By the 2026-27 school year, Lochbuie Elementary School will house students in fourth through eighth grade to establish a unified K-8 option for families who reside in Lochbuie.
Nearly two years ago, the district accountability committee starting discussing how to address transportation issues, particularly the bus waitlists that happen at the beginning of each school year, according to Weld RE-3J Superintendent Greg Rabenhorst. Though transportation is an issue, the committee found, it’s not the main issue in Lochbuie.
“The issue is the Lochbuie community would like to see kids in the middle school grades from Lochbuie be educated in Lochbuie,” Rabenhorst said.
With no downtown and very few businesses, places like Lochbuie — which Rabenhorst described as a unique bedroom community — have their schools as the main hub in town.
So per the Lochbuie residents’ requests, the district, which serves students in Hudson, Roggen, Keenesburg and Lochbuie, wanted to find a way to resolve their school-related concerns.
Strengthening community in Lochbuie
Weld RE-3J has seen many Lochbuie students “choice out” of the district to attend school in the neighboring district of Brighton, according to Rabenhorst. Due to this, enrollment remains too low to build a middle school in town.
In response, the district accountability committee sought out an additional solution for students who live in Lochbuie. The proposed to create a unified K-8 system in Lochbuie by housing fourth graders at Lochbuie Elementary, while preschool through third grade students attend the other elementary school in town, Meadow Ridge Elementary School.
Meadow Ridge Elementary previously only served students from preschool through second grade in the Lochbuie community.
The Lochbuie community supported the K-8 idea, according to a Weld RE-3J survey that received a “resounding yes,” Rabenhorst said.
The Board of Education then put together a three-year transition plan, which started this fall with the previous school year’s fifth graders staying at Lochbuie Elementary as sixth graders. This will continue to roll out with the first group of sixth graders, adding on seventh grade in 2025-26 and eighth grade in 2026-27.
“We didn’t want kids who are already going to Weld Central Middle School to have to transition over to Lochbuie Elementary,” Rabenhorst said. “We assume that if you’ve already sent your kid to Weld Central Middle School … you’re probably going to keep them there.”
In this first phase, Weld Central’s enrollment dropped by about 100 to around 400 students this school year, a little more than expected for the transition, according to Rabenhorst. Lochbuie’s enrollment stayed flat since the school only hosts three grades as of right now.
Enrollment should even out for next year’s roll-up with Lochbuie at about 326 kids and Weld Central at about 325, Rabenhorst predicts. The final phase should increase enrollment in Lochbuie — which will have two more grades than Weld Central — by about 80 to 90 students.
The transition will also reduce transportation needs over time because, for each rollout year, about 80-90 kids from Lochbuie won’t need transportation to get to Weld Central, according to Rabenhorst.
Rabenhorst said the addition of a 4-8 offering aims to positively impact Weld Central kids by creating a smaller learning environment to strengthen achievement and a sense of belonging for middle schoolers.
The changes to the school system, however, do come with “growing pains” involving staffing, as well as clubs and athletics, Rabenhorst also pointed out.
As Weld Central Middle School sees a decrease in enrollment and Lochbuie Elementary School sees a spike, the district will have to transfer staff. Rabenhorst said administrators are in the process of figuring out staff transitions for the school’s seventh grade implementation next year.
Weld RE-3J will also continue to run one unified athletic program as “Rebel Athletics” because the new, two-feeder system still only goes into one high school, Rabenhorst said. Weld Central and Lochbuie Elementary are also too small to have robust programs, he added.
K-8 Model: What’s next?
Since September, Lochbuie Elementary has led a stakeholder group of parents, teachers and community members to develop a vision of the new, unified K-8 system. This has included conversations about Lochbuie Elementary’s new name and unique programming to bring to the 4-8 option.
The board expects to receive a recommendation from this group in February on those next steps.
“We’re hoping to create something unique that reflects the community of Lochbuie,” Rabenhorst said. “I want the community to be proud of that school system. I want them to want their kids there.”
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