A Parent and Student’s Perspective

As a fellow parent of children in music lessons (and a one-time student myself), I completely understand how valuable—and expensive—those weekly lessons are. It's natural to want to reschedule if something comes up. But I’ve come to believe that it’s not reasonable for us to expect our teachers and school to make up missed lessons as part of the overall service, and here’s why.

When we pay for a term of lessons, we’re reserving a dedicated time slot in both the school’s and the teacher’s schedule. That time is set aside just for our child—or ourselves—and if we miss it, whether due to illness, vacation, or a school conflict, it usually can’t be filled by another student. Unlike a product that can be returned or resold, a missed lesson is something that, once it’s gone, can’t be recovered.

In my professional life as an economist, I often explain this using the concept of non-durable goods—services that disappear once the scheduled time passes. If I miss a class I teach, I don’t offer students a private make-up lecture. The same applies here: the school’s and teacher’s time has been committed and can’t be “reused” without sacrificing their own personal time.

That’s why I really appreciate that Bridgewater School of Music offers a reschedule system when openings come up. Reschedule options are only available when other students inform the school that they’ll miss their lesson, allowing someone else to use that time. It rarely if ever eliminates the loss—it simply shifts it to another time during the week. Still, it’s a smart system that offers some flexibility and is a generous way of helping families when possible, without asking teachers or the school to stretch themselves thin. From my perspective, I rarely use the system, but I’ve taken advantage of it here and there—and I’m grateful it exists.

Let’s honor our school and teachers’ time the same way we hope others would respect ours.