Fruita Middle School recorded 232 more students enrolled in 2024-25 school year than previous school year

There were 691 students enrolled in Fruita Middle School during the 2024-25 school year, 50.5% more than the previous year's 459 students welcomed, according to the Colorado Department of Education.

Among the student body, 50.1% were girls and 49.9% were boys.

Data also showed that most of the students were white (554), representing 80.2% of the Fruita Middle School total enrollment. Hispanic or latino students comprised the second-largest ethnic group, with 99 students (14.3%).

The grade level with the highest enrollment was eighth grade, with 253 students enrolled that year, accounting for 36.6% of the total student body.

The school is located in Mesa County Valley School District No. 51, and has a central office in Fruita.

In total, there were 881,065 students enrolled in Colorado during the 2024-25 school year.

Colorado’s K–12 enrollment has gradually declined each year since the pandemic, with about 3–4% fewer students in 2024 than the state’s peak enrollment in 2019.

The declines are concentrated in the early grades and certain rural areas, while some metro districts are holding steady or growing. Lower birth rates and pandemic disruptions are driving the trend. Colorado’s public schools are now serving the smallest number of students in a decade, a shift that has implications for funding and planning even as per-pupil resources increase to compensate.

Colorado’s teacher workforce faces persistent shortages and pay challenges. In the 2023–24 school year, nearly 7,000 teaching positions were vacant statewide at some point. Districts managed to fill only about 75% of those openings with fully qualified hires, leaving many to be filled by short-term substitutes, retirees, or emergency credentials for the rest, while 9% remained unfilled for the entire school year.

School	Total Enrollment
Grand Junction High School	1,834
Fruita Monument High School	1,434
Central High School	1,352
Palisade High School	1,076
Fruita Middle School	691
Redlands Middle School	632
Mount Garfield Middle School	569
Orchard Mesa Middle School	560
Bookcliff Middle School	525
Independence Academy	491
Grand Mesa Middle School	476
West Middle School	468
Grand River Academy	461
Appleton Elementary School	439
Thunder Mountain Elementary School	432
Pear Park Elementary School	428
Pomona Elementary School	395
Rocky Mountain Elementary School	395
Juniper Ridge Community School	375
Mesa View Elementary School	375
Shelledy Elementary School	371
Chatfield Elementary School	371
Tope Elementary School	370
Chipeta Elementary School	364
Wingate Elementary School	363
Fruitvale Elementary School	358
Nisley Elementary School	346
Clifton Elementary School	346
Orchard Avenue Elementary School	319
Dual Immersion Academy School	310
Taylor Elementary School	310
Broadway Elementary School	300
Monument Ridge Elementary School	300
Dos Rios Elementary School	293
Rim Rock Elementary School	292
Lincoln Orchard Mesa Elementary School	289
Scenic Elementary School	243
Loma Elementary School	207
R-5 High School	207
Mesa Valley Community School	178
New Emerson School at Columbus	138
Career Center Preschool	53
Gateway School	12