West Side School to Re-Open on April 13th

By Leader Staff

After a tragic March 10th fire that destroyed the Library and Learning Center in the historic West Side School in Laurel Hollow - and saw smoke and water damage in much of the rest of building - a breakneck repair effort will see the school re-open in just two weeks - on Monday, April 13th.

"We look forward to welcoming everyone back to West Side School on April 13th," posted Cold Spring Harbor Schools Superintendent Joseph Monastero. 

The devastating fire closed the school building, forcing the Cold Spring Harbor administration to re-locate the school's over 300 students to other schools in the district: Grade 2 is being housed at the Goose Hill Primary School in Cold Spring Harbor; Grades 3, 4 and 5 are currently located at the Lloyd Harbor School - West Side's sister school - in Lloyd Harbor; and Grade 6 is currently housed at the Jr/Sr High School in Cold Spring Harbor. 

"Our teams at WSS will be completing final items and 'punch list' work to ensure the building is not only restored, but in many ways even better than it was prior to March 10th," stated Monastero. 

The destroyed Library and Creative Learning Lab will not be restored in time for the move-in, but "temporary spaces" have been arranged and are "still awaiting final approval from the State," added Monastero. 

The West Side School serves students from Laurel Hollow and Cold Spring Harbor, and is a historic building, dating from 1790.

President George Washington saw the West Side School under construction during his 1790 tour of Long Island, and stopped by with his entourage, to help the builders erect a roof beam in the school. 

Superintendent Monastero added that some of the new designs to the school will feature "patriotic motifs" to honor the historic place of the West Side School.