RETURN TO NORMALCY?
Area educators reflect on lessons learned since pandemic years
BY ERIC YOUNG
The Gazette
Dana Bottolfson knew she wanted to be a teacher since she was little. Like most people who pursue the profession, she felt an innate desire to help others in a way she believed would be the most meaningful and impactful.
“Whether it was teaching swimming lessons or Sunday school or volunteering in my mom’s classroom, I knew that’s what I wanted to do,” she said.
Now, 17 years later, all at Sierra High School, she believes her work is as important as ever.
Despite public education being a consistent fixture in the U.S. dating back to the 1850s, weathering political and societal shifts, the past five years presented dramatic shifts in instruction, student performance and public engagement during and following the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
A 2020 study by Howard University reported that classroom assessment, teaching and learning, and measurement and interpretation of student growth were among the major areas affected
by the sudden switch of schools to online instruction. It also noted that student learning was impacted by stress, anxiety and illness, due to the shift to a completely foreign method, and increased potential to fall behind due to lack of access to materials.
Across the country, debates raged on about school closures, mask mandates or social distance requirements and the role and extent of parental rights in their children’s education. In the schools themselves, remote instruction led to a myriad of challenges, ranging from class attendance and management challenges to diminished learning and performance.
Coming out of remote learning, students at various stages of development exhibited lingering signs of learning losses, behavioral issues and lost socialization time.
In Colorado alone, the state education department reported that standardized test scores in math and English language arts proficiency declined to their lowest levels in recorded history in some cases. In some cases, losses were so great that some metrics have yet to fully recover.
In the 2018-19 school year — the last year data was collected before the pandemic — Colorado’s average attendance was 92.3%, and the average chronic absentee rate, when a student misses 10% or more of the school days in a school year, was 22.5%. In 2021-22, chronic absenteeism increased by over 10%.
In Bottolfson’s case, she recalled days of remote instruction where only two of her students would be logged in. For those who did sign in, some remained completely disengaged from classroom discussions, others took up more housework and responsibilities and others craved discussion to account for being home alone.
Upon returning to her class, she said it was like meeting them for the first time since it marked their first in-person interactions.
“When we first came back, that in-person connection wasn’t as natural,” she said. “And it’s been interesting in the past few years, because it’s almost completely shifted.”
In Monument, Lewis-Palmer High School English teacher Wendi Westfall noticed the lasting impact of technology on students’ education. She said that, ever since the pandemic, most classes have permanently
Giberson Elementary School principal Talya Young works with teachers during a professional learning session at the Harrison District 2 school in Colorado Springs. The Gazette file
shifted from students using pencil and paper to assigned school laptops during class.
She added that she’s since reintroduced the paper-pencil approach for certain activities and interactive lessons between classmates to increase engagement and discussion.
“It used to be like it was fun at first, now we use it when we need to use it,” Westfall said of technology in her class. “I’d rather have them (the students) discuss things and actually work through things then just be stuck behind the computer, typing the answers by themselves.”
While both Bottolfson and Westfall said their students have been receptive to limiting laptops in their respective classrooms, another factor exacerbating both distractions and declining student mental health has been the growing presence of smartphones in schools.
Recognizing these debilitating effects on education, statewide efforts to combat this have included new legislation requiring all school districts to enact a policy limiting cellphones and other personal devices during school time.
As for individualized efforts to address today’s students’ needs, local teachers recognize the importance of closer relationships with their students.
“Now, it’s a whole lot more intentional, where they come up to you and say, ‘Can we just talk about this? Help me,’” Bottolfson said. “And really, teachers and students are a lot more connected and those relationships are a lot stronger than they used to be.”
Westfall noted that emphasizing interactions in her classes has resulted in improved relationships, rapport and engagement with her and her lessons.
Harrison High School social studies teacher Andrew Hill noted that students in his district face unique circumstances and challenges and that he has recently made efforts to make himself available during and outside of his classes.
In addition to making himself more available after school, his class now starts with a “questioning period” where students can to discuss what’s on their minds with him one-on-one. He admitted that not all of his students take advantage of this increased availability, but those who desire to succeed through education often take him up on these offers.
He added that, while his subject material or approach to teaching hasn’t changed, his learning tools have grown to account for his students’ lost time or development over recent years.
Teaching in Harrison D-2, Colorado Springs’ most diverse school district, Hill explained that since his current freshman students were in the fourth grade at the start of the pandemic, they missed out on vital academic time, such as vocabulary growth, that indicate of what kind of students they will be going forward.
Test results from 2021 in the Pikes Peak region found that 45.3% of third-, fifth- and seventh-graders met or exceeded expectations
in reading, writing and communication subjects, according to previous Gazette reporting. A 2022 report by the Northwest Evaluation Association found that learning loss recovery efforts were disproportionate for minority populations like low-income, Hispanic and Black students compared to White and Asian-American students.
