Sayla Music Academy Emergency Update
Find updates and details about our school and the COVID-19 Virus
NEW UPDATE: 11/16/2023
Dear Parents and Students,
We are so delighted that many of you have returned to our studios and maintained your skills throughout the last several years. We want to thank and acknowledge all of you for your support throughout this incredibly difficult and tumultuous time. While we are officially out of the pandemic, we still find ourselves in a society facing the repercussions of this historical event. Many variants of COVID have become a point of interest this season and new and other highly contagious illnesses such as RSV have made a sudden appearance, as well. It is our goal to maintain clarity and promote health in a time such as this.
We encourage our students to stay home if they are feeling sick. This is not only to make sure that your student is comfortable, but that your teacher is able to stay healthy and maintain their studio. Additionally, if you have been exposed to someone who is sick or are unsure about your symptoms, we ask and encourage you to wear a mask to your lesson. Most importanly, we want to stress that communicating any symptoms, illness, or contact with illness is extremely important to our teachers. If any of these situations apply to you or your loved ones, please let your teacher know and decide the best course of action.
If you suspect that you have COVID, we ask that you present a negative test to your teacher before returning to lessons. We also ask that you follow the current CDC guidelines when observing symptoms, isolation, and rejoining the public.
Out of respect for both your teacher and other families, please be responsible in keeping our campus safe, healthy, and free of contagious diseases. Thank you so much for your patience, cooperation, and continued support!
Sincerely,
Elizabeth Chan
Director of Operations
NEW UPDATE: 6/10/2021
Dear Parents and Students,
As most of you are aware, the State is now lifting most mandates and restrictions starting June 15th. We have been careful to try our hardest to follow and apply all of these restrictions— and I believe it is a welcome change that many of those mandates, including masks and capacity limits, will be lifted and almost nonexistent. Please read the following response to this and how we are approaching the changes:
If a student and teacher are vaccinated, we will not be requiring masks for in person lessons. If a teacher or student wishes to wear a mask they can request to do so, so please reach out to your teacher with your preference. Teachers may still require masks in their personal studios, so please be conscious of your private teachers preferences.
Our waiting room will remain closed until August so we can reorganize our school to accommodate a normal schedule and student attendance.
We will begin the plans for starting our ensembles again! This will include our ever-beloved Orchestra! Please reach out if you are interested in signing up for September.
We will continue to hold outdoor events, but will most likely transition to indoor events and recitals this winter.
Thank you all for your dedication to our school and attention to the rules. I do admit that this is a confusing time and we are trying our hardest to accomodate the preferences of our students, parents, and teachers. We couldn't have survived this without you and are very greatful to still provide high quality music lessons in a beautiful space.
Stay safe and keep practicing!
--Chase
NEW UPDATE: 2/5/2021
Dear Parents and Students,
I want to thank you for your ongoing support of our music community through these current months. It is a great privilege to see our music academy continuing to provide lessons and music education. I believe that these activities are vital to our culture and community, especially during this time when children and adults alike are experiencing detachment and a need for connection with their community. We have made it through a rough year and are coming in strong to the beginning of 2021. This is, no doubt, due to the support of our students and parents, and the enthusiasm and dedication of our teachers.
I want to address our clients questions regarding the current situation in our county and assure you we are trying our hardest to follow all mandates and regulations at this time, while still providing a hybrid model for flexible online and in-person lessons. It has always been my priority to protect our staff and students as well as be consistent with what we are offering to our community.
Here are a couple updates, clarifications, and details about what you can expect from us as a business and music academy.
--We are continuing to enforce all social distancing and mask regulations.
--We are kindly asking people to not gather in public spaces and to wait outside the direct room of your teacher. All waiting rooms are closed to the public unless you are waiting for a lesson.
--We are continuing to offer digital events and understand that it may be awhile before we host in-person events again for our students and teachers. We are striving to provide quality online events to engage students and show off the awesome talent within our school!
--In the event of a possible COVID-19 exposure, we will quarantine the appropriate building and switch to virtual lessons for two weeks to avoid exposure to the virus from a teacher or student. We appreciate your flexibility if this were to happen.
--We are not requiring staff members or students to be vaccinated. This choice is up to the sole discretion of our teachers and students and will not be dictated by our administration.
We look forward to starting a new semester, seeing our music community grow, and return to its former state after a difficult year. Once we are able, we are hoping to provide music performances, host events, and engage in public gatherings at our outdoor venue— however, Sayla will only do so when it is deemed safe by our county and state. In the meantime feel free to engage in our digital events which you can find here:
www.saylamusicacademy.com/school-events
I appreciate your support and I am thankful to hear beautiful music being created every day at Sayla Music Academy. If you would like to reach out with any questions or concerns please message us at info@saylamusicacademy.com.
