One in Five Kindergartners Gone
Connecticut kindergarten enrollment has fallen 21% since 2011, losing 8,431 students. First grade is down 25%. The pipeline feeding the state's schools is collapsing from the bottom up.
Data-Driven Education Journalism for the Constitution State
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Connecticut kindergarten enrollment has fallen 21% since 2011, losing 8,431 students. First grade is down 25%. The pipeline feeding the state's schools is collapsing from the bottom up.
White enrollment fell 35.9% since 2011, transforming suburbs like East Haven and South Windsor from 75% white to below 50%. Fifteen districts crossed the majority-minority threshold.
Hartford dropped from Connecticut's largest district to fourth in 15 years, losing 5,802 students as CREC magnets nearly doubled and kindergarten enrollment was cut in half.
Connecticut's public school enrollment dropped to 497,760 in 2025-26, crossing below 500,000 for the first time since the early 2000s after 15 years of nearly unbroken decline.
CSDE releases 2025-26 enrollment data showing 497,760 students statewide — down 10,640, the largest loss since 2007.