Ellen Campbell
Mass Media
4/30/2018
New Music School Encourages Payment Based on Student Satisfaction
This past October, a new children’s music school opened in Clarksville, Maryland. Fun in the Sun Music Academy was started with the intention of being a non-profit organization, however its success has brought great profit to the school. Ellen Campbell, the founder of the school said she wanted to create a music school for kids “that was all about the joy.” She has been able to do just that. Campbell has organized her school so that her clients only pay if their kids enjoy their lessons. She is so confident that her enjoyable teaching methods will be well received, that she has completely left her success up to the kindness of her clients.
Campbell started learning to play guitar at her local music school, Treehouse School of Music, when she was just 12 years old. The school was very community oriented and friendship based. When she was 18, Ellen was offered a job as a teacher there and while she was happy to be a part of it all, she began to notice the unfortunate aspects of money and how it affected the business. She decided during her time at the music school that she wanted to dedicate her efforts to creating a school that didn’t revolve around money.
Each week, students are scheduled for weekly lessons. They have the opportunity to learn many different instruments such as guitar, bass, drums, or keyboard. Campbell is very focused on having children learn multiple instruments so they pick a different instrument each week. All students do a trial lesson just to get to know the staff and the facility. Then they have an orientation with the rest of the students, which includes team building games and activities such as water balloon fights. After that, the students have weekly lessons and practice for chances to perform at local venues.
Campbell says that she had no intent of making a profit, she simply wanted to show students just how much fun learning music can be. But, her outlook on music has been very well-appreciated by her clients. Parents become very invested in their student’s success and therefore don’t mind paying for their lessons. In fact, most of the parents donate extra money to the school because they want it to continue to develop.
For more information about the Fun in the Sun Music Academy, call 301-756-3838!