Mount Garfield Middle School

Set in CLIFTON, Colorado, Mount Garfield Middle School is a medium-sized intermediate school, overseen by Mesa County Valley School District No. 51. It works with 569 students across grades 6 through 8. That puts it 23% above the typical public school in Colorado, which averages around 462 students.

Mesa County Valley School District No. 51 runs 45 schools in total, collectively educating 20,344 students. Mount Garfield Middle School is one of those campuses.

On the student-mix side, Mount Garfield Middle School lists that 59% of the student body identifies as White. The remainder is composed of 35% Hispanic, 3% multiracial. That is noticeably less White than the county at large, where the share is closer to 82%.

Looking at the economic backdrop, On paper, Mount Garfield Middle School has 34 full-time-equivalent teachers, translating to a class-load average of around 16.7:1. Statewide, the average ratio sits near 15.9:1, putting Mount Garfield Middle School higher than the state norm the norm. Roughly 69% of students at Mount Garfield Middle School qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a commonly cited indicator of low-income enrollment. By comparison, Mesa County runs at roughly 53%, so the school's eligibility rate is meaningfully above the surrounding baseline.

After controlling for student poverty, Mount Garfield Middle School sits in the middle band of the BeatsExpectations distribution. Schools with this campus's student mix typically land near 25.1%; this one delivers 26.8%.

In the broader community, census data for Mesa County shows median household earnings sit near $73,658, roughly 32% of adults have completed at least a four-year degree, and the poverty rate sits near 7%. In all, Mesa County runs 57 public schools (combined enrollment of about 22,232 students), of which Mount Garfield Middle School is one.

Nearest neighbor: Clifton Elementary School, around 2.0 miles off. Counting just inside five miles, 8 other public schools cluster around Mount Garfield Middle School. Among the 9 schools in that immediate cluster with test data (this one included), Mount Garfield Middle School ranks 5th on composite proficiency, below the local average of 28.9%.

The campus sits in an outer-ring setting.

Five-year trend. Looking back 7 years, enrollment at Mount Garfield Middle School has ticked down 13%, going from 657 students in 2018 to 569 in 2025.

Inside the community feed, recent activity here tends to focus on sports schedules, lunch menu changes, and school spirit week. Anyone with firsthand experience at this school can post or comment.