RAF ALCONBURY — They’re seeing double these days in the halls of Alconbury Elementary School, as four sets of twins are among the little ones rambunctiously rambling through each school day.

There are kindergartners Lucas and Logan Lyons, 5; 7-year-old second-graders Deanna and Breanna Meade; third-graders Joe and Fred Ruder, 8; and Jace and Teah Gibson, 7, also in the third grade.

But despite the common perceptions of twins, these kids don’t fit all the twin stereotypes.

"I like horses," Deanna Meade said matter-of-factly last week before pointing to her sis. "She likes …"

"Bunny rabbits," Breanna chimed in, finishing her twin’s sentence. "So, we’re different."

"Sometimes we say the same words at the same time," said Deanna, who, save for her longer hair, is a spitting image of her sister.

But true to the popular perceptions of these little genetic matches, people get Breanna and Deanna mixed up.

"People we know, they say ‘who are you?’ " Deanna said.

"They call me Deanna and her Breanna," Breanna pointed out. "We once tried switching classes and clothes. Our mom got confused."

The thought that twins are eitherjust alike or polar opposites is apopular myth, according to www.babyzone.com. Often, twins are relegated to roles by teachers and family. It’s important to allow twins to just be who they are, the Web site says.

Take Fred and Joe. Joe digs "Star Wars" while Fred is more of a Pokémon guy.

"My favorite food is pizza," said Joe, who is 18 minutes younger than Fred.

"Mine’s quiche," Fred quickly pointed out.

Despite shared upbringings and experiences, there is no scientific evidence that twins share any telepathic connection, even among duos like Fred and Joe, who are nigh on impossible to differentiate.

Jace and Teah were born one minute apart, and their big sister sometimes gets them mixed up.

"It’s fun [being a twin] because you have someone with you when you’re sad," Jace said.

It also is an advantage when dealing with the big sis, Teah said, laughing.

"We can gang up on our sister," she said.

Teachers inevitably come up with creative ways to tell the twins apart, according to Beth Johnson, an information specialist at Alconbury Elementary.

"Joe has a freckle on the back of his neck that Fred doesn’t have," she said. "You just develop little ways of telling them apart."

At Alconbury, some of the twins are in separate classrooms, but there is a debate about whether twins thrive better together or apart in school, according to babyzone.com. Inevitably it comes down to which method is better for the pint-size duos.

For some of the Alconbury twins, differentiation is a bit easier.

Lucas is an inch taller than his brother, Logan, but people still get them mixed up, Lucas said.

"It always happens. My teacher always gets it wrong every time," Lucas said. "They all get it wrong but sometimes they get it right. He doesn’t like lettuce. I do. Tomato soup I don’t like."

"I like tomato soup," Logan added.