Seven of the 15 teachers at the small Kansas elementary school have become pregnant over the last year, which has come at the shock of principal Ashley Miller.
“I was very excited, obviously, because this is great news,” Miller, who has worked at the school for 20 years, told Good Morning America. “After the third one I was a little in shock, the fourth one I was really in shock, the fifth one I didn’t know what to say and by the seventh one I had to remember to congratulate her because my first words were, ‘Are you kidding me?’”
She added: “I have never in my life had this many pregnant people in the building. Never happened.”
Two of the teachers gave birth to their babies in March, and when the last of the children are born in October, there will be a total of eight newborns between the mothers.
Fourth-grade teacher Kelli Jo Sheahon, who is expecting twins, told GMA that the teachers are embracing their unique situation and are bonding through the experience.
“It’s so much fun to see the other mommies in the hall and we’re asking each other, ‘How do you feel,’ ” she explained. “I don’t know that a lot of other people get that experience at work.”
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A baby boom such as this one could seem like a tough scheduling situation for any principal, but fortunately for Miller, the delivery dates are spread out from each other in a way that they all won’t be on maternity leave at the same time. She’s also going to have substitute teachers ready for when the big days finally come.
When Oak Street Elementary posted news of the pregnancies to their Facebook account last month, many commenters wrote congratulation messages while joking about “not drinking the water” at the school — and Sheahon said she had already heard every joke in the book.
“I had someone tell me before I announced, ‘Don’t drink the water,’ and in my mind I was like, ‘Too late,’ ” she recalled.
Miller told GMA that she’s looking forward to the day, years from now, where all of the children could enroll in the school at the same time and potentially be classmates.
“Some of us have had kids who have all been through Oak Street,” Miller said. “We do a lot of evening activities [together] so this place is crazy when we do that because we all bring our kids.”
