I didn’t begin my career in education with the intention of founding a movement. I started out by emulating what was modeled for me.

Like most Americans, my school experiences were eclectic, generally determined by the preferences of my teachers. Class dynamics were based upon teacher personality and interests. And so I became this kind of educator.

After teaching in my second school, I began a search of what it truly meant to educate. I read the stories of diverse educators from Steiner to Montessori, from Collins to Wilson. I visited dozens of schools seeking to gain the fundamental knowledge of both a philosophy and a practice of education.

After seeing inconsistent practices and limited philosophies in these schools, I returned to teaching, applied for a position, and asked the principal, “What will you do to help me grow?” He reached behind his desk and gave me Charlotte Mason’s six volumes, asking me to read and outline them.

And so I did. For two to three hours a day, I was engaged with this common-sense educator who began with a biblical philosophy of personhood. My life was forever changed! For the first time in 14 years, I experienced a principled way of thinking about education.

My class of third graders and their parents were most accepting as I changed from one way of educating to another. If I read something in Mason’s text on Monday, I put it into practice on Tuesday.

I recall telling the students, “I have been incentivizing you with crossword puzzles, independent reading, or longer recesses to do the work before you. But work is what is intended for each of us; we work to know — not to pass a test, get a grade, or finish hurriedly so you can do what you desire more.”

I brought narration into the mix. We had finished reading a chapter in literature, and I assigned the students to tell back in writing what they knew. I had no thought whatsoever that the students would spend 45 minutes writing and still not be finished. They asked if they could take it home and finish, and the next day they came in with 10-12 pages written in their copybooks! Students and parents alike were learning how to work, to gain knowledge and thereby grow in the varied disciplines of study.

Later that fall, Ranald and Susan Schaeffer Macaulay hosted a conference nearby. One of my school parents was in attendance, and he shared with Susan the changes occurring in his child. Soon after, Susan walked into my classroom and asked me if I would like to visit L’Abri in England with her; if so, she would be my tutor. Of course, I nervously said yes. And before the day’s end, that same parent came in and said he would arrange all the finances!

That summer in the English countryside, I explored the varied remnants of Charlotte Mason education and formed the beginning of a relationship with the Macaulays and other educators in which I would gain understanding of what it meant to educate from a thoroughly Christian philosophy and pedagogy.

After three years of sharing what I was learning with my fellow teachers (some of whom were interested and some of whom were not), I was asked to be the principal of a sister school nearby for the following school year. Once again, not everyone was on board. They resigned prior to my leadership and the remaining faculty consisted of ten teachers whose hearts were open and desirous of learning more about Charlotte Mason.

So much so that after one of our weekly teachers’ meetings, they came to me with a request: could we meet twice each week instead of once, since there is so much to be learned? I was delighted to say yes, and it was during this season that I realized that growth is synonymous with change.

As a single woman, I began to think broadly about starting a school from the ground up — not transitioning a school but growing a school from its beginning. Friends offered me their guest house in Fredericksburg, Texas for a time while I considered next steps. I traveled widely, hosted conferences, and led a study group among the families I was meeting.

It was here in the city of Fredericksburg that I launched the first Ambleside school.

Living a full and busy life, I never really thought of marriage, but others did, with me in mind. I was introduced to Bill St. Cyr at the annual National Prayer Breakfast in Washington, D.C. We had much in common from the very start, especially love of God and love of persons; he by way of discipleship and counseling, and I by way of education. After the first year of Ambleside, Bill and I were married in July. We have made Ambleside our life’s work.

Our greatest joy has been the people, working on behalf of the children with teachers, principals, and parents to provide this life-giving education where children learn to work well because this is what is intended by God for each one of us.

It is not all a fairy book story. There is an element of “journey” as God worked in and through a community, but also an antagonist here and there who upset the harmony. Yet we are called to remain faithful and steadfast to the course set before us.

But it is the faithfulness of God that has been foremost throughout the years — the ASI Board, schools’ leadership, and the parents and teachers who all labor “for the children’s sake.”

Praise God for the blessings of 25 years!

Maryellen St. Cyr
Founder, Director of Training
Ambleside Schools International