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Colorado’s Enrollment Shift: How Districts are Adapting to Fewer Students Instead of Growth BY AMELIA ROESSLER F or decades, Colorado school districts planned for growth. Now, many are confronting the opposite reality: fewer
out of 13 grade levels, with an enrollment increase in prekindergarten, fourth grade, sixth grade, and 12th grade. “Colorado continues to experience enrollment trends shaped by a declining school-aged population, increasing racial and ethnic diversity, and shifts toward part-time and online learning. These changes require thoughtful adaptation, and our schools are working diligently to continue serving students effectively across the state,” says Colorado Education Commissioner Susana Córdova in a press release. According to the enrollment count release, data shows a declining number of births
statewide across the last two decades and population declines in 30 percent of Colorado counties over the past 10 years. In Denver’s public schools, enrollment peaked in 2019, with around three thousand fewer students enrolled in the 2025–26 school year than at their highest. This decline is attributed to the declining birth rates, according to Andrew Huber, Denver Public Schools (DPS) executive director of enrollment and campus planning. While this trend is shared with many districts across the Denver metro area and the country, births in Denver peaked in the early 2000s and schools now are beginning to experience declines in school enrollment.
children are enrolling in public schools, forcing districts to rethink everything from budgets to school buildings. New state data shows public school enrollment fell by more than 10,000 students during the 2025–26 school year, the largest decline since the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. The public schools are serving about 871,000 students in preschool through 12th grade, according to the October 2025 enrollment count released in January this year by the Colorado Department of Education. The count shows enrollment declines in nine
6 Education Guide | 2026
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