Clarkston kindergarten is twinning
Five sets of twins are enrolled at Grantham Elementary, which is likely a school record
The staff at Grantham Elementary School is seeing double this year thanks to a bumper crop of 5-year-old twins in kindergarten.
As the 10 high-energy kids scampered down a hall, longtime office manager Gail Edwards said it’s likely a record for the Clarkston school.
“I’ve never seen five sets of twins all in one class,” said Edwards, who has worked in the office for 27 years. “We keep hearing jokes that something must have been in the water that year.”
Two weeks before school started, 44 new students registered at Grantham and half were headed to kindergarten. Because of the additional kids, the school added a third full-day class to the roster. Educators Lynnae Anderson, Nikki Katus and Liz McPherson all wound up with twins in their classes. Some are in the same classroom, while others opted to split up.
“We want to be in the same class,” said Naomi Shawer. “Sometimes we fight, but we start to cry if we’re not in the same room.”
She and brother, Noah Shawer, are among the twins, along with Roaa and Rayan El hassadi, Nicholas and Nikole May, Karson and Jaxson Raney, and Ayanna and Ayble Schilt. Grantham is a neighborhood school with no bus service, so all of the kids live in the general vicinity of 1253 Poplar St.
Two sets are identical. The El hassadi girls, daughters of Omar El hassadi and Sara Mohammed, dress alike everyday. The Raney boys, sons of Steven Raney, don’t wear matching clothes on a regular basis and have different birthdays because of their staggered arrival around midnight.
The May duo are the son and daughter of Elisha and Bryan May. Jennifer Schilt is the mother of another set of the twins, and the Shawers are the children of Melissa Edwards.
If the twins don’t move in the next 12 years, the Clarkston High School class of 2031 is on track to have nine sets at graduation. Heights, Highland, Parkway and Holy Family elementary schools all have one set of twins in kindergarten this year.
“They are so cute,” Edwards said as the Grantham group gathered for a photo. “We are having fun keeping track of all of these twins.”
Sandaine may be contacted at kerris@lmtribune.com or (208) 848-2264. Follow her on Twitter @newsfromkerri.