Best wishes and keep practicing!
--Chase
12/3/2020
Dear Sayla Students and Parents,
As our county possibly regresses back to further regulations, I wanted to send a message stating that we will continue operating as we currently are and will be letting our clients decide if they want in-person or online lessons. Due to the one on one nature of our music lessons which allows for social distancing, we are deciding to remain consistent with our current model of offering both in-person/online music lessons.
We understand that there is still a risk of contracting COVID-19 while attending lessons in person. Although the quality of in-person lessons is more enriched than online, we would like to continue online lessons for students who choose to stay home if you are uncomfortable re-entering at this time. Your teacher may be of higher-risk and opt to only provide online lessons for the time being as well.
If your teacher is only providing online lessons and you prefer to have in-person lessons, Sayla will try to match you with a temporary substitute Sayla teacher.
In order to maintain the safety of our teachers and students, we ask you to abide by following these temporary guidelines at Sayla Music Academy:
Please DO NOT enter the building if you are experiencing the following symptoms or have been in contact with anyone who is sick within 2-14 days:
Cough
Fever
Chills
Muscle Pain
Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing
Sore Throat
New loss of taste or smell
If you are or have recently experienced any of the above symptoms, we ask that you receive your lesson virtually online at your scheduled time. A 24 hour notice is required for lessons canceled in order to receive a make-up lesson. Because we are able to meet in-person again, we are enforcing all other policies in our student agreement.
Please abide by the following precautions upon entry at Sayla Music Academy:
Maintain a 6 feet distance from other people. Floor indicators have been placed in each studio to help visualize and maintain safe distancing.
Cover your cough or sneeze with a tissue, then throw the tissue away, and wash your hands.
Due to recent state mandates, we require a cloth face covering over your nose and mouth upon entrance in the building.
Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth.
Use the hand sanitizer, provided by Sayla, upon immediate entry of the building.
Lesson sign-in will not be necessary for the time being.
Please allow your instructor to sanitize the room the last couple minutes of the lesson for the next student.
Other Details and Information
Our waiting lobby is temporarily closed. Please wait at the entrance of your teacher's studio door where chairs will be provided.
We ask that only one guardian/sibling accompany their student/child and may sit in their teacher's studio for the duration of the lesson.
Designated waiting spots will be provided in the lobby of the green school street for Billy's guitar studio and the drum studio ONLY.
We request waiting in your car or the Sayla Courtyard for the duration of your student/child's lesson.
Thank you for taking the time to read this COVID-19 update! We appreciate your support and want to accommodate our music lessons in any way possible to make them available to you at this time!
Sincerely,
Chase Loeb
5/25/2020
Dear Sayla Family,
We are excited to announce that we will be opening our doors for in–person lessons as of June 1st, 2020. The decision to re-open was based on our county's request into entering the later stage of Phase 2 (Phase 2.5) . We consider our business to be a “lower- risk workplace” and are adhering to the following guidelines suggested by the CDC for similar businesses such as retail, childcare, and office work spaces.
We understand that there is still a risk of contracting COVID-19 while attending lessons in person. Although the quality of in-person lessons is more enriched than online, we would like to continue online lessons for students who choose to stay home if you are uncomfortable re-entering at this time. Your teacher may be of higher-risk and opt to only provide online lessons for the time being as well.
Your teacher will be in contact with you to inform you of your first lesson in the building and the suggested protocols recommended by the CDC. If your teacher is only providing online lessons and you prefer to have in-person lessons, Sayla will try to match you with a temporary substitute Sayla teacher.
In order to maintain the safety of our teachers and students, we ask you to abide by following these temporary guidelines at Sayla Music Academy:
Please DO NOT enter the building if you are experiencing the following symptoms or have been in contact with anyone who is sick within 2-14 days:
Cough
Fever
Chills
Muscle Pain
Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing
Sore Throat
New loss of taste or smell
If you are or have recently experienced any of the above symptoms, we ask that you receive your lesson virtually online at your scheduled time. A 24 hour notice is required for lessons canceled in order to receive a make-up lesson. Because we are able to meet in-person again, we are enforcing all other policies in our student agreement.
Please abide by the following precautions upon entry at Sayla Music Academy:
Maintain a 6 feet distance from other people. Floor indicators have been placed in each studio to help visualize and maintain safe distancing.
Cover your cough or sneeze with a tissue, then throw the tissue away, and wash your hands.
Due to recent state mandates, we require a cloth face covering over your nose and mouth upon entrance in the building.
Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth.
Use the hand sanitizer, provided by Sayla, upon immediate entry of the building.
Lesson sign-in will not be necessary for the time being.
Please allow your instructor to sanitize the room the last couple minutes of the lesson for the next student.
