When students returned to Rifle Middle School after winter break, they expected to resume band class as usual. Instead, an unexpected staffing change interrupted traditional music instruction. Staff responded with a creative solution: a forensic science and crime scene investigation class, the first of its kind at Rifle Middle School.

Just days before the start of the new semester, school leaders were faced with a challenge familiar across the Western Slope: how to ensure students continue to have meaningful learning opportunities when workforce housing makes it difficult to recruit and retain educators.

The Colorado Department of Education recently released data from the state’s October 2025 student count, an annual snapshot that helps school districts understand enrollment trends and plan for the future. Statewide, Colorado experienced a 1.2% decrease in pre-K–12 student enrollment compared to fall 2024.

This year’s data shows that Garfield Re-2 experienced a small decline in enrollment, reflecting a trend seen across many rural and mountain communities. District enrollment decreased from 4,695 students in fall 2024 to 4,642 students in fall 2025, a net loss of 53 students. After a slight increase the previous year, current enrollment remains comparable to levels seen in the 2023 school year.

When Rifle Middle School eighth graders head to PE, some lace up more than sneakers—they slip into climbing shoes and tackle the walls at the Rifle Climbing Center.

PE teacher Lukas Hill saw a collaboration with the Rifle Climbing Center as the perfect way to connect students with a world-class resource in their own backyard.

For four days at Rifle Middle School, students in Kate Cardenas’ class stepped into their Hero’s Journey, not through textbooks, but through art. Using markers and watercolor, sheets of paper blossomed with splashes of bright blues, yellows, and deep blacks, and the RMS Cubs realized that art could be more than colors on a page.. 

The Voices Hero’s Journey Project and local artist Gabriela Mejia spent time with Cardenas’ class for four days at Rifle Middle School, helping students use art as a way to express themselves and vision their goals for the future