Ok….I realize I may be stretching things a little far here. We all know that scheduling students is very much like putting together a puzzle where the pieces keep changing. For many teachers, this is the most difficult part of the year. Once you have registered a studio full of students, where do you put them? For me, it is easier to register students in tiers.

At the end of the spring, I will send out a registration form that will ask for availability for both summer and fall. This will give me an idea HOW MANY available spots that I will have to fill. Next comes the puzzle. It is extremely important before this stage that you have some idea of what your ideal schedule would be. When you have that blocked out, only put students within those boundaries. You may choose to have some flexible boundaries and others that are fixed and unmovable. An example would be to have a flexible boundary to not teach later than 7:00 with hard boundary of 7:30. That means, no matter how much someone begs for a Monday night lesson at 7:30, the answer is no. Simply say, “My hours are 2-7:30 on Mondays.” Remember, the schedule you agree to, you are stuck with for the rest of the year. Choose wisely.

Next, fill the remaining spots through your waiting list or through advertising. It is now easy enough to tell them what spaces you have available. They can say yes or no. Do not feel the need to fit every student in. This is the beauty of working for yourself, you can create a schedule that you enjoy working.