To account for this, he now provides a series of tools for students to access that include a word bank for essays and sentence-style guides for speeches for his debate class.
He explained these weren’t added because his students are now less intelligent, but simply because they received a different education from previous students.
“If you missed out on formative years that taught you your voice, your writing style and the small things that it takes to be a good writer, I now need to provide those if I want to get what I think they’re capable of doing,” Hill said.
Another local effort driving educational recovery has come directly from their communities. Bottolfson noted that, throughout the pandemic, additional resources like food through the Care and Share food bank and hotspots for students lacking internet at home were provided during remote learning days.
Since then, Bottolfson said teachers and staff now share more ideas on effective classroom practices with each other, while community members have continued to volunteer to this day.
“I’ve heard people from other schools say they were worried that this would all go away, but I had alumni come in and say, ‘We want to come back and we want to give,’ and COVID brought that out and they still come back five years later,” she said.
While steps have been taken to move on from the pandemic and move forward with student instruction, teachers agree that there is still work to be done, with Westfall adding there will always be work to be done given the constantly changing nature of classrooms.
She specifically pointed to the development of artificial intelligence and its use by students in classrooms as the latest development in instruction and learning. While the district has already begun to take measures to rein in this latest technological development, she anticipates further change.
“I don’t really think that it’s gotten back to normal because there’s always a new normal,” she said.
Despite the ongoing changes and past challenges in their field, their dedication or initial pursuits haven’t wavered.
“For teachers, they don’t get into this job for the summers off. We don’t get into this job because we make an extraordinary amount of money,” Hill said.
“We’re in this job because we genuinely care about our community, the young people in our community and the idea that we are constantly trying to uplift, even if it’s calling a parent to let them know their kid’s not doing so well.”
COLORADO SPRINGS INCREASING SAFETY AROUND MORE SCHOOLS
BY CLEO WESTIN
The Gazette
Several new school safety zones were implemented across Colorado Springs in 2025 as the city and school districts continued efforts to slow speeds around middle and high schools into 2026.
The zones were originally put in place only at elementary student because it was believed they needed the most protection, according to City Traffic Engineer Todd Frisbie. That philosophy shifted as more and more students in middle and high school began to travel to school primarily by vehicle.
“In the event that there is a crash with slower speeds, the result (with) those involved have a much reduced chance of being injured,” Frisbie told The Gazette. “I think that’s kind of where this decision to expand our school zones developed and began to grow.”
School zones in Colorado Springs slow drivers from normal speed limits to 20 mph and can be marked in various ways, including with stripes, flashing lights and crosswalks.
The benefits of having the zones are “tremendous” to the safety around a school, and the feedback to the city on new zones has been mostly positive, Frisbie said.
The city of Colorado Springs utilizes
partnerships with its five school districts to collaborate on implementing the school safety zones. Districts have been able to receive funding from the city through the city’s school safety program, which has been in operation for 30 years.
The program helps pay for capital projects for the zones and staff crossing guards in those zones, which are not required by law, according to Frisbie. It has received additional funding to help expand zones to more schools.
Crashes in school zones have remained relatively steady over the past several years with 36 in 2022, 2024 and 2025, according to data from Colorado Springs police.
Since data tracking began in May 2021, over 90% of those crashes have involved vehicles, while 15 of 164 crashes involved a pedestrian or bicycle.
The one student death in that time-frame encouraged School District 49 to use its partnership with the city to start implementing zones in middle and high schools, according to David Watson, the district’s director of safety and security director.
In 2023, Giorgia Trocciola, a Doherty High School exchange student from Italy, was struck and killed while walking in a crosswalk next to the Colorado Springs District 11 school off Barnes Road, according to previous reporting by The Gazette.
“That incident really highlighted that we do need these types of safety standards near our high schools as well as the elementary schools,” Watson said. “I would say that was a pivotal event in our community.”
Since then, D-49 has worked with the city and El Paso County to install new zones around some of its high schools. Watson believes the new zones have increased driver’s awareness, especially those distracted by their phone, with its bright flashing lights and striping in the roadway.
All questions regarding how the death of the Doherty student altered the planning of zones in Colorado Springs D-11 were
directed to a spokesperson, who told The Gazette the work is essential “regardless of whether any one event served as a catalyst.”
“In recent years, this work has also deepened our collaboration with the Mayor’s office and city partners, allowing us to better align priorities, share data, and move more quickly on safety improvements around our schools,” the spokesperson said. “While tragic events inevitably sharpen urgency, our safety planning is not driven by a single incident, but by a sustained, proactive commitment to student well-being.”
