Ambleside Colorado has grown tremendously since its inception in 2010. We have been leasing our current building for over a decade and are now in need of a permanent home to grow our middle and high school programs and to become a key destination for training and school planting for the Ambleside community.

It is the mission of Ambleside Colorado that every child experiences a living education centered on Christ, where each child is known, guided, and inspired to author a full and free life; a life rich in relationship to God, self, others, ideas, and all of creation.​ We believe this is the right next step and direction in order to continue to accomplishing our mission.

The Campus Campaign seeks to raise $14.1M between 2023 and 2026 to accomplish all that is outlined in Phase 1 of the project. We will need an additional $13M to accomplish all that is outlined in Phase 2.

It is our expressed intention to keep tuition increases correlated to minor inflation increases, which has been the standard to-date. This is however subject to change based on fundraising progress and the amount of debt we may need to take on to make the move happen.

A multi-year gift intention is a written commitment to give to the campaign over a period of three years (i.e. I will give $5,000/year over three years, $15,000 total). This accomplishes two things for us: First, it helps us with our financial forecasting. for the project. We will be able to see how much we can expect overall and how we can operationally plan for paying down our mortgage due to when funds are expected to come in. It also directly contributes to how much we can borrow from the bank at closing. We are currently looking at financing options that allow us to borrow up to 70% of the stated gift intentions we have. Therefore, we can take those intentions to the bank to get our financing started on the building.

As of March 27, 2024, we have raised $8M and will need an additional $4M by May 1, 2024 to accomplish all that is outlined in Phase 1.

If we don’t fully fundraise the budgeted amount needed for Phase 1, we will step back and prayerfully reevaluate the direction of our project as a Board. Our list of potential responses to this outcome could include:

• Adjusting the project scope and timing
• Walking away from this deal altogether
• Prudently borrowing money
• Renewing and reworking appeals to major donors

$9,750,000 cash in hand by May 1, 2024.

Cash, Check, Credit and Debit Cards (online*), Stock, Real Estate, Estate Assets, Ownership Shares                   

*Ambleside pays standard fees for all online donations.  Ambleside will keep more of your donation if you pay by check vs. online.

This was an extensive and exhaustive three year search which began with the decision to start the Ambleside High School. From a personal letter from board member Eliza Lewis to Cornerstone Church three years ago, to contract today, God’s providence has very clearly been at work. An eight person Board and School leadership committee was formed in January 2023. This came after two unsuccessful attempts to purchase properties with the purpose of developing.

Many locations were reviewed, discussed, sought after, toured and considered. Costs, timing, distance, permitting, code restrictions, and zoning were primary factors to determining viable opportunities.

CBRE, our Project Manager partner, has overseen the bidding process for all building renovations. We require at least three bids for competition and we utilize CBRE’s expertise and process to ensure fair and competitive bid selections.

Phase 2 projects are prioritized by direct impact on our students and cost efficiencies. We seek to first accomplish projects that most benefit the living education our students experience on a daily basis. We will also combine projects to take advantage of cost savings wherever possible.

We initiated this effort with the goal of maintaining our school on-mission and on-method for the next 100 years. We consider Ambleside to be defined by its mission to give children a Living Education, much more than by its facility footprint. Our philosophical approach to education will remain central to our school regardless of location, and, in fact, we look forward to enhancing that vision through the new opportunities that our building will afford. We will preserve classroom size, school size, our pedagogical approach, and our mission, vision, and values.

We will be able to invest in security as we build-out the facility for long-term use and will incorporate new hardware and best industry practices in the design. These include physical updates to fencing and the business-hours entry, and modernizing the facility through an upgraded camera and external security system, magnetically locking internal doors, and enhanced classroom door hardware.

Yes. Having students from multiple age ranges interact is part of the Ambleside way of learning and engaging as a school community. The new building will actually facilitate more inter-grade interactions due to the expanded number of open indoor and outdoor spaces that can be used for formal and informal gathering.

Sixteen students per class is foundational to the way that Ambleside does school. It allows for all students to be known and seen in the Ambleside community and for families to know one another and be better able to support students. Although the building has a more expansive footprint, we want to maintain the core elements that make our school Ambleside. Additionally, there is not enough space for more than one class per grade.

The current site plans include space for us to partner with ASI to build a regional training center in Phase 2, whereby we can educate and reach more individuals on what it means to provide a living education. This is core to our strategic approach to reach more students and families through school planting in the coming years.

ASI also paid for half of our marketing costs for the campaign through a shared initiative to benefit Ambleside Colorado and other schools in the network. ASI also has connected us with national foundations to aid in our fundraising efforts.

Teacher Housing will be the final aspect of our Building Acquisition and Renovation plan during Phase 2. The intention here is to provide affordable rental housing for teachers that are not yet homeowners and that would like to live in the area. Rents would not be subsidized by tuition increases or by fundraising. The hope would be to work with affordable housing professionals to set rents that are sustainable, while also being mindful of tax and maintenance responsibilities for the property by Ambleside.

Certain parts of the building will be designated as spaces that can serve as revenue generating lines of business, and activities that would help further the Kingdom. We are open to exploring various options and working with local and regional partners. At this time, we would not look to partner with schools as the kind of space they would need would conflict with our own classroom needs and time constraints.

Large fundraising campaigns are created to fund large projects that use capital over time. Here we will have a building that will need to be purchased and renovated in 2024 and then also have renovations in the years to come.

Spreading out financial donations made towards the project allows donors to make larger contributions over time and it provides infusions of cash into the project at expected intervals. This allows us to raise larger sums of money as individuals can commit more than just what their current income allows.  

That is for you to pray about as a family and discern how God is calling you to give. We believe that campaigns like ours are opportunities for all of us to grow in our relationship with and reliance upon our Lord.

The point of this large endeavor for our school community is not equal gifts, but equal generosity. So, when you seek the Lord as to how much to give, go prayerfully in terms of faith and generosity, not merely in terms of a dollar amount.

It will take a deep sacrificial gift for every current family that attends Ambleside Colorado along with the financial support of current grandparents, alumni families, community supporters of our school, nonprofit foundations and private corporations. It will take boldness in prayers, faith, and unity of purpose to achieve our goal.