History of Fruita

There is a variety of people that we go to school with every day, most of which you probably don’t talk to. But you and everyone else at school have something very simple in common: we all attend Fruita Monument. For some families, multiple generations have attended the same school . They have been taught in the same classrooms, and in some cases, taught by the same teachers.
But do we really know the elusive history of our school? If someone randomly asked when Fruita first opened, would you be able to tell them the answer? Probably not. The answer, by the way, is 1969 for the current location of FMHS. Not many students know that, including junior Allie Schultz, who thought it opened in “1987.”
Before there were different schools for elementary, middle, and high schoolers, there was one school known as Fruita Central School. It opened in 1887 and taught students K-12. Fruita’s first high school class graduated from Fruita Central School in 1893. It was eventually torn down in 1935 to make way for bigger, more separated schools.
Originally, the first high school was named Fruita Union High School, and opened in 1905. A fire heavily damaged the building in 1934, and students had to be taught at the Fruita Armory for a painstaking two years until a new Fruita Union was built in 1936. With the increase of student attendance, a bigger school was built in 1969, named Fruita Monument High School. The buildings previously known as Fruita Union were transformed into modern-day Fruita Middle School, accepting grades six through eight.
Attendance still continued to grow in Fruita, and so another modification was needed. An expansion of FMHS, known as the sophomore hall now, was added in the 90’s. The Fruita 8/9 was also built in August of 2006, where eighth and ninth graders were sent. Students in sixth and seventh grade were to remain at the middle school, opening up more room for Fruita to grow.
Today, the enrollment number for Fruita Monument is around 1,200, excluding the Fruita 8/9. While an estimate of the number of attendees back when Fruita Monument first opened is unknown, it is clear that 1,200 is a much larger population than back in 1969. The population of the Fruita 8/9 is around 600 for those that like to include the school as part of Fruita Monument.
The school has definitely grown since it first opened as a K-12 in 1887, and students and staff alike are excited to see how it grows in the future as well. Even in their thirties, students may look back and see a whole new Fruita.

Picture credit: Autumn Detor