Thanks to our friends at Miami Fine Arts Academy for sponsoring this post. All opinions are our own!
I am a Tiger Mom. Of sorts.
I fiercely defend my children’s right to explore and develop through play. I battle tooth and nail to keep my children out of Miami traffic as much as possible. I defy the mounting guilt and pressure we moms place on each other in a constant one-upmanship of organized classes and lessons for our kids. I defend the quiet sanctity of our time together at home despite the siege of homework requirements and work obligations.
It is with great resistance that I will add anything new to our weekly schedule. It needs to be worth my children’s time. It needs to be worth my time. It needs to be worth the effort of buckling my kids into a car and willingly facing Miami traffic.
And so when it came to selecting ballet classes for my three year old daughter, my standards were ridiculously high.
When I found Miami Fine Arts Academy, I was met with an irresistible combination of quality, convenience, and value.
Miami Fine Arts Academy offers dance, instrumental music, voice, and visual arts, all housed in a state of the art facility boasting the most advanced educational tools and best acoustical instruments. Your children do not have to live the greater portion of their lives sitting buckled in a restraining device in order to be exposed to a well rounded arts education. With convenient hours that provide flexibility for the working parent, your child can learn music, art and dance all in one afternoon. Have a daughter that loves to dance and a sibling with an interest in piano? Look into overlapping the lessons and give yourself a pat on the back for developing their individual interests at Miami Fine Arts Academy, all without unnecessary commute time.
Unheard of Professionalism
Miami Fine Arts Academy is a beacon of hope in the wasteland of poor customer service and lack of professionalism sadly found so often in Miami. Their office staff Has. It. Together. The first day of lessons, the receptionist greeted me with a tote bag containing all of the uniform supplies I would need for ballet— no running around town to find the exact shade of pink tights or leotard.
The facility is bright, new, and spotless with a waiting room and large windows and televisions to observe students during lessons. When I call Miami Fine Arts Academy with a question, I’m addressed by name and asked how my student is doing before I even introduce myself. I receive weekly reminder emails about our upcoming lessons as well as monthly newsletters highlighting the upcoming events at the academy. Make up lessons are easy to schedule and never expire. A charming chalk billboard is up by the front desk every week welcoming new students by name. It was no surprise to me when the Director shared that the office staff attends weekly professional development sessions to help hone their skills.
The yearly student showcases highlight the abilities of the Miami Fine Arts Academy staff as well as the students. The performances run like clockwork, with parents being greeted at the door with an envelope of tickets with the student’s name written in a lovely calligraphy. Students are ushered backstage where a team of professionals make sure the students are safe, entertained, and ready for their performance. It was really meaningful as a parent to be able to take the time to focus on my daughter and her performance instead of what was going on backstage. Miami Fine Arts Academy gave me the gift of enjoyment and took away the stress of a recital.
In June of 2019, Miami Fine Arts Academy will be celebrating their 10th anniversary by holding their student showcase at the beautiful Arsht Center in downtown Miami. Imagine what aspirations performing on a world class stage will inspire for the dance and music students, and the thrill it will be as a parent to see your student in such a venue.
Quality Instruction Worth Driving To
The instructors at Miami Fine Arts Academy are some of the most qualified and dedicated in our area. The Director screens teaching candidates through a rigorous process to ensure that they not only have a great personality, but are committed to their students and the artistic process, effective in their teaching methods, and are life-long learners themselves. From my personal observations, the teachers are always energetic and encouraging. The success of the students is testimony to the strength of the teachers: Miami Fine Arts Academy students have performed at Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, and displayed artwork in the Coral Gables Art Museum.
An Artistic Community
If you’re on the fence about taking your student to a facility for their private music lessons or having a teacher come to you, allow me to push you in the right direction. The sense of community and importance students feel when coming in for their lessons at Miami Fine Arts Academy is easy to read on their faces through the sound proof window of the music studios. When a student walks in to have their music lessons, a switch is flipped in the student’s brain and they are ready and excited to sit at their instrument and learn from their teacher. Before lessons you can see students who recognize each other from the performances swap notes on the latest piece they are learning. Photos line the hall of past dance performances and ballerinas stop to chat about what they remembered from the choreography or liked about the costumes. The art classroom boasts a rotating display of student work for visitors to appreciate.
The office staff is very intentional about creating a sense of community for families. Students are greeted by name when they enter the academy. A monthly newsletter is sent out with student features, news, and photo contests. This month alone there is a “Fun Bun” contest for the ballerinas, “Bring Your Friend to Class Week,” and a Halloween Costume contest. The event we always look forward to is the Miami Fine Arts Academy Annual Student Appreciation Day. Families are treated to a catered lunch, carnival games, bounce houses, and live performances from teachers and local celebrities.
If you feel it is time to introduce your child to formal arts instruction, Miami Fine Arts Academy will not disappoint. Trust me—- it’s worth the drive.
Miami Fine Arts Academy is located at 3191 Coral Way, Miami, FL and offers piano, guitar, violin, drum, and voice lessons, mixed media art classes, drawing classes, ballet classes, Mommy and Me ballet classes, jazz, and hip-hop. You can reach their office by calling: (786) 464-0566.
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