Teacher Time Off Policies
1. Requesting Time Off
If you need to miss a day of lessons, please submit an official time off request through your Opus1 portal.
2. Submitting Time Off Requests in Opus1
All time off requests must be submitted at least two weeks in advance via the “Time Off Requests” button in the “…” menu of your teacher portal.
In the “Reason” text box, please indicate:
Whether you plan to reschedule the lessons or find a substitute.
If requesting a substitute, note whether you have already found one.
3. Finding a Substitute Teacher
Whenever possible, we prefer to use current Cultivate Music teachers as substitutes.
If a current teacher is unavailable:
You may work with the studio owners to find a qualified outside substitute.
Any outside substitute must pass a background check and be confirmed at least one week before the scheduled lesson.
Once a substitute is confirmed, the studio will transfer the lessons to them in Opus1.
4. Rescheduling Lessons
Teachers may reschedule lessons instead of using a sub.
Confirm the students’ availability before moving any lessons.
If you are moving lessons to a different day of week or a different time than their regular lesson, please message the student through Opus1 or talk to them or their parent in the lesson and confirm their availability before moving the lesson in the calendar.
If you are moving a student to one of the studio’s two scheduled break weeks at the beginning and end of summer and the makeup lesson will be on the same day of week and time as the student’s regular lessons, there is no need to confirm availability. You only need to notify them of the change at least 14 days in advance.
If you are moving lessons to a holiday, please confirm the student’s availability before moving the lesson in the calendar.
5. Moving Lessons in Opus1
Log into your Opus1 account.
Find the lesson you’d like to move in your calendar.
Click on the lesson block and change the day and time. Please note that the client will receive an email and text notification if a lesson is moved. Please be sure that the day and time are correct before moving the lesson.
The system may display alerts such as “room conflict” or “teacher not available” You can ignore “teacher not available” since it is not a part of your regular schedule. There may also be an alert if you are scheduling a lesson during a studio closure. You can also ignore this alert.
Notify the studio owners via text or email and then inform your students using the “Comments” feature in Opus1. This ensures an email notification is also sent to the student.
We will also send an email to your students reminding them of the change and asking them to check their message from you. If the lessons have been moved to a different day, we will send a text message through Opus1 on the day of the original lesson time reminding them that the lesson has been moved.
In-person lessons should be made up in person, unless the student/parent agrees to an online lesson.
If you would like to move a lesson permanently to a new time, please contact the studio owners and we will make the change in our system. As a teacher you can only move single lessons, not a recurring schedule.
All lessons must be rescheduled prior to the day of the teacher absence.
If any students/parents fail to respond to multiple request to reschedule, please contact the studio owners and we will cancel the lesson in Opus1 and issue a lesson credit that the client can use at their discretion.
6. Missed Lessons and Financial Policies
If no substitute teacher can be found and the teacher chooses not to make the lesson up, the teacher must reimburse the studio for the amount of lost revenue.
This amount varies depending on the teacher’s pay rate but averages to approximately $22 per lesson.
7. Limit on Reschedules and Time Off
Teachers are allowed up to two missed or rescheduled lesson days per semester (spring, summer, fall) for any reason other than illness or emergency.
Additional absences beyond this limit must be approved by studio management.
8. Illness or Emergency Absences
If you must cancel due to illness or emergency:
Contact the studio owners immediately.
We will send an email and text message to your students.
We will cancel the lessons in Opus1 and issue a makeup credit to each student.
Within two days, you will need to plan on either one or two days per missed lesson day to make available for makeup lessons. Students will be able to log into their account and use their makeup credit to schedule a lesson in one of your openings. You may also contact each student individually using the Opus1 comments and arrange makeup times.
You will then need to reach out to students directly to let them know when you’re available for makeup lessons.
If you agree upon a time with a client that is not set up as available on your schedule either in your normal schedule or on a scheduled makeup day, please let the owner know so that we can create a spot in the calendar and use the student’s credit to book that time.
Once lessons are cancelled in the calendar, they cannot be moved. The makeup credit must be used for the new lesson time.
9. Scheduled Weeks Off / Flex Weeks
The studio observes one scheduled week off at the beginning and end of summer.
If you need to take time off during a different week:
You may make up lessons before or after your absence by teaching during one of the studio’s flex weeks.
You may also choose to provide lessons on a holiday when the studio is closed if the student/parent agrees.
View the studio calendar at: cultivatemusic.org/calendar-1 to see all scheduled studio closures.
If you choose to teach during a flex week, notify your students/parents as soon as possible. Please also move the corresponding lessons in Opus1; you may ignore the alert stating the studio is “closed.”