Teachers

Mrs. Charske graduated with her undergraduate degree in Health, Physical Education and Adapted Physical Education in 1996 and then continued on to pursue a Masters in Education in 2002 from the University of Dayton. She began her thirteen year long professional teaching career at Kettering City Schools in 1997.  She taught Health, Physical Education and coached Track and Field for four years before she took a short break to care for their first son. Once returning back to the teaching profession she enjoyed four more years teaching for Kettering Schools at the middle school level. She ended her last five years of teaching at Southdale Elementary School. After their family of seven moved to Florida, she taught one year for Marion County before stepping into her beloved position, teaching Kindergarten and Physical Education for Ambleside. She has been married to her husband for over 22 years and has five beautiful children, ranging from college to fifth grade. She enjoys many activities: relaxing at the beach, exercise classes at One Hot Yoga, traveling with her husband, and spending time with family and friends. She loves being active in her church community.

Mrs. Works is married with both children attending Ambleside.  Before starting a family she was actively involved in theater, both on stage and behind the scenes.  Although she enjoyed performing, she decided she did not want it to be her life’s work.  She changed her major and received her Bachelors of Science for Psychology from the University of Florida. She enjoys running, traveling, and spending time with her family. She can still be seen performing, whether she is on stage or not.

Mrs. LaValley heard about Ambleside through her husband’s family and from her step-daughter attending the school. She has a heart for helping children and growing them in the knowledge of who Jesus is and also enjoys building relationships with people. She loves spending time with her family, eating dark chocolate, and drinking coffee.

Follower of Christ, wife to Josh, and mom to Lyric, Jacob, Justin, and Kody, Mrs. Phillips grew up in Illinois and moved to Florida after graduating nursing school in 2004. After completing her business degree and working as a registered nurse for several years, she chose to begin a family with Mr. Phillips and stay home with their children. She went on to homeschool her three youngest children where she learned of Charlotte Mason and a living education. Mr. and Mrs. Phillips are active in their church community where, through God's divine strategy, they were introduced to Ambleside School of Ocala. Their three youngest children are now attending Ambleside (the oldest is off to college), and Mrs. Phillips knows it is a gift from the Lord to have the opportunity to teach and love the students in her class.

Mrs. Owens graduated from The University of Florida in 2001 with a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology and a minor in Education. She and her husband, Shane have been together since 1999 and together they have three children. She grew up in Miami, FL and is the oldest of six. Mrs. Owens can be trusted to explain any variations on our weather, and to point out any and all birds on campus! You'll hear her infectious laugh if you're within a mile of campus!

Ms. Stark has lived in Ocala her entire life. Though she loves spending summers in North Carolina working at summer camp, she has continued to gain a greater appreciation for the city of Ocala. Through working with children in various ways and settings for most of her life, Ms. Stark discovered the immense joy found in teaching. She also delights in learning from children about the beautiful way our Heavenly Father sees us and sees it as an incredible responsibility to be able to help shape how children see themselves. Ms. Stark was able to connect with families through working at Grace Episcopal VPK and feels both privileged and blessed to now be apart of the incredible family that is Ambleside. Ms. Stark loves experiencing God’s creation through hiking through the mountains, kayaking, swimming, and road-tripping.

Mr. Head builds a creative community at Ambleside, centered around joy-filled, Christ-exalting singing. He’s served at Ambleside for seven years, bringing a passion for corporate worship to our mornings. He teaches composer study for 3rd-8th grades in addition to elementary music each week. Primarily a family man, Mr. Head draws much inspiration from his wife and five kids, as well as from the students on campus. When he isn’t teaching, Mr. Head is usually working on the next musical instrument on his list to learn.

Mrs. Ovalle and her husband were thrilled by their discovery of the Ambleside community while researching methods of education. After enrolling her two daughters, she joined our staff as our Elementary and Middle School Spanish teacher! She considers herself blessed to partake in our children's education and strives to engage their language-learning skills. When she is not planning what to teach, she is planning how to have fun in nurture groups through her role as a Trust-Based Relational Intervention Practitioner. Her heart longs for all children (and adults) to know how precious they are, especially those who have had or are going through trauma. On her time off she enjoys being in nature with her family, worshipping, creating, reading, and being a catalyst for positive change!

Mrs. Martin earned her BS in Business from Liberty University, with minors in New Testament Greek and Communication. She enjoyed a career in marketing before making the shift to becoming a stay-at-home mom. While her children were small, Mrs. Martin and her husband began a photography business, mainly serving clients in Marion and Alachua county, which they still enjoy today. She has three children at Ambleside - two in middle school and one in high school. When her oldest was in 2nd grade, Mrs. Martin began volunteering in our library. She continued in that capacity for six years before joining as a staff member. Her hobbies include reading, baking, traveling, and spending time with her family.

Mrs. Dersch received her Associate Degree in Nursing in 1986, soon after marriage to her high school sweetheart. After a 10 year career in cardiac critical care, she transitioned home to educate their growing family. She embraced homeschooling her children through their elementary years with a passion that they have opportunity to love the act of learning. Their family joined our Ambleside community in 2011 when their youngest child was adopted internationally. Four of her children have attended Ambleside and Mrs. Dersch has spent countless hours on our campus as a volunteer. She loves our community well through nurturing our flower beds, encouraging others in the world’s best and hardest job of parenting, overseeing our Shakespeare costumes and being willing to serve where needed with a joy-filled heart. Dorothy Dersch is an ASI Board Member.