Pittsburgh-area kindergarten has 10 sets of twins

ALLISON PARK, Pa. (AP) - September 26, 2013 (WPVI) -- A Pittsburgh-area elementary school has a novel way to acclimate its kindergartners to the school experience, but it's not a technique that can be easily shared with other schools.

Burchfield Elementary School's brand-new kindergarten class has 10 sets of twins. That means 20 out of 100 pupils in the affluent suburban school's kindergarten program started the year with at least one close friend.

Principal Jeff Rojik said that kindergartners are often nervous about starting school but that the twins are helping with that transition.

"You often have times where you have kids who are nervous about coming to school, who are anxious and have a lot of apprehension," Rojik told a local television station. "But so far, with 20 twins in a set of 100 students, it's a nice transition. They have a brother or a sister to help them get through the tough times."

Sally Engel agrees that it's nice to have her brother, Cy, in the same class.

"Whenever you want someone to play with and you don't have anybody else, you've got somebody in your family - you have a twin," Sally said.

Rojik said the kindergarten class isn't the only one with a glut of multiple birthed-siblings. The school's first grade has four sets of twins and one set of triplets.

"It could be in the water," Rojik quipped.

Get more Trending »

pittsburgh, pennsylvania news, children, trending

• Comment Now
• Email
• Print
• Report a typo
•