Part of that future for the district is securing the right-of-way vacation of Boulder Street to have all Palmer High School buildings on one major city block, D-11’s Executive Director for School Operations Anthony Karr said.
“We preserve student safety and prioritize the learning so they don’t worry about traveling to different city blocks to attend classes,” Karr told The Gazette.
The Boulder Street project may be done in collaboration with the city and would be a proactive strategy to improve safety for students because it reduces the number of times they need to cross a high-traffic area, according to Karr.
Frisbie, who has been in his role for seven years, hopes to implement school safety zones until every public school in Colorado Springs has been covered.
“If you’re out there driving, whether you’re a student or passing through, please obey all school zones. It’s only a little bit of a delay for improved safety for everybody around that school.”
– Todd Frisbie asked of drivers
Next year, the city plans to place zones at:
• Vista Ridge High School
• Sierra High School
• Cheyenne Mountain High School
• Jack Swigert Aerospace Academy
• Fox Meadow Middle School
• Mann Middle School
• Tesla Educational Opportunity Center
Frisbie said several schools may have new zones completed in 2026, but it is an “ambitious goal” and could be later. Those schools are:
• Martinez Elementary School
• Atlas Prep
• Panorama Middle School
• Palmer High School
• West Middle School
• McAuliffe Elementary School
Local schools show support for MILITARY STUDENTS AND FAMILIES
BY LAURA FITZGERALD
Special to The Gazette
Near the end of her sophomore year, Haven Cain enrolled in Widefield High School without knowing a soul.
Cain is used to being the new kid at school. The daughter of two military-
involved parents, she has attended more than 10 schools since kindergarten. While she’s used to the frequent moves, it has caused her to be closed off from other students.
But this school was different. On her first day, a Student 2 Student (S2S) peer mentor showed her around the school, chaperoned her to her classes and sat with her at lunch.
S2S — a student club that pairs new students with a peer to welcome them to school — helped Cain connect to her new school and feel less alone. S2S is just one example of the many unique programs El Paso County school districts offer to support military-involved students and families.
The Air Academy High School tennis team stands for Taps (the evening military bugle call) during a practice. The Gazette file
How
K-12
school districts support military families
On a broader scale, military liaisons stationed at each of Colorado Springs’ military bases help students transferring in and out of the city’s K-12 schools transfer credits. They ensure students are meeting grade-level and graduation requirements.
“Every state has different standards and a different order of teaching those standards,” said Dawnna Benoit, a school liaison at Fort Carson. “A student who is coming to Colorado from Maryland may have missed some skills in that transfer, or there were different expectations.”
The liaisons also link students to other educational resources, including afterschool programs, youth sponsorships, homeschooling resources, SAT/ACT prep, and college and career readiness programs.
In another testament to El Paso County’s support for military families, seven of the eight school districts and 25 of the 27 schools that received the inaugural Purple Star Designations in 2025 are in Colorado Springs.
Schools in districts D-49, Academy D-20, Colorado Springs D-11, Widefield D-3, Harrison D-2, Fountain-Fort Carson D-8 and Ellicott D-22 received the honor, as well as all D-8 schools. About 70% of D-8’s students are military- or federallyconnected, making it one of the most
Summer Camps at the FAC
military-connected school districts in the state, Superintendent Keith Owen said in a district statement.
The Purple Star Program honors public schools that provide programs and support services addressing the unique academic and social-emotional challenges faced by militaryinvolved students and their families.
Requirements to receive the designation include dedicated school staff who act as military liaisons, student-led transition programs and staff professional development.
Supporting students’ social-emotional health
Other programs, such as S2S, focus on supporting students’ social-emotional needs.
“A lot of these kids are used to going from school to school and state to state,” said Seth Hastings, department chair of the counseling department and former S2S advisor at Fountain-Fort Carson High School. “It’s important in any new place to have that sense of belonging. We want to make sure that happens for all of our students, but especially for military students.”
Frequent moves make it difficult to make new friends, join extracurricular activities, or fully integrate into the school culture, said Widefield High counselor Greg Morris. S2S helps new students integrate into their school by building relationships with peers and staff.
“We try to get a relationship with them, and find out what their hobbies are, their interests are,” Morris said. “For example, if they’re a basketball player, we introduce them to the basketball team and the basketball coach. We try to make some of those connections for them.”
Cain is now a peer mentor with S2S, welcoming new students the same way they welcomed her.
“S2S definitely helped me open up to and talk to people I didn’t know,” Cain said. “ I was able to become friends with people quickly.”
