A Kansas elementary school is in the middle of a baby boom! Seven teachers are pregnant at the same time, which is half of the teaching staff. The ladies swear they didn’t plan it this way.
Principal Ashley Miller says she’s never seen anything like it in her two decades at Goddard’s Oak Street School. She says she was shocked when one teacher after another came to her to announce their pregnancy.
The school announced the simultaneous pregnancies on Facebook: “We are so excited to welcome these EIGHT little tiger cubs to our #265Family! (Yes, we counted correctly.),” the school wrote — pointing out that one mother is having twins.
“To me, it just becomes comical because it was a lot when there were three of us and then there were four of us and then there were five of us and then there were seven of us,” fourth grade teacher Tara Johnson said.
Having lined up permanent substitutes to take over during each woman’s maternity leave, the school’s principal Ashley Miller joked to local news station KSN that now what they need was ‘a sponsorship from like Pampers or Huggies.’
Miller describes the school’s staff as “like a family” and said their recently-retired principal, a retired third-grade teacher and other familiar faces stepped up to to serve as substitutes during seven maternity leaves.
“No one drinks our water anymore,” Miller added, “and that is a running joke throughout the district.” Because one of the teachers was expecting twins, there were eight babies by October, and the school announced in November that the ladies had welcomed a total of eight healthy newborns.
Miller’s focus has moved on from coordinating ᴍᴀᴛᴇʀɴɪᴛʏ leaves to coordinating breaks for seven breastfeeding teachers.
“I don’t know how many times I had to redo the master schedule for pumping,” Miller said, referring to the main calendar she keeps for the whole school. “They kept calling me this summer to say they needed breaks at this time or this time.”
At least two of the eight babies attend the same day care and others have already had the first of what their moms say will be many playdates to come.
The teachers have become local celebrities, known as the “Oak Street mommas.” They say they do not take for granted that all seven moms and all eight babies had safe deliveries and remain healthy.
