About Our Area

Central Virginia has so much to offer a growing family: Recreational opportunities, cultural enrichment, and a community dedicated to education. There's a reason Reader's Digest named Charlottesville “one of the top 10 places in the country to raise children.” Virginia schools have produced three presidents so far. Your child could be next! To learn more about area schools, visit each school system's website:

• Albemarle County Schools
• Charlottesville City Schools
• Fluvanna County
• Greene County
• Louisa County

• Madison County
• Nelson County
• Staunton City
• Waynesboro City
• Harrisonburg City

• Buckingham County
• Culpeper County
• Orange County
• Rappahannock County
• Rockingham County

For information on the following Charlottesville area private schools, please visit avenue.org:

• Blue Ridge School
• The Covenant School
• Charlottesville Catholic School
• Fork Union Military Academy
• Free Union Country School
• Living Education Center for Ecology & the Arts

• The Peabody School
• The Renaissance School
• St. Anne's-Belfield School
• Tandem Friends School
• Village School

Colleges & Universities

There is a long tradition of families moving to Virginia so their toddlers can grow up to attend state schools–and take advantage of lower in–state tuition, the state's college savings program, and living close to so many fine institutions of higher learning.

Of course, Charlottesville is perhaps best known as the home of the University of Virginia, which ranks consistently among the finest public universities in the nation (designed by Jefferson, it's also an historic landmark).

No wonder E-Podunk.com selected Charlottesville as the “Number 1 Best Small College Town.”

Within about an hour's drive are more than half a dozen colleges and universities, many with nationally ranked undergraduate and graduate programs–not to mention sports teams worth rooting for and cultural programs on a par with those in major metropolitan areas. Our regional institutions include:

• The University of Virginia
• Piedmont Virginia Community College
• James Madison University
• Mary Baldwin College
• Sweet Briar College
• Washington & Lee University
• Virginia Commonwealth University

• Blue Ridge Community College
• Bridgewater College
• Washington & Lee University
• Virginia Tech
• Medical College of Virginia
• Virginia Commonwealth University
• Shenandoah University and College of Health Science