School of Rock Coming to Columbia

Does your kid have long hair, a strong attachment to a guitar and a deafening ability to jam late into the night?

You might want to sign him or her up for the School of Rock, opening in July on Oakland Mills Road.

School of Rock may be best known for the 2003 movie starring Jack Black as a down-and-out rocker turned music teacher who inspires his students to form a rock band.

But it’s also the name of a growing business with locations around the country dedicated to teaching kids rock and roll music through performance.

“Just like Jack Black did in the movie, where he got those kids to learn the music and then play a show, that’s what we do,” said Linda Hefferman, the local school marketing coordinator for School of Rock.

The Columbia location will have its grand opening on July 14 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.  There will be prizes, food and special enrollment promotions, according to Hefferman.

Here’s how the School of Rock works, according to Hefferman:

• Students pay a monthly tuition of around $300 that includes a once-a-week private lesson, weekly rehearsal session with classmates and use of the facility during all open hours.
• Students play as a band for a few months, then eventually perform a rock and roll show at a local club. (All ages club, said Hefferman)
• Students are taught by a local musician who helps them play and perform rock music.
• Students tend to be between the ages of 8 and 18.

Hefferman said the school’s facility often becomes a social gathering point for students after school and during the summer. Even if they don’t have a lesson or a rehearsal, students tend to gather at the school to hang out with classmates or practice their instruments.

“It’s a place they can hang out during any hours that we’re open,” said Hefferman.

Hefferman said students are taught vocals, guitar, bass, drums and keyboard—based on their preference—but instructors also encourage students to play instruments they learn in band at school, such as trumpet, trombone or saxophone.

The School of Rock also offers a summer boot camp, which is a weeklong day camp in which students come in on Monday and play a show on Friday. Bootcamp sign-ups will be available when the school opens.

Hefferman said Columbia was identified as a good location for a School of Rock because there’s a large number of families in the area that support their kids in these types of enrichment activities.

Hefferman said the Columbia location would be about the 90^th school opened in the United States by the School of Rock. The first school was opened in Philadelphia in 1998, according to Hefferman.

School of Rock will open at 6935 Oakland Mills Rd. Suite N on July 14.