Policies & Practices at Firstlight

Do we really believe you are going to read this? Ha ha ha! But, just in case you might, please know that it's not that gobbledey-gook that the lawyers write, so we hope it is tolerable, understandable, and maybe even a little bit fun. If you need to, please call or email with questions. Thank you!

1. All monthly payments are due by the first of each month, payments received after the 15th will be charged a stinkin' $5 late fee. We thought about making it $35 like the banks and credit card companies, but $5 seems a lot friendlier.

3. oops, we lost 2 & 3. Good riddance!

4. If you have to cancel - We need 30 days advance notice using our CANCELATION FORM! We would love to require this, but how do you require something like that? Ultimately it comes down to you. Yeah, it really messes up our day when an artist has to leave one of our classes, but we understand when things change. We just ask you to be completely committed and to TALK to us if something big comes up. Please call Dennas at 615-202-6426 to discuss and send an email so we see it and have a record of it. If you think we are being weird, please read our Frequently Asked Questions page for more information, or view our detailed cancelation explanation at the bottom of this page. (We don't think we're weird.) And please, oh please don't try to cancel by speaking to one of us when classes are going or ending, or starting, or about to start, or well, any other time. Let us make it clear; all verbal communication will be forgotten immediately by visual people like us. ("who was that I just spoke with?! didn't they have a purple shirt?)

5. Siblings or any second and third classes/students are offered at an awesome 15% discount. Yay!

6. It's your responsibility to attend your classes. No refunds can be made for classes that are missed because that would pretty much make us go bye bye. We have a cool thing though; ages 8 and up may come into the open studio which is planned once each month, to catch up if needed, or just to enjoy working on their art projects!

Please read our Frequently Asked Questions page for more information about why this is our policy. And if you are tired of reading this old dry stuff, then take my word for it; we have tried a zillion ways to make everything work and this is it.

7. Temporary supplies will be available in the room so if you forget something, even everything, chill.

If you run out of something though, you will need to purchase from our store during classtime. All supplies are sold at 15%-40% discount off the MSRP.

8. Please don't let your children run out to the car without letting the teacher know parents have arrived! We will freak out. Children and teenagers cannot be left unattended at the school to wait after the school is closed. We will sit there with them until we hand them off.

9. Closings: All Weather-related closings will be posted on our website, our app, and sent out as an email notification. We do NOT close for Monday holidays, except for Labor Day. We do not always follow Williamson county weather closings, as they tend to be a bit, shall we say, jumpy? about snow and ice.

10. Our Spring break is the same as Williamson County Schools.

11. PRIVACY POLICY: We promise to take all kinds of reasonable precautions to maintain privacy of your registration information. We will never knowingly share your information with any other entity or persons unless directed to do so by you or by some scary governmental agency like the IRS. Hopefully that'll never happen. All information collected in processing your purchases are handled by our Credit Card Merchant services provider, who uses military standard encryption and has an excellent privacy policy as well - even requiring us to make our policy known to you, which we have just done.

12. Unless you let us know otherwise, in registering for a course, you give Firstlight permission to reproduce photos of your artwork that has been created in the classroom, ONLY for use in promoting Firstlight Arts Academy in our advertising, promotions, and web pages. We do not have any interest other than that.

Here is our cancelation policy explained in extra loving detail.

Firstlight Arts Academy loves art students and we want to keep 'em happy. If you or your child is unhappy for any reason, please let us know as soon as you can so that we can address the issue. We like to be encouraging and proactive. Please know that talking to us about anything will be as good an experience as we can make it!

Most schools are a tight business financially, and we cannot operate successfully without full classes. We are a school-year supplemental program. Students usually sign up for these type of programs at the beginning of the school year, and it's harder to fill empty spaces in the middle of the year. We do most of our advertising during the sign-up quarter as well.

That's why we ask for a commitment from our families. It's not a legal binding document, but a nice promise that you will do your best to stay with our program and give us a chance to work with you. In turn, we promise that we will do our best to make the art course as fabulous as we can in every way.

There are other reasons beyond just keeping us going, however, that makes sticking to your commitment a great idea.
• Each class is a wonderful little social group, and we hate to see it disturbed during the year.
• The curriculum is designed to be taken for the full year, so quitting may give you a partial view of the program.
• We may have given away a month of tuition to someone who referred you as a yearly sign-up.
• Artists can have ups and downs, and it is good for them to see that they can get past a few "learners" and find a "keeper" by sticking with it past the mood of the moment.

That said, we understand when things come up unexpectedly. If you have to quit for some unforeseen issue, or if you feel that the program has not fulfilled our description of it, then there is a 30 day cancelation policy. To cancel, send us an email or a note in writing, that tells us you need to cancel and a brief explanation. Then you are only obligated for 30 more days from the date of that notice for any tuition (attending class is optional, but we hope you do).

If you are having financial trouble and that is affecting your decision, then please talk to us to see if we can work something out together. There are several options available to you besides just canceling.

Thank you!