Jackson's empty school draws attention from NJ urban explorers

🏫 Empty Jackson middle school targeted by trespassers

🚔 Police appear to cite social media ‘urbex’ trend in recent arrests

📍 Christa McAuliffe school was sold to Lakewood yeshiva for $40M

JACKSON — A township middle school that has been sitting empty since last year has seen a string of recent trespassing incidents, Jackson police said on Tuesday.

Christa McAuliffe Middle School closed in June 2025, after hosting its final Jackson public school students.

“There have been several arrests over the past few days/nights at the McAuliffe School related to burglary, trespassing, and criminal mischief that appears to have been inspired by a recent social media trend,” Jackson Police Lt. Edward Travisano said in a post on the department’s Facebook page.

Police have boosted patrol security checks on and around the property, which was sold in December to Beth Medrash Govoha, based in neighboring Lakewood.

Social ‘urbex’ trend blamed for school break-ins

Exploring empty or “abandoned” properties — often called “urbex,” short for urban exploration — has become a popular and consistent trend on social media.

On Reddit, a post in an “Abandoned NJ” subreddit described a recent meetup at the former school that ended in arrests of several people.

The person said that within minutes of arriving, police vehicles surrounded the property.

“After making the GC for the meetup, we all got arrested with 4 counts of felonies since the security there was actually police that have been heavily monitoring the place," the Reddit user wrote, adding a warning to others not to attempt entry.

The user also posted three photos from the outside, with snow still on the ground and lights on inside.

One commenter responded, “Unoccupied. Not abandoned.”

“One of the unwritten rules of exploring schools is that power means alarms 90% of the time,” another Reddit user commented.

Police said there will be “zero tolerance” for anyone found inside or on the grounds without permission.

$40M sale to Lakewood-based Beth Medrash Govoha

The more than 37-acre property was purchased for $40 million “plus interest” by the country's largest yeshiva, or Orthodox Jewish seminary, according to Jackson education officials.

Previous financial stresses within the school district led to the 2024 sale of Rosenauer Elementary School to an all-girls Jewish school, also based in Lakewood.