CHESTERFIELD, Va. — Debra Franklin has a lot of kids to teach at Grange Hall Elementary School, but in the back of her mind, there's always one student she's thinking about: her son, Nicholas.
“It's fun for the other kids. They're like, 'Oh, that's your mom!' That's so fun!" said Franklin.
But on Nicholas’s mind… is staying out of hot water with the other teachers.
"I can't get in trouble," said Nicholas, laughing. “My mom will know, and she'll light me up."
It's hard keeping secrets from your mom when so many other teachers have kids here too.
"We have 10 fifth-grade students, all whose parents are teachers or staff members here at Grange Hall Elementary School," said Principal Courtney Jones.
Ask fourth-grader Audra Drahms, and she’ll tell you she loves having a mom for a teacher.
"It's kind of nice. I can help her do stuff and I can see her in the hallway instead of just seeing her at home."
In fact, her mom is an inspiration."Yeah, that's what I want to be when I grow up."
Her mom, Jessica Drahms, said her daughter’s aspirations are higher than just being a teacher.
“She always jokes and tells me she's going to be my principal.”
Educator Insley Koehler loves the sense of community here, and being close to her boy, Sam.
"It's our own little family within Grange Hall," said Koehler. “We all look out for each other. It’s great!"
"Relationships are first and foremost," said Jones. “And it comes naturally for most of our teachers to take on not only other staff members students, but all of our kids."
"We're such a tight-knit community and it is very cool that we have so many of our own kids here," said Franklin. “The teachers, students, everybody really works well together."
Building a sense of community, is Building Better Minds.
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