Other Details and Information
Our waiting lobby is temporarily closed. Please wait at the entrance of your teacher's studio door where chairs will be provided.
We ask that only one guardian/sibling accompany their student/child and may sit in their teacher's studio for the duration of the lesson.
Designated waiting spots will be provided in the lobby of the green school street for Billy's guitar studio and the drum studio ONLY.
We request waiting in your car or the Sayla Courtyard for the duration of your student/child's lesson.
Please keep in mind that the re-opening is completely based on the city's decision. We may need to revert to online lessons again if the covid numbers begin to rise again.
Please email sayla.frontdesk@gmail.com for further questions and concerns.
While we are very excited to see you in person again, we want to be clear that safety is our top priority and we will be trying our hardest to ensure a clean and safe environment for our students!
5/20/2020
Dear Sayla Students and Parents,
Thank you for you support through this season of change and business regulations. Sayla Music Academy will re-open when the final stage of Phase 2 is decided by the State and County. The Final Stage of Phase 2 business's include restaurants and other public places of gathering with limitations. On Tuesday San Joaquin County petitioned to the governor to speed up our county's process into the final stage of phase 2. If the petition is granted we will be able to start lessons in the physical buildings as soon as June 1st.
We will resume lessons in the building as soon as we are able and will make adjustments to allow for the proper regulations. With the information we have researched, it seems that we could be allowed to open ahead of schedule due to the county pushing for it, but if there is a spike in the cases we could be asked to close again and revert back to online lessons.
Maggie Park, the SJ County Public Health Official, from today's paper "If we are able to get our attestation accepted by Newsom, restaurants and malls should be able to open by this weekend. My plan is to have them both opened immediately if our attestation is accepted. I do have to weigh the risks of opening the economy too soon, and may have to rescind my re-opening decision in the weeks to come if things get worse." (Paraphrased)
It is our goal to go back to the building immediately following the proper allowance to do so, which could be very soon if the State allows our county to press ahead.
To help us prepare, please fill out this survey so we can see where our clients stand on this issue: www.saylamusicacademy.com/survey
Thanks for your patience in waiting through all this! Your teacher will be informed when the building will be in use again and will contact you with the news and strategy to get back to lessons! We miss you and hope to see you very soon!
Best wishes,
Chase Loeb
Director of Operations
3/20/2020
Dear Parents and Students,
At Sayla Music Academy, the health and safety of our students, teachers, and staff is our top priority. We are monitoring information regarding COVID-19 at the local, state, and federal levels, and, at this time, we are now offering video lessons to students until further notice.
As we prepare for a new month we appreciate the support for our small business. We understand the crisis at hand and are hoping to continue lessons any way possible. We thank you for continuing to take lessons and provide funding to keep our school open during these unfortunate events.
As always you can reach me via email at info@saylamusicacademy.com. I am available for questions, concerns, and comments.
Best wishes,
Chase Loeb, CEO
3/17/2020
Dear Parents and Students,
At Sayla Music Academy, the health and safety of our students, teachers, and staff is our top priority. We are monitoring information regarding COVID-19 at the local, state, and federal levels, and, at this time, we will remain open and continue to teach lessons.
To help maintain a clean and safe learning environment for our one on one lessons, we are implementing the following protocol immediately:
We are requesting that all clients refrain from using the waiting rooms as much as possible to help with “social distancing” techniques implied by our state. Please wait outside in your vehicle, or in the same room as your student who is taking lessons.
Extra sanitation measures: students will be asked to use hand sanitizer/wash hands before checking in on the receptionist tablets and before entering the room for their lesson. Teachers will also wash hands before every lesson, in addition to disinfecting all communal surfaces in their room, including piano keys and music stands. Door handles and surfaces in the lobbies will also be disinfected frequently throughout the day. Hand sanitizer will be available throughout the building for everyone’s use.
We will not be using or offering the Sayla Venue for public gatherings until further notice. Please stand by as we wait to see if we must cancel our events planned for April and May.
Should any teachers exhibit symptoms of COVID-19, they will immediately suspend instruction at Sayla until further notice. Sayla will contact students with options regarding continued instruction with a substitute teacher..
Sayla’s standard 24 hour notice cancellation policy remains in place. If your student is ill and not able to give 24 hour notice, please email us at info@saylamusicacademy.com and let us know the circumstances. Every attempt will be made to give makeup lessons. As always, if you are sick, we ask that you please stay home.
Thank you for your patience as we navigate this difficult time. Please know that we are working hard to ensure Sayla continues to provide a safe and productive environment for our students, parents, teachers, and staff.
Please feel free to reach out with any questions or concerns to info@saylamusicacademy.com
Best wishes,
Chase Loeb, CEO