The head of a boarding school unknowingly hosted more than 70 overnight guests at her on-campus home.
The epic prank was hatched last month by the graduating class at St. Andrews school in Middletown, Delaware.
In a now-viral Instagram video, Joy McGrath, who is clad in a bathrobe and yellow Crocs, wanders into her kitchen at 6 a.m. and discovers a pile of students camped out on her floor. McGrath’s jaw drops and she dashes out of the room.
“I was in shock. They were in every possible corner like sardines,” McGrath tells TODAY.com. “It took me a second to realize, ‘This is a senior prank!’”
McGrath returns moments later, and takes in the full scene. There are kids everywhere.
Get Tri-state area news delivered to your inbox.> Sign up for NBC New York's News Headlines newsletter.
“Good morning, little bunnies!” McGrath says in the clip, as the class of 2023 erupts into laughter.
U.S. & World
McGrath’s husband, Ty Jones, was in on the wholesome gag and left the front door unlocked so they could sneak in at 1 a.m.
KaiChun “Austin” Chuang, who filmed McGrath’s reaction, tells TODAY.com that he and his peers dreamed up the idea after their senior prom.
“Mrs. McGrath invited all of us over for breakfast at like 12 a.m.,” Chuang, 18, recalls. “Someone joked that they wouldn’t mind going to bed right there in the living room. Then a couple of us glanced at each other like, ‘hmmmm.’”
Their plan went went off without a hitch.
“I can sleep through anything,” McGrath says. Case in point: McGrath, who graduated from St. Andrews in 1992, can't remember her own senior prank.
"I slept through that one, too!" she says.
Before heading back to their dorms, the seniors enjoyed a breakfast of doughnuts and coffee with McGrath and her husband.
“Mrs. McGrath takes such good care of us,” Chuang says. “Whenever people have a problem, they feel comfortable talking to her. She works hard to build trust.”
This story first appeared on TODAY.com. More from TODAY:
