When students arrived at South Lakes High School Thursday morning, May 23, they were shuffled away from the building, and seated on the aluminum bleachers of the school's football stadium.
"When we got here, we didn't know what had happened," said freshman Daniela Guillen.
According to Guillen, rumors had been circulating throughout the student population. In one of the stories, a student had crashed a car into the school as a senior prank.
But it wasn't until later in the day, after police reports, that Guillen found out what had really happened.
A threat was made on the school, forcing Fairfax County Police to search the building with bomb-sniffing dogs. Police have asked that no information be released about the manner in which the threat was conveyed, so as to reduce the likelihood of copy-cat crimes. School employees secured the facility before any students entered the building.
The first school employees to arrive at the building called police, who began to search the school.
"I would like to commend everyone and say how fast the police responded, how great the teachers were and how well-behaved the students were," said principal Realista Rodriguez. "The kids, I think, were orderly, especially in the light of 9/11. They were getting impatient toward the end, but I was, too."
THE STUDENTS WAITED in the stadium for around three hours before they were all released to their homes.
"[Police] didn't find anything, but because the kids had been sitting out there for three-and-a-half hours, we decided to close school."
At 9:15, school officials decided to let the students leave, starting with the students who had driven to school. Following the drivers, bus riders were released. Then students who walked to school were dismissed, the last of those leaving school just after 10 a.m.
Senior Darryl McMurray said that there was "mass confusion" among the students, as they arrived at school. As they waited in the stadium, McMurray said he witnessed a couple fights that were not broken up.
Junior Bobby Feil said there was tension between the authority figures and the students.
"Everybody just wanted to go home," Feil said.
THE SCHOOL BUILDING re-opened around 11 a.m., after police finished their search. Rodriguez said that the missed day will count as an emergency day and will not be made up at the end of the year. Testing for International Baccalaureate, the school's gifted program, was originally scheduled for Thursday, but was rescheduled for Friday, May 24, after the threat.
"It was probably someone who just wanted to get out of some school work," said McMurray. "There have been threats against teachers before, saying things like, 'If you don't change my grades such and such will happen."
"Or there have been people who've pulled fire alarms to get out of tests," Feil said.
Rodriguez, who is personally offering $250 for any information that leads to the arrest of whomever was responsible for the threat, said it made her angry.
"We're focusing on final exams, graduation ... Prom is coming up in a couple of weeks," Rodriguez said. "This is supposed to be a fun time."
Freshman Nurah Abdul said she is concerned about security at the high school following last Thursday's incident.
"What are they going to do?" asked Abdul. "Anyone can come into the school."
Guillen said that the school should adopt an evacuation plan, so all the South Lakes students know where to go in case of an emergency.
Rodriguez said South Lakes has a security system, manned by the county, which goes off any time someone breaks into the school. She has also asked members of the Parent Teacher Student Association to drive by the school during the evenings, looking for suspicious behavior.