About US Army JAG Legal Center and School

Charlottesville, Albemarle County, and the surrounding area, make up Virginia's Piedmont region, situated at the foot of the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains in the center of the state.  It is here that Thomas Jefferson built his magnificent estate, Monticello, and wrote: 'I am as happy nowhere else and in no other society, and all my wishes end, where I hope my days will end, at Monticello.'

Forbes.com ranked Charlottesville and Albemarle County 13th in their 2008 edition of 'America's Best Places to Raise a Family.' With a population of approximately  130,000, Albemarle County and Charlottesville cover 723 square miles of farms, vineyards and rolling forested hills.
 
At the center of the County is the independent city of Charlottesville. The County's urban areas include the Development Area around Charlottesville, as well as the Village of Rivanna and the Community of Crozet. About 690 square miles of the County are rural. Local farms benefit from high-quality soils and a 210 day growing season. Over 60 percent of the County is forested with oak, hickory and pine.

Albemarle possesses a wealth of history, from prehistoric archaeological sites to landmark residences such as Monticello and James Monroe's Ash Lawn-Highland, to the 'Academical Village' of the University of Virginia, also founded by Thomas Jefferson in the heart of Charlottesville. To Jefferson, learning was an integral part of life. The "academical village" is based on the assumption that the life of the mind is a pursuit for all participants in the University, that learning is a lifelong and shared process, and that interaction between scholars and students enlivens the pursuit of knowledge.

Greater Charlottesville is home to many large employers: the University of Virginia, the UVA Health System, State Farm Insurance, GE, Klockner Pentaplast, LexisNexis,  the defense intelligence sector and hundreds of local technology firms.

Few communities of Charlottesville's size offer comparable health care options. The UVA Health System and Martha Jefferson Hospital provide leading-edge health and medical care.

The area has warm, humid summers and generally mild winters. Average annual rainfall is 47 inches. Average annual snowfall is about 24 inches.

From hiking the local trails, driving along Skyline Drive in the Blue Ridge, to enjoying a Sunday afternoon at one of our local vineyards, there's never a shortage of things to do here in Central Virginia. Monticello, Michie Tavern, Montpelier, and the UVA Grounds provide the history or architecture buff hours of exploration!

It's a quick one hour drive to the capital city of Richmond, and you can reach DC by car in two hours.  The local Charlottesville Airport offers connections nationally and internationally via US Air, American Eagle, or United Express.

Albemarle County Public Schools (ACPS) offers community-based elementary schools, state-of-the-art secondary schools, two charter schools, a STEM magnet school operating at Albemarle High School, and the Charlottesville Albemarle Technical Education Center (CATEC). Regional services are available for students who require a non-traditional learning environment or additional specialized services.

For additional Albemarle County demographic or school information, please click here.