Support at the college level for Military Members
Pikes Peak State College and the University of Colorado Colorado Springs have entire departments dedicated to supporting students who are military veterans, actively serving in the military, or who are family members of a military member or veteran. About a third of the student body at each campus is classified as military-involved.
Pikes Peak State College Office of Military and Veteran Programs (MVP) Director Paul DeCecco said his office assists students every step of the way, including helping students enroll in the college, choose their classes and field of study, access disability accommodations, or just being an empathetic guide through academic and personal challenges.
Staff receive training several times a year about the unique challenges military-involved students face, DeCecco said. The college participates in Veterans Upward Bound, a federally funded college preparatory program designed to get veterans ready for college.
Students who are actively serving face scheduling uncertainty because they may be deployed or reassigned in the middle of the academic year, DeCecco said. That’s why the college offers flexible term lengths and military withdrawals so a student isn’t financially penalized should they have to withdraw during a course of study.
Supporting military veterans on a college campus
Veterans might feel lost after leaving the camaraderie and structured environment of the military. Some have physical and/or mental disabilities, DeCecco said.
Like other adult learners, veterans usually have jobs and families to support while attending school. It might have been years since they’ve stepped foot in a traditional classroom, he said.
“Many military members really don’t have an idea of what they want to do when they get out, and so they just try and do anything,” he said. “This is where higher education can really help. Whether that’s a university or a community college, we can
help somebody get skills in something they want to do.”
Anthony Mandt was unsure what to do with his life after finishing his 12-year career with the Air Force. He found a welcoming community in the MVP office.
“It’s a tough transition because your life is turned upside down, and then you’re figuring out, what’s next?” Mandt said. “I had a pretty good idea that I wanted to go back to school, but at the same time, I had all this
uncertainty about it. I had avoided school, mostly, for the last 12 years. So that was the whole new thing to tackle.”
The office supported him not academically, but emotionally and socially. They coordinated with Disability Services to get accommodations for his military-related disabilities. He got a job in the office so he could support his family while attending school.
“It gives me a community,” Mandt said. “I feel supported by them.”
Gov. Jared Polis visits with students during a visit to Jenkins Middle School, a Purple Star School in Colorado Springs. Michael G. Seamans, The Gazette
Manitou Springs
D-14
NOW AMONG COLORADO’S HIGHEST-RANKED DISTRICTS
BY ERIC YOUNG
The Gazette
Manitou Springs District 14 has joined the highest tier of Colorado school districts.
In 2025, the school district’s performance across its four schools was impressive enough to be accredited with distinction, the highest ranking for Colorado public schools.
“It’s a big deal,” D-14 Superintendent Sean Dorsey said. “There are not many districts across the state of Colorado that receive that rating of distinction through the Colorado Department of Education.”
Since the passage of the Education Accountability Act of 2009, the Colorado State Board of Education annually accredits each school district and the Charter School Institute to measure the education of every student.
Accreditation is largely based on annual test scores, along with student achievement, growth, postsecondary and workforce readiness, and graduation and dropout rates year-over-year. The ranking then helps determine needs, support, and improvement plans for each school district.
Of the 179 public school districts in Colorado, 18 received accreditation with distinction, indicating that they met or exceeded most performance metrics during the 2024-25 school year.
D-14 joins Academy D-20 and Cheyenne Mountain D-12 as the only districts to earn distinction in El Paso County, with the latter two achieving it every year since the
accountability system was put in place. D-14 was previously accredited with distinction in 2018 and has been simply “accredited” every other year, indicating that students met expectations on most performance metrics.
As for what might have put them in the upper echelon of Colorado public education, updated curriculum adopted for English language arts and math instruction for grades K-6 and high school math instruction, along with targeted intervention, collaborative teaching classrooms and a greater emphasis on writing across all subjects were among the adjustments in recent years.
He added that consistent strengths of the district have been its smaller size and ability to still provide varied coursework and opportunities like advanced placement, concurrent enrollment and workplace learning.
Sarah McAfee, D-14’s executive director of schools, said the district’s student-to-teacher ratio also allows for more focused instruction and closer relationships.
According to the state department of education, the district’s ratio was reportedly 12-1 during the 2024-25 school year. By comparison, neighboring districts Woodland Park RE-2, Colorado Springs D-11 and Academy D-20 reported ratios of 15-1, 15-1 and 17-1, respectively. Cheyenne Mountain D-12 data was not available.
“When you have a smaller student-toteacher ratio, the teacher really knows and can pinpoint kids’ needs and their strengths and their brilliances,” McAfee said. “And so I really
see that in the schools, which is really unique.”
As an example, she mentioned one of their elementary school band and orchestra teachers giving students the option to perform solo with their musical accompaniment for a recent winter concert.
