"Immersion: instruction based on extensive exposure to surroundings or conditions that are native or pertinent to the object or study; especially, foreign language instruction in which only the language being taught is used." Merriam-Webster.com
It takes more than a series 30- or 45-minute weekly lessons to become a musician. Immersion provides the best chance for a child to connect with music in a meaningful and sustained way. This is the founding and guiding principle of the CMC Atlanta Afterschool Music Program.
AMP is our intensive music education and enrichment program for students that provides comprehensive training to beginners and more advanced students alike in Classical, Jazz, Rock, and/or American Folk music on weekday afternoons during the traditional latch-key hours.
Students ride one of our shuttles and attend AMP from 1 to 5 days per week, depending on family needs and interests. A combination of private lessons on the instrument of choice, supervised practice, group classes, ensemble performance, and more offer the ideal balance of intense personal training one-on-one with the pleasure of learning in a friendly, social music school setting.
AMP is an appealing option for families who would like to enroll in a dynamic music education program, but whose busy schedules interfere with commuting to and from the Music Centers. AMP is designed to make music lessons convenient, but more importantly, parents of AMP students can trust their children are somewhere safe, engaged by a professional faculty in a beneficial and effective educational program.
AMP students come 1, 2, 3, 4 or even 5 days a week, straight from school to one of our facilities. Parents pick their students up from AMP at the end of the day. Most intensive training activities end around 5:30 or 5:45, but students are welcome to stay until the 6:30 deadline.
In Decatur, students ride CMC Decatur Shuttles from Oakhurst, Winnona Park, Clairemont, Glenwood, Westchester Elementary, plus Fifth Ave and Talley Street Upper Elementary to our facility, which is in East Decatur Station, on Sams Street, across from the DeKalb County government building, and next to the Montessori Academy. Middle school students walk or bike, usually in a group, from Beacon Hill to our building.
In Little 5 Points, we offer shuttle service to our facility near the corner of Colquitt and Euclid Avenues. Little 5 Points AMP students come from several nearby elementary schools, including SPARK, Mary Lin, Hope-Hill, Virginia-Highland, and Morningside Elementary, the Neighborhood Charter School, Montessori Intown, the Children's School, and Paideia.
In Dunwoody, the AMP Shuttle is currently available for pick up from the Dunwoody area schools, including Dunwoody Elementary, Vanderlyn Elementary, Austin Elementary, Ison Springs Elementary, Kingsley Elementary, Montgomery Elementary, Woodland Elementary, the Davis Academy, Springmont, and the Montessori School of Dunwoody.
Because CMC Brookhaven is in a complex with Capstone Academy on Cliff Valley Rd, Capstone Academy students will not need to ride a shuttle to participate. Our Brookhaven shuttle serves students from Montgomery Elementary, GLOBE Academy (upper and lower campuses), Oak Grove Elementary, Sagamore Hills Elementary, Cliff Valley Elementary, and the very close by Midtown International School.
Please note: If you do not see your student's school on our list, please inquire; we may be able to add shuttle service at your request.
AMP enrollment and tuition fees include enrollment and participation in our Core Program during the after school hours. The CMC Atlanta Core Program includes:
Sample Daily AMP Schedule
Please note: students are free to leave before 6:30 pm. Once a student is enrolled, we design the student's schedule, including the timing of the private lessons, to accommodate the family's pick up plans.
AMP operates at CMC Decatur whenever the City Schools of Decatur are open; in Brookhaven and Dunwoody, AMP is in session whenever DeKalb County Schools are open. The schedule in Little 5 Points is synced to the Atlanta Public School calendar, which also matches the calendar for the many independent schools represented in our student population, including the Paideia School, The Children's School, and the Neighborhood Charter School.
Please note: CMC Dunwoody offers AMP for elementary school students only. We encourage interested Dunwoody students middle school and older to sign up for Studio Lessons or the Performance Workshop.
The L5P AMP Shuttle currently serves the following elementary schools:
If your school is not on our list, please contact us to inquire if it can be added.
The Dunwoody AMP Shuttle currently serves the following elementary schools:
If your school is not on our list, please contact us to inquire if it can be added.
Decatur AMP Shuttles currently serve the following elementary schools:
Because of the close proximity, many students from Beacon Hill Middle and Decatur High walk to CMC Decatur for AMP and other programs in other Divisions.
If your school is not on our list of Decatur Shuttle stops, please contact us to inquire if it can be added.
AMP is designed to meet the needs of families who are interested in our music educational programs but who find the commute or the family schedule impossible to work around. AMP includes all of the instructional benefits of our Core Program (private lessons, group classes, ensemble performance), but solves logistical problems like transportation and schedule conflicts. Parents tell us this music immersion program is an ideal solution to a common problem. You'd like to enroll your child in lessons and a dynamic music school program, but you don't have time for the commute and wait.
We offer AMP across three different CMC Divisions. AMP is offered as an option to our students in Lower Elementary (K-2), Upper Elementary (3-5), and Middle School Divisions (6-8). Students are separated by age and skill level.
The Afterschool Music Program is offered in the following locations:
AMP meets weekdays from 2:30 to 6:30. Students can enroll for 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5 days per week, depending on the family's needs and interests.
At each location, AMP generally synchronizes with the local public school calendar. When school is in session, AMP is open. For the most part, we can accommodate and host students from private and independent schools operating on idiosyncratic calendars even when they are in session on days the local public school is closed.
AMP operates in synchronicity with local schools, as follows:
For an added fee, we offer Day Camps whenever local schools and thus AMP are closed.
AMP provides a solid general foundational music education. Students explore and then can focus on Classical, Jazz, Rock, American Folk and Roots music.
The tuition for AMP is set according to the number of days per week the student attends.
We set tuition by term. Tuition can be paid in full by term or equal monthly installments. Please note: enrollment is ongoing, and we prorate tuition for students who start after our term has already begun.
Fall Term (August through December) or Winter/Spring Term (January through May) tuition:
Please note: there is an annual registration fee of $80 per student; other fees and restrictions may apply. Tuition rates are subject to change with 30 days notice.