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’s degree in education policy from the University of Michigan. She joined Chalkbeat (then EdNews Colorado) in 2012.

An infant grasps volunteer Kathleen Jones' hand in the neonatal intensive care unit at the University of Chicago's Comer Children's Hospital in Chicago on Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2014. Jones, 52, is one of several people who volunteer to cuddle babies at the hospital. Research shows that cuddling helps calm the babies, many who are born prematurely or who have serious health issues, and aids in their early development.

Health coverage for Colorado babies and toddlers could be disrupted by Trump administration policy

July 30, 2025 at 11:30 a.m.

Colorado had been planning to roll out its continuous coverage initiative on Jan. 1, 2026.

People move through the south security checkpoint line at Denver International Airport

Coming in 2026: A drop-in child care center at the Denver airport

July 9, 2025 at 9:25 a.m.

The child care center is meant to provide occasional care and will primarily serve the children of airport employees or community members who are participating in training center activities.

Runners compete in a 1600 meter race at the CHSAA Track and Field Championships at Jefferson Country Stadium in Lakewood, Colo., on Saturday, May 18, 2024. (Eli Imadali/Special to The Denver Post)

Colorado school district approves transgender athlete ban, though questions about implementation remain

May 9, 2025 at 4:32 p.m.

The high-profile decision in District 49, Colorado’s 10th largest, follows a February executive order from President Donald Trump targeting transgender youth in sports.

Spectators watch the 2A boys 1600 event during the final day of the Colorado high school state track and field meet at Jeffco Stadium on Saturday, May 18, 2024, in Lakewood, Colorado. (Photo by Andy Colwell/Special to The Denver Post)

Colorado school district seeks restrictions on transgender athletes amid Trump crackdown

May 8, 2025 at 9:10 a.m.

The discussion in conservative-leaning District 49 foreshadows what’s to come in other Colorado school districts as federal and local officials target transgender youth in sports.

Kacey Johnson rearranges books while helping shelve the collection at Mission Viejo library in Aurora.

Books banned in Colorado school district are back on library shelves — for now

May 6, 2025 at 8:39 a.m.

While the lawsuit over the books’ removal by the school board has yet to be resolved, the books will be available to students for the time being.

Brooke Aldaz, left, a mother of two, and Sara Flater, right, a mother of three, pose for a portrait at a library in Lone Tree on Jan. 23, 2025. Both parents were frustrated by what they experienced at The Nest Schools child care center last summer. (Photo by RJ Sangosti/The Denver Post)

As private equity invests in child care, Colorado lawmakers seek guardrails

February 22, 2025 at 6:00 a.m.

A Chalkbeat analysis identified about 175 Colorado centers currently owned or backed by private equity or venture capital firms.

Religious freedom, LGBTQ rights collide in lawsuit over Colorado’s universal preschool program

February 18, 2025 at 4:16 p.m.

Catholic preschools seek exemption from state non-discrimination rules; case could reach U.S. Supreme Court.

Ezekiel Ortiz puts his phone in an envelope before class at Boulder Prep on August 28, 2024. Some Boulder Valley school board members are interested in stricter cell phone rules at high schools. (Cliff Grassmick, Daily Camera)

Colorado attorney general announces $50,000 grants so schools can cut student cell phone use

September 20, 2024 at 4:40 p.m.

Colorado school districts will soon be able to apply for grants of up to $50,000 to help their students reduce cell phone use during the school day.

Katie Beydler, a behavioral specialist at Clayton Early Learning, was hired over the summer to help work with preschool children who have challenging behaviors or other issues. (Courtesy of Clayton Early Learning via Chalkbeat)

They were babies and toddlers when the pandemic hit. At school, some still struggle.

September 9, 2024 at 11:39 a.m.

More of Colorado’s pandemic babies and toddlers are showing up with developmental delays than their counterparts born just a few years before.

A parent's decision to refuse vaccination for their child carries risk for their child and others, especially infants too young to be fully immunized or medically frail adults and children, according to Sen. Irene Aguilar and Rep. Dan Pabon. (Loveland Reporter Herald, file photo)

Colorado school vaccination rates are public. Here’s how to find them.

August 9, 2024 at 5:09 p.m.

How many kindergartners are vaccinated against measles at your son’s school? How many are vaccinated against whooping cough at your daughter’s child care center?

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