On February 16, 2021, the District 51 School Board voted to adopt a series of proposals for school boundary changes. The potential changes are designed to alleviate crowding for schools in growing areas. These changes would affect Appleton, Broadway, Pomona, Tope, and Wingate elementary schools, as well as Fruita Monument and Grand Junction high schools, Fruita and West middle schools, and Fruita 8-9 School. Changes are detailed below.
All changes will take effect in August 2021.
High School Boundary Changes
1) Neighborhoods in the Scenic and Broadway elementary school attendance areas are moving from Fruita Monument High School (and Fruita 8-9 for 9th grade) to Grand Junction High School. In addition, a triangle bordered by U.S. Highway 6&50, 25 Road, and G Road is moving from Fruita 8-9/Fruita Monument's attendance area into Grand Junction High School's attendance area.
Middle School Boundary Change
1) The area bordered by U.S. Highway 6&50, 25 Road, and G Road is switching from Fruita Middle School's attendance area for 6th and 7th grade and Fruita 8/9 for 8th grade to West Middle School's attendance area for grades 6-8.
Elementary School Boundary Changes
1) Appleton Elementary School neighborhoods south of G Road, northeast of the Colorado River, and west of 25 Road will move into Pomona Elementary School boundaries, and the area bordered by G Road, I-70, 26 and 27 roads is moving from Pomona Elementary School boundaries into Tope Elementary School boundaries.
2) The Panorama neighborhood is moving from Wingate Elementary School boundaries into Broadway Elementary School boundaries. The neighborhood is shown below.
What to do if you live in one of the areas above
Remaining in a Current School - Transitional Admission Rights
1) Grandfathering Transitional Admission Rights - Students who live in one of the above areas and wish to remain in their current school will be able to do so through Grandfathering via the Transitional Admission Rights (TAR) process. Grandfathering keeps a student in their level, defined as K-5, grades 6-8, and grades 9-12, regardless of which grades their particular school serves.
If you plan to use Grandfathering, you must email your school registrar on or before April 30, 2021, to let them know of your intentions. Otherwise, your child's registration will automatically be rolled over to the new boundaries.
Grandfathering for students in 25 Road/G Road/Highway 6&50 area
* Appleton students K-4 this year can stay at Appleton next year
* Fruita Middle School 6th-graders can stay at Fruita Middle
* Fruita Middle School 7th-graders can advance to Fruita 8-9
* Fruita 8-9 9th-graders can advance to Fruita Monument High School
* Fruita Monument students can remain at FMHS
Grandfathering for students in Broadway/Scenic areas
* Fruita 8-9 9th-graders can advance to Fruita Monument High School
* Fruita Monument students can remain at FMHS
Grandfathering for students in the 26-27 Road/G Road/I-70 area
* Pomona students K-4 can stay at Pomona next year.
Grandfathering for students in the Panorama neighborhood
* Wingate students K-4 can stay at Wingate next year.
2) School of Choice - The SOC application process will be needed if you are going from one level to the next (levels defined as K-5, 6-8, and 9-12, regardless of school) and wish to go to a school in your old attendance boundaries.
The School of Choice process for 2021-22 will be from 10 a.m. March 8 through 4 p.m. March 19. The School of Choice application will be available at d51schools.org/schoolofchoice.
SOC for students in 25 Road/G Road/Highway 6&50 area
* Appleton 5th-graders will need to use School of Choice to advance to Fruita Middle School instead of West Middle School this fall.
* Fruita 8-9 8th-graders will need to use School of Choice to stay at Fruita 8-9 instead of going to Grand Junction High School this fall.
SOC for students in Broadway/Scenic areas
* Redlands Middle School 8th-graders will need to apply for School of Choice in order to attend 9th grade at Fruita 8-9.
Siblings who are currently enrolled in a D51 school will be offered TAR to attend their older sibling's school some day as well, with no busing. The family must remain at their current address in order to take advantage of TAR. If they move, they will have to apply through the School of Choice process. Schools will receive a list of siblings who qualify for TAR.
TAR for siblings does not apply to current D51 preschool students or siblings who are not currently enrolled in a D51 school.
If you plan to use Sibling Admission, please contact your school registrar the spring before your child will take advantage of Sibling Admission.
Changing Schools - Anyone who lives in an area that is switching boundaries from one school to another can enroll this fall at the school that will be in their new attendance boundaries (for example, a 6th-grader at Fruita Middle School who lives in the northwest Grand Junction area that is changing to West Middle School boundaries can attend West as a 7th-grader if they so choose). If you choose to make the switch right away, please call your new school to let them know you're coming.
Transportation - Students from all impacted areas can still access busing to their current school for the 2021-22 school year. After that time, you will have to find alternate transportation in order to continue at a school that is in old attendance boundaries.
Public Input
In addition to staff meetings, the district has hosted eight boundary meetings for families and the general public over Zoom, each one focused on a specific change in a specific area. The links below will take you to the presentation given at each meeting.
Nov. 16 - FMHS/Fruita 8-9
Nov. 18 - Tope
Dec. 3 - Pomona
Dec. 7 - Appleton
Dec. 8 - GJHS
Dec. 9 - FMHS/GJHS/Fruita 8-9
Dec. 14 - Wingate/Broadway
Jan. 14 - FMHS/GJHS (northwest Grand Junction proposal)
Jan. 27 - West/Fruita Middle
Surveys were offered during and after each meeting to meeting participants and anyone else who wanted to take the survey. Click on the hyperlinks to see survey results for high school, middle school, and elementary school.
Invitations to these meetings were emailed to families at impacted schools and feeder schools, published in a Daily Sentinel ad, and communicated in news stories, press releases, on the home page at d51schools.org, and on D51 social media.
Find 2020-21 Boundaries
Click here and select elementary, middle, high school, or Fruita 8-9 boundaries in the menu on the left side of the page.