Students are charged for all the lessons for which they register, including those missed (in person or virtual) through student absence. As a courtesy, students are expected to notify their teachers directly of an impending absence from lessons. The Music School does not offer compensatory lessons for absences and/or missed lessons that occur because students have conflicts, travel out of town, etc. or due to illness. Student lessons are suspended after three consecutive absences without notification by the student/family. Students with suspended lessons are still obligated to fulfill their financial commitment.

See Youth Ensembles Membership Policies in your ensemble acceptance packet.

Students who start at the beginning of the school year register for 34 weeks of private lessons. There are several weeks at the end of the year reserved for inclement weather and teacher absence makeup days. Students are expected to reserve this time on their schedule in case makeups are needed. Students may also choose to register for additional lessons during this period, if the teacher is available. Please see our Core Calendar for details. If a student cancels or misses a scheduled makeup lesson, there is no credit/refund and no additional makeup lesson. Teacher cancellations and lessons canceled by the Music School due to inclement weather that cannot be made up by the close of the session are credited to the student’s account to be applied to future activity. No makeups or credits are given to students absent from a group class or ensemble. Virtual lessons may be an option during inclement weather.

To find out if we’re closed or delayed due to weather, please check our website riphil.org or news sites abc6.com and turnto10.com. We are listed as follows:

Private Schools

RI Phil Music School

East Providence

Any cancellation listed will affect all our branches unless specified otherwise. Also, if you are without power or Internet and need to find out our status, please call 401-248-7001. The voicemail greeting will tell you if we have made a decision to close or delay opening.

Students who are late for a scheduled lesson or forget their lesson books are not guaranteed their full lesson. Students more than 15 minutes late for their lesson will be considered absent. The teacher reserves the right to cancel the remainder of the lesson.

Virtual lessons may be an option for students and teachers. Virtual lessons allow students and teachers to meet safely from the comfort of their own home during periods of inclement weather and/or other health/safety emergencies. During the registration process, you will determine with your teacher the best platform for virtual learning for your instrument. Your teacher will be in touch during any days that may require the use of such platform. If a student would like to request a virtual lesson during their regularly scheduled lesson time, they may reach out to their instructor to make that request, giving 24 hours’ notice. Students are charged for all the lessons for which they register, including those missed (in person or virtual) through student absence. The Rhode Island Philharmonic Music School reserves the right to move to virtual learning at any time to protect the safety of students, faculty and staff. 

Parents are responsible for supervising their children at all times. To ensure your child's safety, please be sure to pick them up promptly after their lesson, class, or ensemble. Staff and faculty are not responsible for students (or siblings). Do not allow children to wander off alone, run around in the hallways or play outside the building. This is a safety factor as well as a courtesy to people concentrating on their lessons and those who are studying or reading.

We appreciate your help in taking care of our school by cleaning up after yourself and disposing of any trash, food or beverage containers in the trash bins. Should an accident or spill occur, please see staff at the front desk to report the problem.  

For the safety of all who use our facility, vehicles must follow all posted signage and park in legitimate parking spots. Parking or idling at the entrances is prohibited as this blocks emergency vehicles from gaining access and creates a dangerous situation for people going to and from their cars.  Additionally, use caution when walking through the parking lot as it is a busy zone.

If you are waiting to pick up a student, please pull into a legitimate parking spot and either come into the building to meet your student, or text them your location in the parking lot. Please do not park in a no parking zone at any time. The circular drop off door near the box office is for the purposes of dropping off students with large instruments and to accommodate people with physical limitations. 

Please silence all electronic games and devices or use headphones. The Wi-Fi password can be found at the front desk. Please be mindful of ongoing Music School activities and keep phone conversations to a minimum. We appreciate your cooperation.