“And I don’t think that’s very common for that personalized attention to work through one piece at a sixth-grade level with your band and orchestra teacher because he has the time and capacity and expertise to do that,” McAfee said.
“We would not see that at a sixth grade in a bigger district, I would say.”
Serving just over 1,000 students, D-14 has been a beneficiary of families from neighboring districts choosing to enroll in its schools.
Dorsey said this has historically been the case, with as much as 50% of its student population choicing in over the past few years.
Reasons why, he speculated, included families’ desires for a smaller, more personalized K-12 experience, while McAfee pointed to the sense of physical and emotional safety offered at their schools.
The school district also conducts an annual family caregiver survey to gather feedback and improve schools’ instruction and practices.
“I would say that parents are very in-tune with their child’s experiences at school and very involved in all the right ways,” Dorsey said.
“They hold us accountable as a school district, but also support our efforts and trust us with their learners.”
During the last November elections, local taxpayers D-14 will address accessibility buildings While Gazette, hear emergency their parade for their of their “There’s Dorsey Other Mountain at Ute graders round arts and environmental Going expand and develop Elementary environmental Project As acheivements, it simple.
“I think organizations we’re instruction on a daily
Manitou Springs D-14 became accredited with distinction following the 2024-25 school year. Eric Young, The Gazette
taxpayers approved the first new bond in in 25 years. The $37.6 million bond address safety, security and ADA accessibility throughout the district’s schools, buildings and facilities.
While sitting down for an interview with the Gazette, McAfee and Dorsey paused as they emergency sirens grow louder outside office, only to realize it was the send-off parade by the local police and fire departments their high school cheerleading team ahead their trip to the state championships.
“There’s kind of that small-town experience,” Dorsey said as the parade passed through. Other distinct district features include the Mountain Academy of Arts & Sciences offered Ute Pass Elementary School, where sixthgraders access Colorado’s outdoor spaces yearround to learn science, technology, engineering, and math (STEAM) concepts in addition to environmental practices.
Going forward, the district plans to build and expand its professional development offerings develop a greenhouse for its Ute Pass Elementary students, in collaboration with the environmental education program Colorado Project Learning Tree.
for sustaining D-14’s recent academic acheivements, Dorsey’s answer is clear: keep simple.
think that sometimes schools or organizations can overcomplicate and I think trying to really hone in on good, first instruction and the experiences that kids get daily basis,” he said.
El Paso County schools advancing teaching, learning with AI
BY CLEO WESTIN The Gazette
As AI becomes increasingly prevalent in everyday life, school districts across the Pikes Peak region have taken steps to utilize it as a learning tool or regulate its use within the past few years.
Harrison District 2, Widefield D-3, FountainFort Carson D-8, Colorado Springs D-11, Academy D-20, Lewis-Palmer D-38 and School District 49 have launched task forces, added curriculum or updated policies to manage the use of generative AI for their students and staff.
D-38’s new student use device policy defines technology as including the “internet, electronic communications, social media, applications and artificial intelligence tools has vast potential to support curriculum and student learning.”
Additionally, several districts’ policies now include restrictions to prevent students from using AI for unintended and possibly malicious purposes.
D-8’s policy includes a warning about AI inducing hallucinations and providing false information. In D-3, staff may use AI tools approved by the district and can consult
administration for steps to be taken in the event a student violates the use of AI policy.
D-20’s policy is composed of a 15-point list of when AI is prohibited for student use, including generating inappropriate materials, impersonation and political purposes.
April Pratt, the International Baccalaureate coordinator for Sand Creek International School in D-2, told The Gazette she believes students need to be learning the uses of AI to better their learning and teach safe usage of it.
“If we don’t teach our students how to use AI and how to leverage those tools, other students around the world are learning it and they’re going to use it to get better and better and that means our students would fall behind,” Pratt said.
The K-8 IB program at Sand Creek aims to develop internationally minded students by emphasizing inquiry, critical thinking and “developing the whole child.” Pratt described AI as a natural fit into the IB framework and hopes to also have it build upon D-2’s career focus push.
In addition to her current role, Pratt decided to re-enter teaching at Sand Creek to teach about AI. This year, she introduced two AIbased electives about innovation and art.
CHEYENNE MOUNTAIN
THROUGH LEARNING Inspiring Passion
Student groups in the AI innovation course are working on apps that range from study tips to coping strategies in unhealthy relationships. Their app development will grow from the “prototype phase” to being fully functional after the AI “codes and builds your app for you,” Pratt said.
This year Pratt also began to host AI office hours at Sand Creek to give teachers lessons on how AI can make their teaching and lesson planning easier.
AI resources for early elementary classrooms are limited compared to higher grade levels, which has allowed middle school teachers at Sand Creek to be more open to AI usage compared to the elementary teachers, according to Pratt.
