School of Rock closes permanently

School of Rock Springfield is slated to close for good tomorrow after nearly seven years in business.

The local performance-based music instruction franchise already had been facing hardships leading up to the coronavirus pandemic, according to a Facebook post yesterday signed by owner Jennifer Jester.

"It was a perfect storm, and the pandemic was the nail in the coffin," she said in the post. "Yes, we have looked into other funding resources, and no, we are not able to go in that direction."

The School of Rock franchise operates in a strip center at 1658 E. Sunshine St. In addition to studio rooms for one-on-one sessions, the franchise has large rooms for group classes, as well as a stage for a full band, according to Springfield Business Journal archives. Rock-band staples guitar, bass, vocals, keyboards and drums are emphasized for teaching children.

Jester formerly was an associate professor of music at Millersville University of Pennsylvania, according to past reporting.

In the Facebook post, Jester said remote lessons would continue to be covered by the corporate School of Rock entity for the time being.

"If someone wants to start over and reopen their own School of Rock in the future, they will be able to do so, but this School of Rock as we know it will forever go into the history books," she said.

The Springfield franchise is the only one located in southwest Missouri, according to the corporate website. Reached this morning, Jester said the local franchise has eight employees. She said she’s unsure what her next career steps would be.