Teacher Guidelines and
Informational Packet
Josh Shriber – Owner/Director
(508) 667-3553, josh@jamminwithyou.com
Beth Pacione – Assistant Director/POC
Thomas Meunier - POC
(617) 997 -3246, beth@jamminwithyou.com
Shana Gondelman – Finance and Operations Manager
(617) 201-7499, shana@jamminwithyou.com
JWY! Office – 781 237 1511
Your POC:________________________
Studio Helper Username:____________________
Studio Helper password:____________________
Thomas@jamminwithyou.com
General Information:
Welcome to the JWY! Team. The primary focus of your agreement with us is to provide high
quality in-home lessons for students, families, and clients. In-home lessons should always be
educational, engaging, and entertaining for students and teachers. We have been in business
for over 5 years and serve more than 500 families with our in-home lessons and programs.
Independent Contractor
1. As a teacher with JWY!, you are considered an independent contractor (IC). You will
receive a 1099 at the end of the calendar year for the income earned from JWY!. We do
not make any deductions in your pay. At the end of each year, you are responsible for
filing your taxes and claiming any income you earn from us.
2. As an IC, you have the right to refuse any assignments we offer you.
3. Although you must abide by our Non-Compete/Non-Solicit clause, you are not required
to bring any current or former students to JWY!. You may continue to teach
independently, so long as such action does not interfere with your JWY! schedule
commitments or violate JWY!’s Non-Compete/Non-Solicit clause.
4. In order to receive payment from JWY! as an IC, you must submit a weekly time sheet.
This is done using Studio Helper.
5. You are free to provide your own tools, supplies, materials and equipment in the
manner you see fit. JWY! is an Alfred and Hal Leonard book distributor, and has other
instruments and resources available for purchase by teachers and students.
Insurance
Under Massachusetts law, you are required to have health insurance as a Massachusetts
resident. As an IC, we do not provide insurance or other such benefits. If you do not have health
insurance, we highly recommend looking into Massachusetts Health Connector:
http://www.mahealthconnector.org/portal/site/connector/
You are also responsible for operating a registered and insured motor vehicle. Under
Massachusetts law, you are required to have car insurance if you own and operate a registered
vehicle. You need to provide a photocopy of your driver’s license upon engagement with JWY!.
EXPECTED CONDUCT
Punctuality/Attendance:
Teacher punctuality is extremely important. Although you are an IC, you represent JWY! in the
field and should conduct yourself professionally - this includes being on time. If you find
yourself consistently running late to a lesson, you should notify your Point of Contact (POC) as
soon as possible. An assessment of your schedule will be run, and any necessary adjustments
will be made to ensure your punctuality to every lesson.
JWY! strives for consistency. As you know through your own experience learning a musical
instrument, consistency is important. Teachers should by example for students and families.
Therefore, we insist that lessons run for the full amount of scheduled time, unless teacher and
student/family agree upon a change.
In order to better serve our families, we ask that you provide us with a detailed calendar of
your available times. If at any point you are unable to fulfill these times or need an extended
leave of absence, please notify your POC immediately.
Note: In general, school vacations and summer weeks tend to have lower/less consistent
lesson attendance rates.
In Home Conduct:
Please remember that as a teacher, you are a guest in your client’s homes’. Professional
conduct is expected at all times – this includes leaving the home or workspace in the same
condition as you did arriving, asking permission from the family for use of restrooms, learning
materials, instruments, furniture, etc. Many of JWY!’s clients also have supervision from a
caregiver, nanny, or babysitter during lesson times. Any caregiver should be treated like a
member of the family.
Cell Phone Use:
We recommend that you refrain from using a cell phone during lesson time. If you need to use
your phone for a clock or other teaching tool, be sure to use it only for that purpose. Texting,
emailing or accepting phone calls is not appropriate.
Attire Requirements:
When teaching for JWY!, casual attire is permitted. Not permitted is any clothing or attire
bearing text or images that portray profane, sexual, illegal, or otherwise offensive content.
Ripped, dirty, and/or overtly suggestive clothing items are also not permitted.
Drugs and Alcohol:
Recreational drugs and any form of alcohol are not to be consumed before any lesson,
regardless of timing. For example, a beer with lunch at noon is not acceptable even if your only
lesson of the day is not until 5 p.m. If you are found to be violating this policy, JWY! reserves the
right to release you from any agreement or relationship.
Additionally, JWY does not permit smoking cigarettes in a client’s neighborhood. As a role
model and JWY! representative, we do not want to show any student (by smell or sight) that
smoking is acceptable behavior. Keep in mind that your visual representation of JWY! begins
when you enter a family’s neighborhood.
Vacations:
JWY!’s calendar closely follows the school calendar. Use this as a reference when scheduling
your own days off and vacations. Please let your POC know about any days off or vacation plans
well in advance. You may be asked to notify your students and families in the event of a
vacation or leave of absence.
