The COVID-19 pandemic severely disrupted student learning and the delivery of public education. Across the United States, most public K-12 schools saw widespread enrollment declines during the 2020-21 school year, with many reporting continued declines in subsequent school years. But the District of Columbia (DC) stands out as one of the few jurisdictions that did not experience declines in public K-12 enrollment between fall 2019 and fall 2021. This analysis investigates universal public prekindergarten as a mechanism for how DC's public school system maintained student enrollment during the pandemic. Although the benefits of public prekindergarten in early childhood development are well known, little is known about whether it fosters early engagement with education and whether it encourages families to remain in the school system. Moreover, little work has examined prekindergarten for 3- year-olds (PK3) as a vital entry point for children because it remains a rare investment in the US. This analysis examines the role of PK3 as a potential solution for stabilizing enrollment trends and supporting long-term educational engagement.