Effective the beginning of the 2026 – 2027 school year, rising freshmen, sophomores, and juniors who reside in Loudoun County Districts 13.3, 13.12, and 12.6 will be rezoned to John Champe High School due to overcrowding at Lightridge High School. 

“[The rezoning process] is set by the school board, so it’s not a school-based decision, so Lightridge really has nothing to do with the decisions,” said Lightridge registrar Stephanie Koplets. “If you are a rising ninth through 11th grade student next year [in the affected districts]…then you will go to John Champe.”

The affected families received a form that they were able to fill out, expressing their desires upon the rezoning decision. Based on the data from the School Board meeting  on Tuesday, December 2, 47 of out the 60 ninth grade families and 38 out of 63 tenth grade families were granted amnesty to stay at Lightridge for the 2026 – 2027 school year. Of the 60 junior families that could have chosen to go to Champe during the following school year, only 1 family chose to attend. Overall, there are 145 students that asked to remain at Lightridge out of the total sum of 183. 

“I don’t think it’s fair…by the end of this year I’ll be halfway done through high school and it’s really mean to make me go to a different school for my last two years,” said Anna Kuruvilla, a sophomore at Lightridge High School who was originally scheduled to be rezoned but who ultimately was allowed to stay.

This isn’t the only pressing issue that this decision has caused.

“My [older] sister is in Lightridge…it would be weird if we were in different schools,” said Alicia Joy, a freshman at Lightridge High School. 

As of January 2026, The school board has remained resolved in its rezoning decision, and they  have not released any additional information regarding the process.