Meanwhile, students are being taught how AI functions and teachers are being trained to introduce data literacy skills to younger students.
At the state level, the Colorado Department of Education had “many staff” supporting the creation of an AI roadmap to advise districts and teachers on when to consider AI by the Colorado Education Initiative, a spokesperson with the department said.
WHAT FAMILIES NEED TO KNOW FOR SCHOOL CHOICE ENROLLMENT
BY LAURA FITZGERALD Special to The Gazette
All Colorado families can apply for any public school of their choice, regardless of where they live, through open enrollment.
School choice applications are now open in El Paso County for the 202627 school year, ensuring every child has access to a free education. Here is what families need to know as they consider their options.
What is school choice, and how does it work?
Since 1994, Colorado’s Public Schools of Choice Law has ensured that every family may enroll their child outside of their zoned school through an application. Families can fill out these applications through their preferred district’s website.
Once enrolled, families do not need to reapply to enroll their child each school year.
How can families make their decision?
Families should consider a variety of factors when choosing the best fit for their child, including academics, extracurriculars and sports, school size and culture, and distance to the school from home. Transportation is not a guarantee when enrolling outside your neighborhood school.
Will my student get placed into our school of choice?
Acceptance depends largely on school capacity, which varies between schools and districts. Schools may also reject applicants based on special stipulations, such as expulsion history, course prerequisites or lack of capacity to accommodate special needs.
Families are encouraged to speak with principals and administrators to understand each school’s capacity and programs before applying.
When is the deadline for enrolling my student?
Application windows vary by district. Families should check their preferred district’s websites for specific deadlines and application information. Schools authorized through the state charter school institute can be found on the official state website.
For a complete list of public school districts, visit the Colorado District and BOCES websites.
MANITOU ADVANTAGE
Proven academic success.
Our district ranks among the highestperforming in Colorado, meaning students consistently meet or exceed state learning standards.
Stronger growth, not just test scores. Engaging educational experiences beyond the traditional classroom.
From early learning to graduation, students are better prepared for middle school, high school, college, and careers.
Despite growing pains, universal preschool program expands access for thousands of El Paso
County families TINY LEARNERS, BIG LEAPS
BY LAURA FITZGERALD Special to The Gazette
When Samuel Clark and his wife welcomed their second child into their family, Clark’s mother-in-law moved in to take care of her grandchild. Despite their professional, full-time jobs, the cost of two kids in child care would have been unaffordable for Clark and his wife.
Then, Clark’s mother-in-law had an unexpected medical issue and could no longer care for their daughter. Luckily, Clark’s oldest child, James, is now old enough to enroll in Colorado’s Universal Preschool Program (UPK), saving the family thousands so they could enroll their baby in full-time child care.
“Thank God for UPK . Otherwise, we would be up the creek financially,” he said.
Now in its third year, UPK has greatly expanded access to preschool by relieving the financial burden of childcare for families. However, gaps in accessibility remain.
For providers, UPK has brought more opportunities for program improvement. It has also brought more regulations that some
advocates say place a high administrative burden on home-based providers and small centers with limited staff and resources.
Increasing access to preschool
UPK ensures every 4-year-old in Colorado receives 15 hours a week of free preschool the year before kindergarten. Low-income families can receive up to 30 hours of free preschool.
UPK payments are sent directly to providers. Parents pay the remaining amount if they need more hours of care than UPK provides.
In school year 2023-24 — the first year of the program — 4,268 4-year-olds were enrolled with 179 providers offering 5,219 seats. From August to November 2025, those numbers jumped to 5,037 enrollments, 232 providers, and 7,186 seats, according to Joint Initiatives for Youth + Families.
That represents an 18% increase in enrollments, a nearly 30% increase in providers, and a 38% increase in seats.
This year, about 91% of families who requested placement have been placed, said Noreen Landis-Tyson, a consultant for Joint Initiatives for El Paso County.
While this does indicate high accessibility on a wide scale, there are pockets of the county where demand outpaces availability. Landis-Tyson said these areas of decreased access are concentrated in lowincome areas, mostly in the Harrison D-2 school district, D-49, and some of FountainFort Carson D-8.
Most UPK providers must also offer unsubsidized early childcare services for 0 to 4-year-olds to sustain their business at rates that most low-income families can’t afford, she said. Consequently, it’s financially risky to open a childcare center in a low-income area.
“We’re not at capacity yet, but we’re also not serving every four-year-old that has applied,” Landis-Tyson said. “It’s more of an issue of where those providers are versus capacity across the county.”
Students might also remain unmatched because parents are holding out for a spot in the school where their child will attend kindergarten. This seems to be the case for higher rates of unmatched children in Academy D-20, although the culture might be changing as more providers become available, Landis-Tyson said.
An Early Connections student enjoys time with a good book. Laura Fitzgerald, Special to The Gazette
A gap between the haves and have-nots
Early Connections Learning Centers
President and CEO Liz Denson said UPK has made great strides in increasing access, but there is still more work to be done.
Public service announcements fail to reach families who don’t speak English. Some families have limited transportation, Denson said. For working parents, 15 or even 30 hours falls short of a standard 40-hour work week.
The program provides no financial help for ages 0-3. The exorbitant cost of infant and toddler care is unaffordable for many families, pushing parents out of the workforce, Denson said.
“The greatest gap is for children who aren’t four years old. UPK is great if you have a fouryear-old and a 15-hour week of care. But, it’s still not answering the challenge of getting people back into the workforce. Right now, it’s not answering the challenge of ensuring they’re all receiving a high-quality preschool experience,” Denson said.
“I worry that we’re not bridging the gaps we intended to bridge. Yes, we want to reach all children with this universal concept, but there is still a gap between the haves and have-nots, and that’s going to be really challenging to overcome in a meaningful way,” she added.
Keeping up with regulations
UPK brings more regulations, meetings, and quality standards that eat up providers’ precious time and resources.
In July 2026, the state will begin rolling out mandatory UPK quality standards, Landis-Tyson said. These will be unveiled in a phased approach, which will hopefully give providers time to bring their programs up to par with the new standards.
Melanie Trujillo, the owner and sole employee of home-based UPK provider Leaps and Bounds, feels the burden of those increased regulations.
“I do worry about (the standards),” Trujillo said. “It’s a lot to keep track of as things keep changing. I’m just one person.”
With a high variability in the quality of programs across the county, Denson said the standards are a step in the right direction to ensure students receive the best education. In an ideal world, the standards would be tailored to each provider’s size and type of program.
Laying a strong foundation for a child’s education
Since UPK was established, Trujillo lengthened her program from three to five hours per day to better align with the program’s goal of preparing children for kindergarten.
“It allows me to slow down and be more intentional in my teaching and build a stronger sense of community with my students,” Trujillo said. “The day feels less rushed, and I have time to introduce ideas that I simply couldn’t fit in before.”
She received UPK grants that improved her program’s quality and curriculum, and paid for classroom supplies and a new shade structure on her playground.
Denson said preschool lays the foundation for the rest of a child’s education by teaching them the basic social-emotional skills needed to be successful in a classroom.
“That’s one benefit of UPK ; it provides access to some sort of structure for children to experience before they enter a kindergarten classroom, and provides them opportunities for success in a better way than not having access at all,” Denson said.
Despite the growing pains, Trujillo said UPK has been a net-positive for her business and the families she serves.
“(UPK) has been a growing and stretching experience for me. It’s been frustrating at times, overwhelming at times, and a blessing at other times,” she said. “I’ll continue to participate in UPK as long as I have the majority say in what and how I teach using best practices that I feel are so vital for our youngest learners.”
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their learning beyond the books.
at hsd2.org/THSA
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Medical Career Training
Colorado’s Healthcare Workforce Gap and the Role of Allied Health Education
Despite being ranked as one of the healthiest states in the country, Colorado’s healthcare workforce is facing critical, growing shortages across various professions. The state’s healthcare system is under increasing pressure as demand for services continues to outpace the number of trained professionals available to deliver care. Population growth, aging demographics and expanded access to healthcare have all contributed to workforce shortages across the state, particularly in allied healthcare roles that are essential to daily patient care. Allied health professionals are the backbone of healthcare delivery. Medical assistants, pharmacy technicians, medical laboratory technicians and other specialists support diagnosis, treatment and patient flow in nearly every healthcare setting. When these roles go unfilled, the impact is felt systemwide, increasing strain on existing staff.
Closing this gap requires accessible, career-focused education pathways that prepare students for the realities of today’s healthcare environments. Allied healthcare programs are uniquely positioned to meet this need by offering targeted training and hands-on clinical experience, allowing graduates to enter the workforce more quickly while maintaining high standards of care.
Institutions like Pima Medical Institute are a great example of how this model can work in practice. Serving Colorado Springs since 2002, the medical career college offers certificate and degree programs designed to prepare students for in-demand allied health careers.
“We really focus on practical training and professional readiness,” said Monica Vanderbeek, Colorado Springs, Campus Director. “Our programs are focused on balancing classroom activities with real-world lab experiences, which is key to meeting the needs of local healthcare employers and their patients. For example, our certificate programs allow students to complete their schooling and earn their certificate in as little as nine months.”
