The first Ambleside School opened with 28 students in the small town of Fredericksburg, Texas in 2000. Since then, Ambleside Schools International has grown to a network of schools across the United States and into Africa, Europe, and Asia – all offering students what Charlotte Mason described as a living education.

The Founding of Ambleside Schools

In 1989, after ten years in the classroom, Maryellen Marschke St. Cyr was a highly regarded but increasingly disenchanted teacher. Recognizing her need for a consistent and deeply Christian philosophy of education, she began searching. It was in reading the six-volume opus of British educator, Charlotte Mason that she discovered the answers to her questions. Over the subsequent years, Maryellen would become a close associate of such luminaries in the Charlotte Mason renewal as Karen Andreola, Susan Schaeffer Macaulay, and others. She traveled to England several times, searching for remnants of Charlotte Mason’s methods and meeting some of the last surviving Charlotte Mason Trained (CMT) educators. And she began implementing Charlotte Mason’s principles – first as a classroom teacher, then as a director of instruction, and finally as a school principal.

In 1999, with a calling and vision to build a Charlotte Mason school from the ground up, Maryellen resigned her position as a school principal and moved to the town of Fredericksburg, Texas. There she spent a year in prayer and writing curriculum. In 2000, with the support of several families from the community, Ambleside School of Fredericksburg opened. From the beginning, central to Ambleside’s mission was the fostering of a renewal of Christian education based upon Charlotte Mason’s philosophy. Thus, the first Ambleside Internship was held within months of Ambleside School of Fredericksburg’s opening.

Almost immediately, from across the country and the world, educators began traveling to this little school in this little town to learn of this remarkable, living education. Some began asking for help in establishing a similar school in their community. In 2002, Ambleside School of McLean joined with Ambleside School of Fredericksburg. In 2003, Ambleside School of San Angelo was founded. In 2005, Maryellen and her husband, Bill, together with a group of supportive board members, established Ambleside Schools International to both facilitate the conversion of existing schools to Charlotte Mason’s pedagogy and support the establishment of new Ambleside Schools.

Ambleside Member Schools

Since the first Ambleside School opened its doors in Fredericksburg, Texas, Ambleside Schools International has grown to a network of schools with locations in the United States, South Africa, Nigeria, Mozambique, Austria, and India.

Ambleside Homeschool

Ambleside Homeschool (AHS) was the result of the home and school classrooms meeting. The first Ambleside Homeschoolers had a strong desire to implement Charlotte Mason’s philosophy at home and to “do it right.” In 2005, they travelled to the Hill Country of Texas to attend the Summer Institute, a seven-day intensive session held at Ambleside School of Fredericksburg. These two women, with Maryellen’s tutelage, brought this formalized practice to the home classroom—first these two families, then another, and so on. From this organic beginning, Ambleside Homeschool was developed to serve homeschooling families by providing access to the Ambleside Curriculum, a wide variety of teacher resources, and regular access to a mentor who works with homeschooling families to support the consistent application of Charlotte Mason’s philosophy and the Ambleside Method.

Ambleside Training

Ambleside Schools are venues, not only for the education of children but also for the training of teachers and parents. Since 2000, our staff has trained more than 2,000 teachers and parents from North and South America, Africa, and Europe interested in developing their understanding and practice of Charlotte Mason’s thought and the Ambleside Method of Education.