In about ten years, some of Albemarle County Public Schools middle schools will be overcrowded. To avoid this, the school division is looking to build a new middle school.
But it will be some time before the school is built, said officials at Thursday’s School Board meeting.
County schools is currently considering a proposed four phase plan to change the capacities in all five middle schools, along with Community Lab School, and construct a new one to make room for the rising county population. Before that plan goes ahead, the School Board and the Long Range Planning Advisory Committee — an appointed group of community members that reviews and makes suggestions on any long-term plans for new or existing facilities to the School Board and superintendent — must vote on the plan at a later date that has yet to be determined.
If the county proceeds with the current proposal, ACPS would first double the capacity at the Community Lab School — the county’s charter school — to fit 400 students, up from 200. The current plan is also looking to add a 25,000 square foot addition to the school, which will include five additional classrooms, two science rooms and one fitness room. That would cost $34 million, according to the VMDO Architects’, the company conducting the study on the potential additions and school.
Once Community Lab School is expanded, the school division would then renovate and potentially rezone some students to Walton Middle School under the proposal. When rezoning, officials will see which students can be redistricted to Walton, as it is the only middle school in the county that is not projected to experience overcrowding in the next ten years.
The plan is to build the new middle school near Journey and Henley Middle Schools, as both schools are nearing capacity, according to the VMDO presentation on the proposal on Thursday night. The current proposed plan expects construction to begin in 2033.
The projected cost for the new middle school is $154 million, and it does not include the costs of the land itself, which county schools would have to purchase. It’s unclear what land the division would purchase, said Helen Dunn, spokesperson for county schools.
Once the new middle school is built, capacities in most of the middle schools will shift. The current proposed middle school master plan also includes lowering the capacity in Burley, Henley, Journey and Lakeside Middle Schools.
Enrollment at ACPS increased by 300 students this year, and that number is projected to increase. By 2034, ACPS expects to serve more than 14,500 students, about 1,000 more students than are currently enrolled, according to a draft 2025 budget funding request from county schools. The Weldon Cooper Center at the University of Virginia, which predicts that Albemarle County’s population will grow by almost 40,000 people by 2050.
The new middle school is one the many projects County schools are embarking on to adjust to the growing student population. County schools will also split Mountain View Elementary School into two schools — one primary that’ll serve kindergarten through second and one secondary that will serve kids in third through fifth grade — by 2026, according to County Schools.
The School Board will continue discussing the proposed four phase plan for middle schools among other Long Range Planning Advisory Committee recommendations at a work session meeting on Oct. 10 at 6:30 p.m. at the Albemarle County Office Building on 401 McIntire Rd.
Editor’s note: VMDO Architects is conducting a study on expanding the enrollment capacities of Albemarle County Public School’s four middle schools and building a fifth middle school. A previous version of this article incorrectly defined VMDO’s role.
The Community Lab School is a county charter school. A previous version of this report said it was not.
Albemarle County Public Schools does not know where it would purchase land for the new middle school, it is not considering purchasing land from Albemarle County, as a previous version of this report stated.
The Albemarle County Public School Board will discuss these plans at a work session on Oct. 10. A previous version of this story had an incorrect date.
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