Best Studio Practice: Educating A Dance Parent
During the Dance Teacher Summit earlier this month, there was a session led by several very successful studio owners, giving advice on how to form respectable relationships with your students’ parents. And with the start of the school year fast approaching (or already here for some), it would be wise to take note of their pointers before you find yourself in any sticky situations, especially teachers who are still fairly new to the business. Here’s what the ambassador panel had to share:
• Be open with parents. Offer one night a week where they can come talk to you in your office about any issues they have with you, your business and/or another student or parent. Make sure your office is a comfortable and calm space. A hectic area will put parents more on edge about sharing any problems they are facing.
• Or place a mailbox in your lobby where parents can leave a note if they want to discuss something with you. It will help prepare you for the meeting. Also, keep all studio-wide e-mails and newsletters on file in case the issue being disputed involves an informational miscommunication.
• The same goes for auditions. To keep upset parents from storming your office wanting to know why their child didn’t make the competition team and/or company program, equip each with a two-page list of compulsory things students must be able to properly complete during the audition. Make the information very black and white. Have a record of all audition forms so you can easily share with parents why their child didn’t make the cut.
• Be very understanding to parents needs and requests, but politely make them understand that at the end of the day, they need to trust you, the dance teacher to do your job and what’s best for your students.
• Most importantly, don’t let parents walk all over you. Make sure all parents on your “team” are team players, and do not hesitate to put repeated troublemakers on probation. For instance, after a mother, whose child is a star dancer and very involved with the studio's dance teams, caused numerous conflicts with other parents and students at one panel member's studio, including snooping through the faculty's mailboxes and spreading gossip about what she read, the studio owner informed this parent's husband about her misconduct and restricted her from coming near or even entering her business until further notice. And although this was a tough decision for the studio owner (plus, embarrassing for the student involved), she said it has been a blessing for her business' atmosphere. So take a minute to think each situation over. Be strong and stand up for yourself. Don’t forget it’s a business and not all fun and games.
- callen's blog
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