons known to be infected with COVID-19 could, in some circumstances, appear to conflict with recommendations on when to discontinue quarantine for persons known to have been exposed to COVID-19. CDC recommends 14 days of quarantine after exposure based on the time it takes to develop illness if infected. Thus, it is possible that a person known to be infected could leave isolation earlier than a person who is quarantined because of the possibility they are infected.
OCM will disclose information about any known positive cases within the school’s staff, faculty, students, and immediate family members after notifying any persons who had direct contact with this individual.
It is the intention to run classes in-person as much as possible, unless the class is a designated virtual class. Teachers will set-up their "going virtual" plan at the beginning of class and outline the circumstances clearly for when this would be implemented. Protocol for moving a class virtual will vary according to the timing of the exposure in relation to the date of the last class. If someone in the class has tested positive or been directly exposed to someone who has tested positive for Covid, the class will be moved to virtual for a period of 14 days. Teachers will notify the classes about the positive test case without revealing ANY names. Classes will be taught at the regularly scheduled time. No refunds will be given based on whether the class was virtual or in-person due to Covid-related reasons.
MISSED CLASSES
In the event of any student absence, please notify your instructor in advance.
After the second consecutive missed class without notice or contact, the student may be dismissed and the date of the second missed class will be considered the official withdrawal date. All withdrawal policies will be followed.
TARDINESS
Students are encouraged to be on time. Students who are late for class cannot be guaranteed their full class time.
DISMISSAL
OCM reserves the right to dismiss any student without a refund due to frequent absences, disciplinary problems, overdue tuition payments, and/or noncompliance with the Conservatory's policies.
WITHDRAWAL / REFUND POLICY
Group class tuition payments are due by the invoice due date. Class tuition is non-refundable after this point, regardless of the reason for withdrawal. (If a payment plan has been set up in ParentsWeb, the total amount of tuition will still be owed regardless of withdrawal).
Missed Lessons & Make-up Policies: In the event of any student absence, please notify your instructor in advance. If students miss a lesson due to conflicts, travel, or illness, they will receive one makeup lesson per semester in a group setting. If students miss their group makeup lesson, it will not be rescheduled. If a teacher misses a lesson, it will be made up as a private lesson at a mutually agreed upon time.
Our policy for one make-up lesson in a group per semester is still in effect. How do you identify whether a private lesson should be a make-up lesson or go virtual?
In the event of any emergency school closing due to weather or other circumstances beyond the control of the Omaha Conservatory of Music, the Conservatory follows the Omaha Public Schools weather cancellations, except for closures due to subzero temperatures.
When OPS cancels school due to subzero temperatures, OCM will not close and will stay open for lessons and classes. Since OCM does not bus our students, the OPS closing is not applicable to the Conservatory.
The first time individual lessons are canceled on a given day, they will not be rescheduled and tuition will not be credited. However, any subsequent lessons missed on this day of the week due to inclement weather will be rescheduled before the beginning of the next academic year.
Cancellations will be posted on our website, Facebook, and Twitter pages. For weekend weather cancellations and the most updated information, please check our website and the Conservatory's Facebook page and Twitter feed.
When OPS cancels school due to inclement weather (other than subzero temperatures), any lessons or classes will be canceled.
The Conservatory reserves the right to open at 12pm (noon) if road conditions have improved significantly, since most of OCM’s lessons and classes occur in the afternoon and evening.
All String Sprouts classes will be canceled, regardless of whether the Conservatory reopens in the afternoon and evening.
Other related closures:
SATURDAY snow days:
When OPS cancels Saturday activities due to inclement weather (other than subzero temperatures), all lessons and classes occurring on that day will be canceled.
The Conservatory reserves the right to open at 12pm (noon) if road conditions have improved significantly, since most of OCM’s individual lessons occur in the afternoon and evening.
SUNDAY snow days:
When OPS cancels Sunday activities due to inclement weather (other than subzero temperatures), all lessons and classes occurring on that day will be canceled.
Since OCM opens on Sundays at 12pm (noon), the Conservatory reserves the right to open at 12pm (noon) if road conditions have improved significantly, since all of OCM’s individual lessons and classes occur in the afternoon and evening.
Omaha Conservatory also reserves the right to cancel lessons or classes due to inclement weather on the weekend based on high levels of community-wide cancellations, even if Omaha Public Schools has not issued any cancellations.
If a student is wanting to change the lesson length after lessons have begun, written (or email) notification must be given to Diane Owens, Education Advisor and Admissions Manager: dianeowens@omahacm.org. Verbal notice or text message from students or parents cannot be accepted. Families who instigate the change must discuss it with the private instructor prior to submitting written notification to ensure the instructor can accommodate a change. The original lesson length will be maintained for 8 days from written notification to allow for changes in billing and teacher schedules.
There is a $25 withdrawal fee. A student who wishes to withdraw from private lessons must give Diane Owens at least two weeks written notice: dianeowens@omahacm.org. Verbal notice or text message from students, parents or faculty cannot be accepted. The date on which the written withdrawal is received by the Conservatory, not the last date of attendance, will be considered the official date of withdrawal. The student is responsible for payment for the two lessons following the official date of withdrawal and may attend them if he or she chooses.
If a student experiences a serious health issue that prevents them from taking lessons, they have a few options:
Omaha Conservatory of Music continues its firm commitment to the principle of equal employment opportunity. We provide equal employment opportunity to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, age, sex, national origin, religion, disability, genetic information, marital status, sexual orientation or any other prohibited basis of discrimination under applicable local, state or federal law. We make employment decisions consistent with this principle of equal opportunity. This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment.