North County schools are known for being one big family, but Hereford Middle School has taken that notion to the extreme.
This year's staff includes two husband/wife pairs and two mother-in-law/daughter-in-law sets.
The newest duo just became related on Aug. 12 when seventh-grade English teacher Nicole Nickerson married Tim Cross, whose mother, Linda Cross, is an instructional aide.
She is also a successful matchmaker.
"I worked in Nicole's classroom and we're in the staff Book Club together and I realized what a sensible, caring person she is," Linda said. "Tim saw her when he was subbing at school and thought she was a real cutie. I asked her if I could give her phone number to Tim and she said 'yes'."
Nicole had also spotted Tim in the hallways and thought he was pretty cute, too.
"Linda told me her son was asking about me and after I gave her my number, nothing ever happened," Nicole said.
Linda said that every time Tim broke up with a girlfriend, she would remind him about "that nice Nicole at school."
Tim and Nicole finally connected on Facebook during the blizzards of 2010 and met at a concert in Towson as soon as the roads were cleared.
They had only gone on a few dates when Tim joined the Army Reserves and was gone for the next six months.
Absence definitely made their hearts grow fonder. When Tim came home last November, he surprised Nicole after school one day and proposed to her in her classroom.
They got married in front of 80 guests at the Belvedere last week. Tim is busy studying to be an Army medic and Nicole reports to Hereford Middle School on Aug. 22.
For now, her biggest problems are getting thank-you notes written and figuring out what to call her new mother-in-law in front of the students.
The other pairs at Hereford Middle School are: Sue Ziegler, special education teacher and her daughter-in-law Emily Ziegler, sixth-grade language arts teacher; Russ Letra, eighth-grade social studies teacher and his wife, Spanish teacher Mina Letra; and Kellie Holloway, Spanish teacher, and her husband, Doug Holloway, chief custodian.