Meet the Malcolms: The Central Valley’s own ‘Cheaper by the Dozen’ story

CLOVIS, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) – Cole Elementary in Clovis has had the same last name on its roll call for 30 years.

The Malcolm family has kept the school stocked with all 12 of their children.

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The family patriarch, Danny Malcolm, is used to listing them off.

“Danny, Matthew, William, Hyrum, Simon, Joseph, Haieh, Lucy, Laura, Dannika, Jodie and Kellie,” he said.

He and his wife, Monica, have had a very busy 37 years of marriage.

“I get two questions,” Monica said. “The first question was, ‘Are they all yours?’ And the second question was, ‘Do you homeschool?’”

They grew their family in Clovis, sheltered by the boughs of a large oak tree.

“When my mom – when we were buying the house, she said, ‘I don’t care what the house looks like, I just want the tree,’” the youngest daughter, Kellie, said.

“It’s become our family tree,” Danny said.

Over the years, though, their family tree has extended – down the road to Cole Elementary.

“Come this fall, it will be 30 years that we’ve had a student at the same elementary school continuously,” Monica said.

All 12 of the Malcolm children attended the school, and nine of them have sat in sixth grade teacher Mark Kellner’s class.

“They’re amazing children, they’re hard workers,” Kellner said. “I have considered it an honor to be able to work with the family.”

His time with their family is coming to an end. Kellie, the youngest, is in sixth grade and will soon advance to middle school.

It’s her presence at the school that has kept Kellner around. He plans to retire when she leaves.

“We consider each other family. We really do,” Kellner said.

Kellner has had a front row seat to watch each Malcolm child grow into a contributing member of society.

The Malcolm in the middle, Joseph, is now attending Fresno State. He looks back fondly on his days at Cole Elementary, though.

“While I was at Cole, it was exciting because, you know, I had my older siblings to look up to. So if they did cross country, I did cross country. If they did the play, I did the play,” Joseph said. 

Kellner says that, although Joseph could be a bit of a troublemaker, each child brought so much joy and excellence to his class.

He attributes their character to their strong sense of family identity.

“Our family motto is, and something we always tell our kids when we drop them off, is ‘remember who you are,’” Monica said.

The kids say being a Malcolm keeps them rooted, and they’re reminded of those roots when they sit under the oak tree.

“I know that, because this is where my roots are, this is where I want to stay,” Joseph said.

Although their family’s time at Cole Elementary is coming to an end, their family legacy will live on.

They say they have six grandchildren already attending the school, and a seventh will soon join them.

So Cole Elementary has many more years of Malcolms to look forward to.