- For First-Year Students – First-year students applying for admission to the School must be at least 3 years of age, but no older than 5. No previous musical training is required. The child does not need to have had any previous musical training. Admission is dependent upon a combination of factors encompassing both parent and child. Parents should come to a full understanding of the responsibilities and commitments involved in this form of musical education. In potential students, evidence of ability to follow simple instructions given at the interview and being toilet-trained are key factors that are observed.
- To ensure full understanding of responsibilities, parents are required to attend an Orientation Meeting. At this meeting, parents listen to attend a presentation given by the School’s directors, purchase materials to read in order to learn more about the Suzuki approach, and sign up for a family interview. In the presentation portion of the meeting, the director discusses the Suzuki philosophy, psychology, and educational approach, and describe the importance of the role parents play in the child’s progress, development and success.
- The materials purchased at the Orientation Meeting include: the School’s own Orientation Literature Kit, Dr. Suzuki’s autobiography, Nurtured by Love, Constance and William Starr’s, To Learn with Love, and Louise Behrend’s, The Suzuki Approach. These materials become parents’ guides during the first few years of study. If parents decide not to register their children, they may return the materials for a full refund.
- The time period between the Orientation Meeting and the Family Interview that follows gives parents the chance to absorb and discuss the ideas outlined at the meeting, to read the materials, and to come to the School with their children to observe lessons and classes. At the Family Interview, the director will meet the children, determine their preference, if any, for one of the three instruments that the School offers for study, and observe the interaction between parents and children. Ability to focus, listen to instruction, and toilet training are key elements to acceptance.
