Employment Opportunities
The Academy Is Growing!
Providing Students of All Ages With the Skills They Need to Enjoy Music for a Lifetime
Thank you for your interest in a teaching position at the Marion Music Academy. We are always looking for positive, enthusiastic, qualified instructors and administrative staff. This page will give you an idea of our philosophy of teaching and our ideas on how our Academy can best meet the needs of our students and teachers.
*A minimum of a bachelor's degree in music is required for all music teaching positions.
If you love music and working with children, please send your resume to info@marionmusicacademy.com, in the subject line please write “Resume-Attn. Melanie Bell”
Current Opening:
Piano Department Director
Teach advanced students, prepare them for college auditions, and supervise piano teachers; prepare lessons and select appropriate student repertoire; meet with piano teachers and supervise teachers with bachelor’s degrees; offer master classes to advanced students; prepare students for competitions, accompanying students in recitals, and participate in interviewing new prospective teachers. Must have a Master’s degree in Piano, Piano Performance and Pedagogy, or related field, plus one year of experience including a thorough knowledge of advanced piano literature and correct technique; performance practices appropriate to the music and performing skills.
Mail resume to
Melanie Bell, Artistic Director
Marion Music Academy
940 8th Avenue
Marion IA 52302
Our Background
The Marion Music Academy is a privately owned school that was started in August of 2005.
We are the fastest growing music school in the area with over 250 students attending weekly classes. We cater primarily to children. About 90% of our students are between 3 and 16 years old. We welcome adult students, but our suburban market area has resulted in a student base of mainly children.
We realize that most of our students will not become professional musicians. We strive to provide a fun but educational environment with well-organized administration and first-rate facilities.
Why Teach With Us?
Here are a few of the reasons why our Academy is a great place to teach:
1. A Beautiful and Professional Environment
When you enter the Marion Music Academy, you will find a lovingly renovated space, with large, well-equipped studios. Each of our pianos is maintained on a regular basis by our resident staff. We also have several waiting rooms throughout the building for the use of our families.
2. A Constant Flow of New Students to Keep Schedules Full
Over the course of the year, students may move or quit. This can leave a teacher with gaps in their schedule. Many music schools primarily advertise in late August and September. At our academy we prioritize new student recruitment year-round to keep our teachers' schedules as full as possible. We push to register new students for private music lessons even during typically slower registration months such as May or June.
3. Extras Are Taken Care Of
At our academy we have administrators to handle the bulk of the non-teaching details of running an active music studio. From scheduling to collecting fees or arranging an accompanist for recitals, these details are handled by our administrators rather than the teacher. This means the teacher is free to focus on teaching rather than getting bogged down by administration.
4. Your Time Is Respected
We pay our teachers whether or not the student attends. If a student misses lessons for school trips or holidays, the teacher is still paid. The only time a student is given a make-up lesson is if the student is sick or has a family emergency. Students are limited to two make-up lessons per year. If a student does not pay for their lessons or has uncollectible debt, the teacher is still paid. Our priority for our teachers is to make sure that your time is respected and your teaching day is as productive as possible.
Comparing Your Options
As a music teacher, you can teach privately in your house, in students' homes, or you can teach in a music store or school - both have benefits and drawbacks. If you teach in your home or students' homes, a major benefit can be keeping all of the money you charge to the student. On the other hand, you then turn around to spend a large portion of that on your overhead, including self-employment taxes, mileage (if you are driving to students' homes), and advertising yourself. In addition, you have to factor in the unpaid time you spend on managing your studio: phone calls, scheduling, bookkeeping, etc.
As an independent private music teacher, it can be hard to keep your schedule constantly full with new students. Getting a full schedule is often time-consuming and expensive when you try to get the word out via social media and online ads. Referrals and word-of-mouth can take a long time to fill your schedule, even if you are a good, well-liked teacher. If you are driving to student's houses you also have to factor in the driving time between students, which limits the amount of teaching you can actually do.
Additionally, if you are working on your own, you have to deal with the hassle of enforcing your attendance and payment policies. No one likes being a collection agent. It can be difficult to concentrate on your teaching while trying to keep track of who owes money and making sure you are paid.
When you are teaching on your own, it can be difficult have your time respected. For example, if a student tells you they are going to Disney World for the next two weeks, they are often unwilling to pay for their lesson time. Many families will balk at paying for those missed lessons, because they think: "I'm not getting my lesson, so why should I pay for it?" Chances are you can't book another student in that lesson time for only two weeks, so if you don't charge the student in Disney World, you have just lost two weeks of pay. If that scenario happens a couple of times per month it can greatly reduce your earnings.
Compare this to teaching at a music school. It's true that you don't get paid as much per student. In-home teachers and music schools typically charge fairly similar rates, so the pay per student to the teacher at a music school is lower because the music school keeps part of the tuition. However, the music school is then responsible for the overhead, including rent, advertising, receptionists, and other expenses. In addition, you benefit by having a consistently full schedule of students each day. Being paid a little less per student but having 10 or 11 students in a day will mean you earn more overall.
Another advantage to teaching at a music school is that you will not have any collection hassles. You get to focus on what you do best--teaching music--while our staff handles the scheduling and monetary details. Our academy also provides a professional educational environment that is stimulating to the students. It is free from distractions found in a home such as ringing phones or doorbells, televisions, and noisy family members.
Those are the general differences between teaching on your own and teaching in a music school or store.