The daily rhythm at Ambleside School of Boerne now includes the morning chorus of Hill Country birds. Since opening its new campus just off Scenic Loop in January, administrators have embraced the natural setting, integrating it into a landscape that primes students to flourish. “It's a perfect area,” Principal Melinda Boshears says. “To be able to have chapel and assembly in nature and hear the birds chirping is just a beautiful way to start our day together as a community and school.”
Since its first class in 2013, consistent maturation has become a theme for Ambleside. The institution outgrew two spaces before moving into its new property. This month, they’ll add a 9th-grade cohort to the existing pre-kindergarten through 8th-grade class list. By moving out of the St. John Lutheran Church and into its new property, the school can now provide middle school students with their own dedicated space, a music building with a baby grand piano, and a room specifically for art. Now, with 11 acres of space for its students, the school can enhance its nature studies and classes by incorporating new educational elements. “This space is allowing us to grow not only in numbers, but also to go out and explore nature as well,” Boshears says. “Charlotte Mason believed that the children should become friends with creation because it was created by God.”
The Ambleside way is based on the work of Charlotte Mason, a British educator and author of the 19th and 20th centuries. Her six-volume series on education established a foundation for Ambleside Schools International, which now has a global presence with campuses in the United States, South Africa, Austria, India, Kenya, Mozambique, and Nigeria. “We’re very countercultural, which we say with great respect and pride,” Boshears notes. “We see children as made in the image of God with a vast capacity that goes beyond what we as humans could even think they’re capable of.”
The first Ambleside school was founded in Fredericksburg, Texas, 26 years ago, to foster a new approach to Christian education based on Mason’s philosophy of what she called a “living education.” Ambleside schools avoid using fill-in-the-blank, true-or-false, or multiple-choice text questions and instead emphasize open-ended prompts for their exams. There are also no screens, but idea-rich books fuel discussion-centered learning for every student.
The philosophy is broad and can include students with almost any learning need. Boshears emphasizes that every child at Ambleside is supported through a partnership between parents and the school, with a shared pursuit of the child’s success. “We believe children with all different natural abilities and weaknesses belong in school,” she says. “We teach to the whole child and not just academics.”
The curriculum at Ambleside includes a wide range of subjects with a focus on disciplinary and inspirational topics to engage different parts of each student’s brain. A key feature of Mason’s philosophy is to have shorter lessons on these subjects (no longer than an hour at the highest grades) to reduce fatigue among children in her classrooms. Today, Ambleside students study more than 15 subjects per week to diversify their learning rather than focusing on a single subject for an extended period.
It’s an approach Megan May, office manager at Ambleside, really appreciates. She not only works for the school but also has a daughter who has attended for the past five years. “One of the great parts about Ambleside is the way we teach children to love learning and care about what they’re learning,” May says. “There are so many subjects that they get to study throughout the day, but it's not overburdening. Each subject is 20 or 30 minutes, so my daughter can really use that short period of time to focus all of her attention on that and not get fatigued.” This commitment to individualized attention and progress is personal for Boshears, too, who came to Boerne to lead the school in 2016 after helping found an Ambleside school in San Angelo in the early 2000s.
By adding a 9th-grade cohort this fall, the school will expand its curriculum to include high school for the first time. Even with the desire for scaling up, the school is dedicated to maintaining Charlotte Mason’s holistic approach to education, which limits class sizes to no more than 16 per classroom, allowing teachers to sustain the relational culture instilled in the school. “Ambleside is an education for life,” May says. “My daughter and I were sitting here one day, and she started talking to Melinda about how she once talked about head knowledge versus heart knowledge. Those are beautiful moments.”
Looking ahead, Boshears says Ambleside School of Boerne plans to continue fostering development in both the school's physical space and the intellectual, mental, and spiritual well-being of its students. “I love the way we strive to see children the way that Jesus sees them,” Boshears emphasizes. “We do our best to meet children where they are and bring them along with their growth mindset because we’re in this together.”
Ambleside School of Boerne is a private Christian institution serving students from Pre-K through 9th grade. Grounded in the philosophy of Charlotte Mason, the school offers a living education designed to nurture the whole child. Teachers prioritize relational learning and rigorous academic habits over simple testing. Students participate in diverse activities, such as singing, exploring nature, and serving their community.
amblesideboerne.com | 830-388-8865 | 49 Scenic Loop Rd.
“We do our best to meet children where they are and bring them along with their growth mindset because we’re in this together.” —Melinda Boshears