As Colorado looks to strengthen its healthcare workforce, expanding awareness and support for allied health education will be essential. These roles are not supplemental, they are foundational. By investing in high-quality training opportunities, the state can help ensure a healthcare system that is prepared and capable of meeting the needs of communities today and into the future.
Sponsored Content
Local school districts and colleges offer a bevy of accessible postsecondary options FROM CAMPUSES TO CAREER PATHS
BY ERIC YOUNG The Gazette
Both the education and workforce landscape continue to adapt to meet current and future demands and El Paso County’s schools are no exception.
From guaranteed, paid college admission to revitalized career training, school districts across Colorado are preparing today’s students for tomorrow’s careers.
Here’s a look at the various postsecondary options in El Paso County:
College and universities
Dating back to 2020, Harrison D-2 has offered the opportunity to cover all tuition costs and fees for high school graduates attending Pikes Peak State College (PPSC) through its D-2 Promise Scholarship Program. Since then, Colorado Springs D-11 developed its own Promise program for its high schools in 2024.
That same year, PPSC launched the First
Nations Promise Program, a last-dollar grant that will cover any and all expenses for members of all 574 federally recognized American Indian tribes who live in El Paso, Teller or Elbert counties.
Following the lead of CSU-Pueblo’s Pack Promise, state leadership developed the Colorado Promise, which provides complete reimbursement for students attending state public institutions and have family incomes below $90,000. Eligible applicants for Promise scholarships must meet certain requirements that can include filling out a Free Application for Student Federal Aid (FAFSA) form and residency in Colorado.
Further expanding access to local students, the University of Colorado Colorado Springs, (UCCS) announced this fall that it will begin accepting all Colorado graduates with a gradepoint average of 2.75 or higher.
For those with broader aspirations, the annual Daniels Fund Scholarship awards Colorado students with full-ride scholarships up to $100,000 for their choice of school outside
the region. This year, 15 Colorado Springs students were among the 230 high school seniors across Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming to receive the scholarship.
Jasmine Rainey, director of access and success for the education support nonprofit Peak Education in Colorado Springs, said that these recent developments are responses to revised state graduation guidelines, where students must demonstrate career and academic readiness, the ever-increasing costs of higher education and the local industry needs in the region.
“I think people are starting to recognize that we need to get our students more prepared for work-based learning and provide those opportunities,” she said.
In its 2025-28 strategic plan, the Colorado Department of Education set a goal for 100% of 2029 high school graduates to have a workbased learning experience, college credits or an industry-recognized credential.
Students looking to get an early start to their next phase of education can also take
advantage of concurrent enrollment options at their high school. Unlike dual enrollment, where high schoolers are enrolled in college courses online or off-campus, concurrent enrollment allows them to earn these credits at the main campus from college professors.
PPSC currently partners with nearly all high schools in El Paso and Teller counties to offer concurrent enrollment classes. This fall, UCCS announced that it will now offer its concurrent enrollment classes to students at the community college tuition rate of $5,250, or $175 per credit hour, instead of its resident rate of $12,644.
Recent data from the Colorado Community College System reported that more than 40,000 high school students enrolled in community college courses this fall, nearly 3,400 more than the previous year.
“We’re still seeing students want to go to college, but they’re trying to find the most affordable option out there,” Rainey said.
Further options include D-49’s Pikes Peak Early College, D-11’s Odyssey Early College & Career Options and the state-chartered Colorado Early College — Colorado Springs and Colorado Early College – Online. Early colleges are defined in Colorado law as a secondary school that requires students to earn a high school diploma and an associate’s degree, another postsecondary credential or at least sixty credits toward the completion of a credential.
Workforce readiness
While access to college is on the rise, greater investments are also being made across school districts for students looking to start their careers upon graduation.
Kickstarted last year, the coalition Innovate Pikes Peak brings together urban and rural school districts in the Pikes Peak Region to share resources and programming to serve a greater number of students interested in workforce training in in-demand industries.
On individual levels, Widefield D-3 students can currently utilize its manufacturing education center, the MILL , while Lewis-Palmer D-38 is
currently filling out the programming for its Career and Innovation campus that opened this fall. Over in D-49, the district has expanded its career and technical education (CTE) offerings at its Patriot Applied Learning Campus and Falcon High School for the culinary arts, construction and automotive fields.
This fall, the Colorado Springs School of Technology opened as an innovation zone in D-11 to bridge high schoolers’ secondary education with their interest in burgeoning local industries like aerospace and cybersecurity via industry certifications, internships and mentorships with Colorado Springs’ local industry professionals.
Representatives from El Paso County school districts sign a memorandum of understanding to improve career education collaborations at Weidner Field. Eric Young, The Gazette
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