I have spoken to some of you individually but wanted to send out an official email to make sure all of our students and families are informed as to how Westgate Music School will be handling the current COVID-19 situation.
First and foremost, until further notice, Westgate Music School will be open for business as normal. However, Westgate Music School is committed to maintaining a safe and healthy environment for our staff, students, and families. As such, we are closely monitoring the ongoing COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak according to the guidelines and recommendations of the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) and we will be taking the following precautions to make sure that we are keeping all of our students and staff as safe as possible.
-Any common equipment (pianos, microphones, hand drums, drum sticks, etc…) will be sanitized by the teacher before and after every lesson. This will apply to doorknobs or any other areas/objects in the building that customers regularly come into contact with.
-Our teachers have been specifically instructed to avoid physical contact with students at all times. This includes shaking hands, high fives, guiding fingers/hands while playing musical instruments, etc…
-The restroom and waiting room will be cleaned and disinfected on a daily basis.
-Most importantly. I am advising all of the teachers and students that if you are feeling sick in any way, or if you, your child, or a family member is at higher risk, please stay home. Remember that you can always reschedule your lesson though our student portal or make up a lesson for up to four months from the date of the absence. In addition, My Music Staff (our scheduling software) just rolled out full Skype integration this morning. This will allow our teachers to give online lessons to students who are unable to come in for their regular lessons. I will be testing these developments to the software shortly and forwarding an email from the developer that will give instruction as to how to set this up if worse comes to worse and online lessons become a necessity.
Finally, unless the current situation worsens, the April 26 student concert will go as planned. I will be touching base with Cheers to verify that they are still able to host the event as the concert date draws closer. In the event of a cancelation, an alternative to the performance will be implemented, TBD at that time.
Once again, we at Westgate Music School place the health and safety of our students above all other things. Please do let me know if there are any questions or concerns about any of this. Thank you again. Stay safe.