Jennie Dean Elementary School in Manassas, Virginia was placed under a “Secure the Building” status Wednesday after police activity and road closures broke out near the campus, prompting officials to move all students and staff to nearby Metz Middle School. Manassas City Public Schools said all Dean Elementary students and staff are safe and will remain at Metz until further notice.
The disruption hit just weeks after the school reopened in a brand-new $56 million facility at 9601 Prince William Street, according to DC News Now, which reported the incident. That new building, unveiled in early August, was constructed to serve about 900 students in prekindergarten through fourth grade, according to Potomac Local News, with construction beginning in late 2024 next to the original 1960s school building. The school serves students in prekindergarten through fourth grade, underscoring how young the population involved in Wednesday's disruption was.
Manassas City Police restricted access to Wellington Road and the Route 28 bypass as the situation developed, per the same DC News Now report. Manassas City Public Schools announced the restricted access to the campus in a social media post, and the report notes that all Dean Elementary students and staff were being redirected to Metz Middle School, where they were expected to stay until further notice.
What ‘Secure the Building’ Actually Means
The secure status is a specific tier below a full lockdown under the division's Standard Response Protocol. Manassas City Public Schools emergency procedures call for locking exterior doors and restricting outside access while internal activities continue as normal — a distinction from a lockdown, which requires locking interior classrooms and keeping occupants out of sight, according to the school division's own emergency guidance.
Students were relocated to Metz Middle School. The length of the road restrictions remained unclear.
A Campus Built on Historic Ground
The elementary school carries the name of Jennie Serepta Dean, who was born into slavery in 1848 and went on to found the historic Manassas Industrial School for Colored Youth on the same site in 1893, according to City of Manassas historical records. The site continues to serve an educational role as Jennie Dean Elementary School.
A City Already on Edge
Wednesday's incident lands in a Manassas that has seen a string of public safety scares in recent weeks. A 16-year-old was fatally shot during a First Friday community event in Old Town Manassas earlier in September, according to NBC4 Washington, an incident Hoodline covered in gunfire that sent crowds fleeing.
The police response was prompted by a shooting in the 9400 block of Wellington Road, while the length of the road restrictions remained unclear. Manassas City Public Schools has said all Dean Elementary students and staff are safe and are being redirected to Metz Middle School, where they will remain until further notice.
