Update: March 17, 2020

Please check our individual member school’s websites for the latest information. As of today most of the Non-profit music schools have suspended classes, including VSO SoM, VAM, VCM, LCMS and DCMS, This includes private lessons and group classes. We are doing our best to be socially responsible and we are committed to do what we can to stop the spread of COVID-19. This affects thousands of music students in our province. Many of our instructors will start to offer online or video stream lessons while these closures are in place. We understand the need to keep everyone safe, we also understand the need to support both our students families and faculty during this time.

Stay safe everyone,

Update March 10, 2020

As of March 10, 2020, all BCACMS member schools are working to create, implement, and update policies with respect to the ongoing crisis unfolding in the province of BC, Canada, and the world.

With growing global concerns around COVID-19 (“coronavirus”), We wanted to provide you with an update on our response to date and our commitment to you moving forward. The health, safety, and well-being of staff and students is top priority and we are following the lead of Canadian public health authorities at this important time.

First and foremost, we are taking all appropriate measures to ensure our school and the classrooms are safe and that we have existing plans in place to ensure they stay that way. While the Public Health Agency of Canada has assessed the current public health risk associated with coronavirus as low, we continue to monitor for developments very closely

We have implemented additional measures to ensure your safety as well as the safety of our staff, including:

• enhanced cleaning protocols
• Increasing communications and reminders on important health and safety measures

To protect yourself and others, we ask that you use preventive measures outlined below.

 For individuals, good respiratory etiquette and hand hygiene behaviors include:

• Washing hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds
• Using an alcohol-based hand sanitizer (if soap and water are not available)
• Not sharing food or utensils with others
• Using proper coughing or sneezing etiquette (cough/sneeze into elbow or tissue, not hand)
• Staying home when sick

Again, we continue to monitor this situation closely and will provide ongoing updates as needed. We also encourage our members to stay up-to-date through Canada’s Public Health website, and please monitor the sites and messaging from individual schools.