Regular attendance is expected of Seminar members in both years of study. The School for Strings recognizes that there can be occasional circumstances that require a Seminar member to miss a class. With that in mind, the School established the policies below clarifying attendance requirements.
The School for Strings limits the number of absences allowed in the Teacher Training Program to two per semester, four per academic year.
Please note: Since the School does not break the year officially into two semesters, the School considers its Mid-Year Festival to be the half point in the school year. The Festival typically takes place in early February.
In case of an absence, the Seminar member is required to notify the School in advance and request for the class to be videotaped. Subsequently, the student will need to contact the office to set up an appointment to watch the video recording and take detailed notes. The notes will need to be submitted to the Teacher Trainer for review.
Please note: When unable to be present physically, a Seminar member may choose to participate in the Seminar via Skype. However, participation via Skype counts as an absence since the student is not physically present and Skype sessions are counted towards the total of allowed absences per semester/year. It is the responsibility of the Seminar member to coordinate setting up the Skype session with a fellow member who is in attendance.
The School for Strings and its Teacher Trainers closely follow the attendance guidelines issued by the Suzuki Association of the Americas. Should the number of absences exceed two in a semester, a Seminar member may submit a request to The School for Strings’ Executive Director and the Teacher Trainer asking for a dispensation. If such a dispensation is granted, the total of permitted absences will increase to five per year. Please note that five is the maximum number of possible absences, regardless of circumstances, and a further absence will result in forfeiting registration of the training received with the Suzuki Association of the Americas.
OBSERVATION AND ASSIGNMENTS POLICIES
OBSERVATION: A Seminar member is required to attend sixty-four hours of observation during the first year of study. Meeting the observation requirement is condition for advancement to the second-year Seminar.
ASSIGNMENTS: Completion of reading material assignments, presentations and papers, as determined by the Trainer, is condition for advancement to the second-year Seminar.
OTHER POLICIES
Any videotaped material in the Seminar is considered sole property of The School for Strings and is not to be posted, shown or shared in any way or manner without explicit permission by the School. Some videotaping of particular teaching points may take place at the discretion of the Trainer and be kept for private use only by the teacher trainee.
Download Teacher Training Policies
