Enrolling in Crozet schools

The official source

The school division posts the final word on this. When an answer here is still coming, check there first.

Albemarle County Public Schools ↗

How do I enroll my child if we move to Crozet mid-year?

Register online through PowerSchool Enrollment, the division's registration partner. ACPS lists four steps: review admission requirements, determine your school attendance area, prepare the required documents, and complete the online form. You can keep editing the form and uploading documents until the school approves it.

For in-person help, ACPS directs you to your child's zoned school to schedule an appointment — not to the county office.

Families new to the United States or needing language support can call the International & EL Program at 434-296-6517.

What documents does Albemarle County require to register?

Four things: a certified birth certificate, two proofs of residency, immunization records, and — for pre-K through grade 5 — a physical exam. The birth certificate requirement is stricter than most families expect. ACPS states plainly that a photocopy will not be accepted.

Our new house doesn't have a street address assigned yet. Can we still register?

Yes. Albemarle County Community Development issues an official address verification letter on county letterhead, and ACPS accepts it. Call 434-296-5832. This comes up constantly in Crozet because so much of the inventory is new construction — Old Trail, Glenbrook at Foothill Crossing and Pleasant Green all deliver homes before the address is in county records.

Albemarle County Community Development: 434-296-5832.

Can my child attend a different Albemarle County school than the one we're zoned for?

Sometimes, by exception — and it does not come with a bus. School Board Policy JC states that students attend the school in the attendance area where they reside unless the superintendent's designee grants special permission. ACPS accepts these requests year-round with no deadline, decides case by case, and asks for one request per child per year.

The transportation catch, verbatim from Policy JC: partial transportation “may be provided on a space available basis on an established bus route from an established bus stop,” and “It will be the responsibility of the parent to transport the student to and from the appropriate bus stop.” If no space or no route exists, you drive the whole way.

Qualifying situations named by Albemarle County include a residence change within the county mid-year; a planned move to another attendance area, with documentation; full-time employment with Albemarle County Public Schools, CATEC, or a county department paid through the Albemarle County payroll department; a senior whose parent relocates after the end of junior year; and a child with joint custody living in the county for the majority of the year. The superintendent may also approve a transfer for curriculum requirements, specific medical reasons, or extraordinary reasons.

If we move to another part of Albemarle mid-year, can my child finish the year at their current school?

Usually yes, but only if the move happens after the end of the first semester, and only on written request. Policy JC says a student whose family changes attendance areas after the first semester may continue at their current school for the remainder of the year, provided the student is in good standing. A move in October is not covered by that provision.

Seniors get a longer protection: a student whose family moves between attendance areas after the end of the first semester of junior year may be permitted to complete their final year at the high school they last attended. The same good-standing condition applies.

Albemarle County's calendar never uses the word semester. It marks End of Quarter dates — October 9 and December 17, 2026, then March 12 and May 27, 2027 — so confirm with the school which date Policy JC's protections run from before timing a move around it.

When does the school year start and end in Albemarle County?

For 2026-27, the first day for students is Wednesday, 12 August 2026 and the last day is Thursday, 27 May 2027, which is a half day. Albemarle prints winter break as 21 December to 1 January, so the last day before the break is Friday, 18 December and students return on Monday, 4 January. Spring break runs Monday 5 April to Friday 9 April 2027.

Four weather make-up days are built in, used in this order: January 19, February 15, March 18 and March 19, 2027. A hard winter pushes the last day later than May 27.

The part families get wrong

A waiver is not a school-choice program. Even when Albemarle approves your request to attend a different school, transportation is space-available at best — you drive your child to an existing stop on an existing route, and if there is no room or no route, you drive them the whole way, every day, both directions. Families routinely plan around a waiver and then discover the commute is theirs. If the school matters, buy in the zone.