Western Albemarle High School

Western Albemarle High School
Western Albemarle High School entrance
Address
5941 Rockfish Gap Turnpike Crozet, Virginia 22932 United States
Information
School type	Public, Comprehensive high school
Founded	September 1977
School district	Albemarle County Public Schools
Superintendent	Dr. Pamela Moran
Principal	Mr. Darah Bonham
Grades	9–12
Enrollment	1073 (2015-16)
Language	English
Campus	Suburban
Color(s)	Blue and Gold
Athletics conference	VHSL Group 3A West Region Jefferson District
Mascot	Warriors
Newspaper	The Western Hemisphere
Feeder schools	J. T. Henley Middle School
TV Station	The Western Beat
Website	WAHS Homepage

Western Albemarle High School is a public high school located in Crozet, Virginia. Western Albemarle is often simply referred to as Western or WAHS (pronounced "woz") by students and locals. The school opened in September 1977.

Western Albemarle enrolls approximately 1,073 students. It is situated at the foot of the Blue Ridge Mountains on a seventy-five acre site adjacent to Highway 250 and Interstate 64. WAHS is part of the Albemarle County Public School System, serving the western and central areas of Albemarle County.

The main feeder school is J. T. Henley Middle School, located directly across Route 250.

In January 2008, it was announced that Western was one of two schools (along with Murray Elementary) in the County that received the Governor’s Award for Educational Excellence. This was the highest honor in the new incentive program for schools and school divisions created by the Board of Education to advance Governor Tim Kaine’s “competence to excellence” agenda.

Also in 2008, the school was ranked 1310 of 1358 of the top 5% of U.S. high schools by Newsweek, placing it in the 9th percentile of school quality. It is also ranked in the top 10 of the state of Virginia.

Western Albemarle is notable for its successful sports programs, considered as some best in the state. In 2007, Western won the Wachovia Cup, the award given to the best all-around athletic program in the state of Virginia. The school belongs to the Jefferson District of Region II of the Virginia High School League (VHSL). The Boys Soccer Team won its third state championship in 2016, with the others coming in 1996 and 2014. In football they have been three time Jefferson District champs with a 20-4 record in the past 4 years. In 2011, the Western Albemarle track team sent several relay teams to the national track competition. In 2004-2005, the school won 21 district, regional, and state championships. The girls swimming and diving teams have won the VHSL 3A State Championship 6 years in a row (2010-2016), and the boys team won their first state championship in 2016.