Sexual Harassment:
It is the policy of JWY! to prohibit any form of sexual harassment. Improper interference with
the ability of employees and contractors to perform his or her expected job duties will not be
tolerated and should be reported to the appropriate supervisory personnel (listed on the cover
page of this document).
Under federal law and regulations, unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and
other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature constitute unlawful sexual harassment when
either: (1) submission to such conduct is or becomes a term or condition of an individuals
employment or is used as a basis for employment decisions relating in any way to that
individual; (2) such conduct substantially interferes with an individuals work performance; or
(3) such conduct creates an intimidating, hostile, or offensive working environment.
Any employee or contractor found to have engaged in such conduct, or who condones such
action on the part of subordinates, will be subject to appropriate disciplinary action up to and
including termination of contract.
PROCEDURES
Compensation:
By law, teachers are required to fill out a W9. In addition, JWY! can offer a direct deposit to
contractors via Paychex. Note- teachers are paid bi-weekly.
Point of Contact (POC):
Every teacher is assigned a POC who helps coordinate booking, scheduling, guidance, and
teaching resources, when needed. It is your responsibility to inform your POC of any schedule
changes and the details of each change regularly.
Setting Attendance:
In order to properly bill clients and pay teachers, we use a CRM (Customer Relation
Management) software called Studio Helper. Attached you will find a brief Studio Helper
tutorial for your review. Setting your attendance accurately and punctually is essential to your
compensation and our operation. We recommend that all contractors set his/her attendance at
the end of each night to minimize mistakes. Attendance MUST be set by the end of each week
(Saturday) in order for teachers to be paid appropriately.
Late Cancels/No-Shows:
If a cancellation is made by the family/client with less than 48 hours notice prior to the start of
the lesson, it is considered a Late Cancel. You will receive 60% of your pay/lesson for late
cancels.
If a teacher travels to the client’s home, and the client is not present, it is considered a No
Show. Please make sure to call the client and leave a window of 10-15 minutes wait-time
before leaving (as a professional courtesy).
You will receive 60% of your pay for No Shows.
If a family cancels with less than 48 hours, but teacher and student are able to reschedule it
within the week, it is considered an Attended lesson. You will be compensated in full for a
reschedule.
Late Cancels & No-Shows are tracked via Studio Helper – take careful note of setting
attendance accurately so you are compensated correctly.
SuperJam:
Jammin’ With You! hosts biannual recitals for students called “SuperJam!”.
Performance is a very important part of a student’s lesson experience. While optional on the
part of the student/family, SuperJams provide a welcoming (and fun!) environment in which to
demonstrate practice, musicianship, and creativity in front of friends and family. Be sure to
encourage your students and families to be participate in SuperJams, no matter the student’s
experience level or ability. Our most successful “SuperJammers” select a performance piece
well in advance of the SuperJam date and incorporate it into lessons and regular practice.
Dates for the year’s SuperJams are disclosed to teachers as soon as they are determined.
-Winter SuperJam (usually early December)
-Spring SuperJam (usually early June)
Teachers are expected to be present and participatory at the SuperJams in which his/her
students are performing. Please be sure you know when your students are performing and
make plans to attend.
Non-Compete/Non-Solicit
While contracted as an IC for JWY!, you acknowledge and understand that all clients and
customers, lists, addresses, phone numbers and emails are property of Jammin’ With You!
If/when you are no longer providing lessons for JWY!, you may not solicit any clients or
customers or compete with JWY for a period of one year following the end of the engaged
relationship. Lesson plans, teaching ideas, JWY! musical content, and all other materials are
property of JWY! and may not be duplicated.
STUDIO HELPER – www.studiohelper.com
Username:
Password: 1234
1. Log into www.studiohelper.com
2. Click on Calendar, click on attendance
3. In the list, find the day, date and time of the lesson you taught.
a. Attended – for a regularly attended lesson
b. Cancelled – lesson cancelled with more than 48 hours notice.
Please also add any notes relevant to a late cancel, no show, etc. that we need in
order to properly bill the families. If you need to reschedule a cancelled lesson,
please let your POC now.
c. Absent – for a late cancel (less than 48 hours notice) or no show
4. Notes are for you, Shana or your POC. Don’t send email to your families.
A few things to note…
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The log in page can be accessed from a smart phone, but like all websites that aren’t smart
phone enabled, it can be difficult.
This process is your new timesheet. The reports that are run from these will be used to PAY
YOU! They will also be used to invoice the customer. Please make sure you are completing
attendance with accuracy.
Attendance should be logged in at the end of each day, and must be logged at the end of each
week.
Any notes you’d like to share with the JWY staff are welcomed.
*****This new calendar is how we know when you are teaching, free, etc. If your family
would like to make changes to their lesson (duration, start time, # of students), you must let
your POC know. The changes must be made on the calendar in order for you to be paid
properly!
Teacher Resources: