Ambleside School of San Angelo to Close Its Doors

SAN ANGELO, TX — Ambleside School of San Angelo is closing its doors, school directors told parents in a letter Monday. The Ambleside board could not overcome a $200,000 funding deficit, the letter said.

Ambleside directors hold fundraisers throughout the year to fund the school. The last hope, according to the letter, was the annual San Angelo Gives citywide online fundraising drive. Ambleside attracted only $41,120 in donations, according to the San Angelo Area Foundation’s leaderboard. Four schools ahead of Ambleside on the May 3 event raised six figures, with Cornerstone Christian School raising the most, at $301,646.

“Through Art Spring, San Angelo Gives and sizable contributions from families we have made a small dent in that deficit however forward projections show that we will continue to face this deficit,” the Ambleside board wrote parents.

The board has already undertaken drastic actions to combat the funding deficit including reducing teaching staff, combining some classes, and raising the tuition. Continuing to take these actions will likely result in lowered enrollment due to a higher tuition and teacher burnout, the board wrote.

The Ambleside board wrote that Cornerstone Christian School will accept the students for the next school year and will strive to hire as many of the Ambleside teachers possible. The effort is a “joining” of the schools, the board wrote.

“We are saddened to have to take this action but are hopeful in all that we will be gaining at Cornerstone, such as extracurricular activities, athletics, library, STEM lab, robotics and opportunities for students to participate in National Honor Society and UIL,” the board wrote parents.

Ambleside of San Angelo is part of a worldwide network of schools called Ambleside Schools International.

“Ambleside Schools International trains and educates in the principles Charlotte Mason described in her six volume series on education. Ambleside teachers and principals are engaged in these readings yearly; hence, their relationships with students and the text exemplify the philosophy and pedagogy of this British educator, author and woman of faith in the Ambleside classroom daily,” according to the Ambleside Schools website.

Mason (1842-1923) of Ambleside, England, was a prolific educator who in many ways revolutionized teaching methods during the onset of the industrial revolution. She advocated for a Christian faith-based education curriculum that fulfilled her mottos of, “Education is an atmosphere, a discipline, a life" and "Education is the science of relations.”

Parents can still find homeschool curriculums that incorporate Mason’s methodologies available.

However, for parents wanting a schoolhouse atmosphere, the Cornerstone Christian School aims to continue to offer small student-to-teacher ratios. The Ambleside board noted that Cornerstone’s ratio is 15-to-1 and 18-to-1 is likely Cornerstone’s maximum ratio.