School district has 17 sets of twins starting kindergarten

Now this is “twin”-teresting: A school district in Philadelphia is welcoming 17 sets of twins to their incoming kindergarten classes.

Six sets of twins will be attending Ridge Park Elementary School in Conshohocken, Pennsylvania; four sets of twins will be attending nearby Plymouth Elementary in Plymouth Meeting; and six sets of twins will join Whitemarch Elementary School in Lafayette Hill. Colonial School District officials say this is the highest number of twins that they have ever welcomed.

School district officials call the students “twin-kindergarteners.” They are expected to begin classes on Monday, Sept. 11; other students had their first day already.

The number of twins has been increasing in recent years. Thanks to in-vitro fertilization (IVF) and delayed childbearing, twin births have increased by 71% in North America since the 1980s. (Africa is still home to the highest rate of twin births, with about 18 sets of twins born per 1,000 births.)

This isn’t even the only school district experiencing such a phenomenon. Across the pond in Greenock, Inverclyde, in Scotland, the town has been nicknamed “Twinverclyde” because it has 17 sets of twins entering primary one this year. However, that’s only the second-highest number of twins starting school there — in 2015, the number was 19, the New York Post reports.

MORE: Identical twin sisters give birth at the same hospital on the same day

Whatever the case may be, it is certainly unusual here in America to have so many twins at one school district. However, it may be occurring more and more in the future as IVF’s popularity grows.

And, if you’re wondering what these twins have to say about attending kindergarten together, the little scholars say that they are happy to have their best buddy by their side as they begin this new adventure.

“I get to hug my brother any time I want,” twin Charlotte Dorman told NBC Philadelphia.

“We always have each other,” shared the Ugas twins, Chloe and Audrey.

How sweet!

MORE: Couple born on the same day had twins on their birthday