CELEBRATING 20 YEARS OF AMBLESIDE

Alumni Corner

Hear from Our Alumni

Hear from our alumni about what Ambleside means to them in honor of Ambleside's 20th Year Anniversary!

Why Ambleside? Hear From Our Alumni!

“It’s so great that students at Ambleside listen to Mozart. It’s as if there is a distant drum beat that reminds me that there is something good and true in the world, and I can do something good and true in it. My friends at college don’t have this.”

“My parents chose Ambleside out of nowhere and I got to spend nine years of my life here—with these people...That’s what Ambleside does—when you get to high school, you don’t care so much what other people think of you. I’ll never have friends like I had at Ambleside.”

“As a child, I was very much what we might term a ‘student at risk,’ I struggled from an early age to master even the most basic skills in math, reading, and writing. But at Ambleside I was seen as a whole person and never just as the sum of my strengths and weaknesses. When I left Ambleside at the end of 8th grade I knew what I was capable of: I had learned resilience, hard work, and self-efficacy.”

“I don’t know whether I am going to study the humanities or the sciences in college. I love them all.”

“I can’t put into words what I felt during my Dad’s memorial service when I saw almost all of my Ambleside classmates there...I vividly remember feeling so known and loved just by their presence, because they were friends who I had grown up with.”

“I came back to teach at Ambleside because I wanted to be part of a movement that valued growth over grades, gave grace when someone needs it, and inspired students with hope and confidence in themselves.”

Alumni Spotlight

Andrew deSa, Class of 2011

Andrew de Sa is a classically trained artist working in the Washington D.C. area. Andrew received training in the Boston School tradition under master painter Paul Ingbretson.

Andrew's work was recently shown at Princeton and focuses on fine art for sacred and residential spaces. You can learn more about Andrew’s studio here and view some of his pieces below.

Kate Perry, Class of 2010

Kate Perry joined Ambleside School in Kindergarten and after graduating and attaining her degree from Grove City College, returned to us as teacher. Kate Perry is now teaching our Third Grade class and has shared her reflections on how her time as a student at Ambleside former her.

“At Ambleside I was seen as a whole person and never just as the sum of my strengths and weaknesses. In fact, at Ambleside the strong and the weak work together throughout the school day. I was surrounded by adults who knew me deeply, loved me passionately, and saw the potential within me that I failed to see within myself. No opportunity was ever taken from me because it was believed to be beyond my ability or unsuitable for my level. The road to success was steep before me, but I was supported along the way by those who believed in me and were willing to do whatever it took to get me there. I learned that it was ok not to have the right answer: I was surrounded by classmates who accepted and supported me regardless of the fact that I sometimes cried when it was time for grammar, and who cheered me and encouraged me on the day I first spelled b-e-a-u-t-i-f-u-l correctly because they knew how hard I had worked to slay that dragon!”

Ashley Light, Class of 2020

“Art has been a part of my education for as long as I can remember. I've gone to Ambleside School in Mclean, VA since Kindergarten. Here I have been studying artists and their art and then reproducing some of them. We do two artists a year, learning all about their lives and how they came about becoming an artist. My favorite artists that I have studied so far are Claude Monet, Georgia O’keeffe and Norman Rockwell. I love all these artist's styles because they are all different and unique. The medium that I love to do the most is watercolor. I just started using watercolors about a year ago and so far I have made many cards and pictures for friends and family, some of which I've sold. I am hoping to start some kind of business this summer where I can sell most of my pieces.”

I did this [reproduction of Van Gogh’s “Cafe Terrace”] at school for Picture Study. I used oil pastel on a thick piece of paper. This picture shows perspective with depth of the street and buildings. Your eyes see the street in the foreground and travel to the bright cafe, tree and store in the mid ground. Finally in the very back ground is the dark end of the street with a horse and cart emerging. Above this scene are the black buildings looming above in the starry sky. This was a fun reproduction to do and I think it shows a good example of perspective.”

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Something I have enjoyed doing is painting flower specimens. At school we’ve had a class called nature study that I've been doing since kindergarten. This class is where we go out and find some type of plant to draw or paint and then study afterwards. But since the schools have been closed, I've been doing this on my own accord. All of these plants/flowers I have in my backyard and my goal is to make the flower realistic. I don’t put a shadow beneath the plant because it is a botanical sketch, but many of my normal watercolors have shadows and depth.