In the first year of the pandemic, Colorado’s kindergarten enrollment plummeted, leaving many to wonder where the students went, and whether the shifts in early elementary enrollment might be a problem for years to come.

A year later, many young students are back in public schools, with statewide kindergarten enrollment trending back up. To get a better sense of where the state is at with kindergarten enrollment, we speak with Ann Schimke, a senior reporter with Chalkbeat Colorado who has been covering early elementary enrollment after many months of pandemic-induced uncertainty.