Crozet school capacity and redistricting
Albemarle County Public Schools told its School Board on 14 August 2025 that Western Albemarle High School was operating almost 200 students over capacity. That presentation is the most recent public statement on capacity anywhere in Crozet's feeder pattern.
By Josh Keeton, Town Realty · Updated
The official source
The school division posts the final word on this. When an answer here is still coming, check there first.
Are Crozet's schools over capacity?
Albemarle County Public Schools told its School Board on 14 August 2025 that Western Albemarle High School was running almost 200 students over capacity. ACPS has separately said there are looming overcrowding issues at Henley Middle School. The division does not publish a current capacity figure for Brownsville or Crozet Elementary.
Enrollment for 2024-25, from federal Common Core of Data: Brownsville 530, Crozet Elementary 571, Henley Middle 847, Western Albemarle 1,273.
The August 2025 presentation came from ACPS's Director of Budget and Planning and Director of Building Services, and covered all three comprehensive high schools.
Can my school zone change after I buy a house here?
Yes. Attendance boundaries are set by School Board vote and can be redrawn. Buying a home does not lock in its current school assignment. In Crozet this is not hypothetical — the western elementary boundary last moved in 2022, and it moved a lot of houses.
Boundaries change only by board action, not on the county's weekly parcel refresh — so a zone is stable between votes, not fragile day to day.
What actually happened in the 2022 Crozet redistricting?
Albemarle County announced on 28 January 2022 that 219 students would move from Brownsville Elementary to a newly expanded Crozet Elementary, effective the 2022-23 school year. The plan moved three redistricting zones covering five named neighborhoods: Grayrock; Waylands Grant and Bargamin; and Western Ridge, Glenbrook at Foothill Crossing and Wickham Pond together.
The Western Ridge, Glenbrook at Foothill Crossing and Wickham Pond zone was by far the largest of the three, at 162 of the 219 students; Grayrock moved 25 and Waylands Grant and Bargamin moved 32 (Daily Progress, which reported the per-zone counts).
Neighborhood names are not attendance boundaries. Check a specific address against the county's own school locator before you rely on any of this.
Was Crozet Elementary expanded?
Yes, and substantially. The 2022 addition and renovation took the building from 46,742 square feet to about 80,000, and its design capacity from 330 students to 680. It added a three-story learning wing built into the hillside, 17 new classrooms and three smaller resource classrooms, and an expanded cafeteria and kitchen.
The building runs on 60 geothermal wells and was modelled at a 65% reduction in energy use intensity against the regional CBECS 2003 K-12 baseline.
That expansion is why Crozet Elementary now enrols 571 against a design capacity of 680.
Is another redistricting coming?
Nothing is approved for Crozet. ACPS says that if the board pursues a fourth comprehensive high school, a full redistricting study would be required under School Board policy — but a redistricting does not depend on one. Albemarle redistricted five schools in March 2024 with no new high school built. In September 2026 ACPS published a ranked list of more than $500 million in building needs, led by a new comprehensive high school at $231.6 million plus land.
That 2024 round moved students between Greer, Woodbrook and Agnor-Hurt elementaries and between Burley and Jack Jouett middle schools — the county's northern and urban ring, not Crozet.
Whether any of it happens turns on a referendum: Albemarle supervisors voted on 15 July 2026 to put a 1% local sales tax on the November 2026 ballot, raising the rate from 5.3% to 6.3%, restricted to school construction and set to expire on 30 June 2046.
What this actually means if you're buying
The elementary question in Crozet is quieter than the local narrative suggests — the boundary has not moved since 2022 and Crozet Elementary enrols well under the 680 it was built for. The high school question is not quiet. Western Albemarle is almost 200 students over capacity by the division's own account, the remedy is ranked but unfunded, and it goes to voters in November 2026. And a boundary change does not need a new high school first: the county redrew five school zones in March 2024 without one. If you are buying for a rising ninth grader, the crowding is a known condition. If you are buying for a toddler, nobody can tell you what Western looks like in 2035.
Sources
What else should I know about Crozet schools?
- How do you enroll a child in school in Crozet? Mid-year registration, the two proofs of residency ACPS requires, and the attendance-area waiver that does not come with a bus.
- Will my child get a school bus in Crozet? Brownsville's walk zone reaches the second roundabout in Old Trail. Crozet Elementary's covers Ballard Drive to St. George Avenue. Here is the rest.
- Who watches my kids after school in Crozet? County after-school care covers all four Crozet-area elementary schools and ends at fifth grade. What Albemarle's published handbook says about hours, fees and school holidays.
Still have a question about Crozet schools?
If it isn't on this page, nobody has written it down yet. Ask, and I'll find out.