Information on Enrollment Solutions
As we all know, the neighborhoods in and around our Independence and Brambleton schools continue to grow. Loudoun County Public Schools began planning to address the growing enrollment numbers a few years ago. In August of 2022, the School Board awarded the construction contract for the new middle school, MS-14, now named Watson Mountain Middle School. Higher enrollment driving a second middle school in our area and ongoing neighborhood growth means higher enrollment at the high school level as well. In preparation for this, in February 2023, the School Board approved a non-traditional plan to keep the students in the Independence/Brambleton attendance zone together in the coming school years.
The first step was the opening of the newly built Watson Mountain Middle School, which opened this fall serving only 6th graders. Brambleton Middle is serving 7th and 8th-graders this year.
The next phase of the plan to address enrollment pressure begins next year. In the fall of 2025, Watson Mountain will serve both 6th and 7th-grade students, with only the 8th-graders remaining at Brambleton. This will allow space in Brambleton for the Independence Annex, IND-X, to serve 9th-graders. These three schools (Independence, Brambleton and Watson Mountain) will adopt this non-traditional approach for the next three school terms, the 2025-2026, 2026-2027, and 2027-2028 academic years per the School Board action. These schools will continue to serve students residing in the current Independence High School/Brambleton Middle School attendance zone.
A new Dulles North area high school (HS-14) is set to open in fall 2028 to help alleviate enrollment growth.
Next year’s 9th-grade students may attend either their A day or their B day at Independence, and then on the alternate day, they will attend the IND-X. Since Brambleton and Independence schools share a campus, it facilitates collaboration and planning. The school administration in both schools is working closely with all departments that support our students. We are actively planning safety and security solutions, transportation services and nutrition services, among others. The teams at Independence and Brambleton are working closely together - identifying space, personnel and support for our 9th-grade students in this non-traditional model.
We will continue to update you throughout the spring as plans take shape regarding scheduling, class assignments and more. You can read more in these answers to Frequently Asked Questions.
We appreciate your patience as we work to keep all of our students in their attendance zone.
Frequently Asked Questions About the Independence Annex (IND-X)
Updated 1/9/2025