The number of kindergartners in public school plunged during the COVID-19 pandemic. Concerned about the virus or wanting to avoid online school, hundreds of thousands of families delayed the start of school for their young children. Most have returned to schooling of some kind, but even three years after the pandemic school closures, kindergarten enrollment has continued to lag. For many families, kindergarten is no longer the assumed first step in a child’s formal education, another sign of the way the pandemic and online learning upended the U.S. school system.
The number of kindergartners in public school plunged during the COVID-19 pandemic. Concerned about the virus or wanting to avoid online school, hundreds of thousands of families delayed the start of school for their young children. Most have returned to schooling of some kind, but even three years after the pandemic school closures, kindergarten enrollment has continued to lag. For many families, kindergarten is no longer the assumed first step in a child’s formal education, another sign of the way the pandemic and online learning upended the U.S. school system.
For many families, kindergarten is no longer the assumed first step in a child’s formal education, another sign of the way the pandemic and online learning upended the U.S. school system.