Are 'COVID kindergarteners' ready for school?

Vanessa Romo

August 21, 2025 / 2:00 am

Last Wednesday was a big day for the Sussman and Frankel family. It was the first day of school at California Creative Academy, a charter school in Los Angeles, where 5-year-old Eli is newly enrolled in kindergarten.

"We were super freaked out," Mollie Sussman told NPR, referring to herself and her husband Brad Frankel. "We were really scared and [Eli] was pretty scared" leading up to the milestone, she said.

Among her fears was that Eli, an only child, might feel overwhelmed by the transition from a small pre-school to a new elementary school with kids up to the 8th grade. She worried that he might cry, that he might have a meltdown, or that he wouldn't handle the structure of a kindergarten day wi

See Full Page