Construction Nears Completion at Two New School Facilities

By Albemarle County Public Schools

ALBEMARLE COUNTY, Va. — This summer, Albemarle County Public Schools is working tirelessly to complete two new facilities that will welcome students for the 2026-27 school year: Mountain View Upper Elementary School and Albemarle Career Exploration Academy – Lambs Lane Campus (ACE Lambs Lane). These are the first new school facilities constructed in Albemarle County since Baker-Butler Elementary School opened in 2002.

Mountain View Upper Elementary was built on the same campus as the former Mountain View Elementary School, now known as Mountain View Primary School. Mountain View Upper will serve students in grades 3-5 while Mountain View Primary will serve Pre-K through grade 2. Construction of Mountain View Upper is nearly complete, and a ribbon-cutting ceremony is scheduled for July 24 at 10 a.m.

The final component of the project, which will be completed in the winter, is a pedestrian path connecting Mountain View Upper and Mountain View Primary. “We felt it was important that we not lose the connectivity of the two campuses because families will have students at both schools,” noted Matt Wertman, ACPS director of building services. “There was a lot of emphasis expressed by students and parents to create a shared sense of place and connection for the Mountain View community.”

ACE Lambs Lane is a 60,000-square-foot facility that houses eight of the county’s 12 Scholars Studios, which are designed to provide specialized, career-focused learning for high school students. The eight Scholars Studios at ACE Lambs Lane are Blueprint (architecture and construction), Impact (leadership, law and social justice), Nexus (computer science), Pulse (health and medical sciences), Savor (hospitality and culinary arts), Solve (math, engineering and science), Thrive (education and human development), and Venture (entrepreneurship, business and innovation). ACE Lambs Lane will serve up to 400 students each day from all three of the county’s base high schools (Albemarle, Monticello and Western Albemarle). Students will attend ACE Lambs Lane and their base school on alternating days based on their school’s block schedule.

ACE Lambs Lane is currently scheduled to open by Aug. 12, the first day of school, but project delays have prompted ACPS to consider various contingency plans for the start of school. “Our contractor has had a number of setbacks that have made it clear we are on a razor-thin line as to whether the contractor can meet the deadline for opening on the first day of school,” Wertman said. “We continue to work with the contractor and will do all in our power to make certain the facility is open to students on day one.”

While hopeful that the contractor is able to keep the project on track, ACPS is actively adapting possible alternatives based on the day-to-day progress being made. ACPS does not want to create alarm, but the division also wants to be transparent about the project. “We will know more by the end of the month. That’s when we will see if the contractor has met specific project milestones that are necessary to gain occupancy. Right now they are hitting the targets we established, so we remain optimistic,” Wertman noted.

ACPS will notify ACE Lambs Lane students and families by the first week of August about specific plans for the first day of school. That is when the division says it expects to have a clear picture of the project’s status.