Levine School of Music

My daughter has been having piano lessons for some years now, 4+ years maybe. So we thought it would be a good time for her to go to a and quot;established schooland quot;, since she's been having the same private piano teacher this whole time.
Since Strathmore Levine School is very near where we live, we thought about it. After initial contact and arrangements with the head of the piano department, Ms. Sayaka Jordan, she saw my daughter on February 20th, for a pre-evaluation. The pre-evaluation went well and then we waited for some reply from Ms. Jordan.
Next day we were offered ONE and only ONE option of time and day for our daughter to start the piano lessons. I then asked if it was possible to have the time changed to half an hour or one hour earlier than that ONLY option that we were offered.
At the same time, I explained to Ms. Sayaka that we were interested in a 30-min class, because we didn't want and we don't want to remove our daughter from her current teacher, we want her to have both teachers, of course that in different days, one teacher that she is already used to and likes her a lot, and the other would be from Levine School, so that my daughter could also evaluate if Levine School was the kind of school that she was interested in. We heard some horror stories from a close friend that had a daughter had lessons at Levine School and, for instance, the teacher glued her feet to the floor with tape to teach her not to move or do something with her feet that she was doing wrong (this friend's daughter has left Levine School for some time now). So, when we put our daughter into a new school, my reasoning is that is not only the school that will be evaluating the student but the other way around too, so a 30-min lesson a week would be perfect for a start
Ms. Sayaka had a different opinion and advised us, for some reasons, for a 45-min lesson at Levine and that we should drop her current teacher. Well, I didn't take her advice and told her that we did want a 30-min lesson and we would have both teachers.
At the same day, on Feb 21st, Ms. Sayaka wrote us to say she didn't have available the half-an-hour or one-hour earlier time that I had asked for. She wrote to tell us that there was no other available time and day and that we should then wait.
On Mar 10th, after some considerations, I wrote back to Ms. Sayaka letting her know that if that 8pm time was still available, we would accept it. On March 12, she wrote me back telling me it was not available anymore. She didn't offer any other time and day. She just told me she would keep me informed if anything becomes available. We never heard from her again.
Conclusion: if you want to have lessons with Levine School you need to do as they say, accept their demands and not question them, and they don't offer you much, despite charging you a lot.

The voice lessons have been excellent. We are beginning the third year of my daughter's voice lessons at Levine. She is 14 years old; her first year it was group lessons and the past two years have been private lessons. We have attended both the Southeast D.C. and the Maryland (Strathmore) campuses for voice lessons and the NW D.C. (Upton) campus for theory.
It is very pricey but the instruction is excellent and my daughter has advanced greatly in the two years of private lessons. She has completed several juries and received excellent feedback. Her teacher has been very professional and also very supportive of my daughter.
We are fortunate that this last year she received some scholarship support but even without that though it is very pricey we would continue with the school as it has been excellent -- in voice training and in just being supportive of my daughter.
I would, however, suggest that it is for young people who are serious about learning music as it is too pricey (in my opinion) for children who are not yet sure that they want to put the work into practice.

This is a very professional and serious music school. We came for lessons for our son, who had some background in piano before, and our daughter, who had no background in violin. New students/parents meet with the appropriate section head (strings, piano, woodwinds, etc) to discuss the student's background and the style of instruction. After this meeting our kids were assigned to instructors. The instructors are all skilled musicians, quite a few if not all have completed graduate study in their instrument and/or play professionally in orchestras, symphonies. The school has a good program of recitals each semester. In the beginner piano group, they had both a technical jury and a juried recital. The latter was open to parents. After each jury the student or parents receive a written evaluation. My children's technique has improved tremendously and they like their teacher a lot.
The only drawback is the cost. This kind of instruction is not inexpensive. If your child is an absolute beginner, or you only intend to study casually, you may want to look into other options. You also have to be careful to plan your semester as the school does not reschedule lessons missed by the student.
The school has four locations; this location on Upton street is the main location and is on a beautiful campus near the metro station. Levine has a lot of specialized programs as well, for adults, music therapy, camps, etc. One side benefit of being part of the Levine community is you often get invited to instructor recitals or performances for free. For the serious music student, the private instruction at Levine is fantastic.