Ann Schimke

Ann Schimke covers healthy school topics and early childhood issues for Chalkbeat Colorado. She's written for The Washington Post as well as newspapers in Michigan, Virginia and Colorado. She holds a master鈥檚 degree in education policy from the University of Michigan. She joined Chalkbeat (then EdNews Colorado) in 2012.

Early literacy grants are helping some Colorado children get a handle on reading.

In bid to boost Colorado reading scores, small program shows promise where larger efforts failed

July 22, 2021 at 2:27 p.m.

The smaller Early Literacy Grant program came with strict rules about how schools should improve reading instruction, plus considerable state oversight.

In this Denver Post file photo, Cherry Creek school bus drivers get their buses ready at the Cherry Creek Bus terminal on March 13, 2014. The 55,000-student Cherry Creek School District moved high school start times back by an hour, aiming to improve student mental health and performance.

Cherry Creek school board names internal candidate as superintendent finalist

March 25, 2021 at 4:04 p.m.

The Cherry Creek School board on Wednesday chose an internal candidate 鈥� Chief of Staff Chris Smith 鈥� as the sole finalist for the 54,000-student district抖阴ap superintendent job.

Why do so many Colorado students struggle to read? Flawed curriculum is part of the problem.

March 18, 2025 at 12:46 p.m.

School districts that serve tens of thousands of Colorado students are using discredited or inconsistent approaches to teach children how to read, contributing to the state鈥檚 persistently low rates of...

DENVER,COLORADO, SEPTEMBER 9,2003- Children use Crayola crayons at the Auraria Child Care Center. Our story is about the 100th anniversary of Crayola. (DENVER POST PHOTO BY LYN ALWEIS) West Colfax Ave. and 9th Street on the Auraria Campus Director Gina Hamelin said that we could not use any last names, but that first names are ok.

Colorado launches emergency child care for those on the front lines of coronavirus 鈥� and it抖阴ap free for now

May 7, 2020 at 3:58 p.m.

A new effort to provide care for the children of thousands of hospital staff and emergency responders in Colorado kicked off Monday with around 900 children linked up with nearby...

Some Colorado child care centers followed schools in closing. Now the state wants them to stay open.

March 16, 2020 at 8:28 a.m.

Citing the needs of working parents, especially frontline health care workers, state agencies called on Colorado child care centers to stay open even after dozens of Colorado school districts announced...

2017-06-07 13_41_21-Georgia students sue sheriff after physically invasive drug searches

Coronavirus has arrived in Colorado. One school district has lessons from its battle with another highly contagious illness.

March 9, 2020 at 5:56 a.m.

With coronavirus now present in Colorado, leaders of the 22,000-student Mesa County Valley District 51 aren鈥檛 letting their recent experience with a contagious stomach bug go to waste.

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Ann Schimke

All Stories

In bid to boost Colorado reading scores, small program shows promise where larger efforts failed

Cherry Creek school board names internal candidate as superintendent finalist

Why do so many Colorado students struggle to read? Flawed curriculum is part of the problem.

Colorado launches emergency child care for those on the front lines of coronavirus 鈥� and it抖阴ap free for now

Some Colorado child care centers followed schools in closing. Now the state wants them to stay open.

Coronavirus has arrived in Colorado. One school district has lessons from its battle with another highly contagious illness.

Childhood trauma isn鈥檛 new, but the job the Westminster School District created to address it is

Could a new vaping and tobacco tax pay for free preschool in Colorado? Advocates want to ask voters in November.

Colorado startups vie to become the Uber and Lyft of child care

This Colorado principal saved a student抖阴ap life by paying attention at the right time