A three-alarm fire severely damaged part of West Side Elementary School in Syosset early Tuesday, forcing students to temporarily relocate while the district works to determine its next steps.

Cold Spring Harbor School District Superintendent Joseph Monastero says in-person learning will resume Wednesday for West Side Elementary School students. But classes will be held at different locations across the district depending on grade level. Parents were advised to check the parent portal for the latest updates.

Some parents raised transportation concerns during a packed Board of Education meeting Tuesday night.

“The drop-off will happen at the junior/senior high school, then Goose Hill and then Lloyd Harbor,” Monastero said. “The way they stack, it works out because we have a limited amount of bus access.”

Officials say the fire broke out early Tuesday morning and took about 150 firefighters roughly two hours to bring under control. No one was inside the building at the time.

However, the damage was significant. The school’s library, community room and creative learning lab were destroyed.

Former student Mila Silverman says those spaces held special memories.

“We always used to do indoor recess there and our whole class would always do it together,” she said. “It was like a big happy family during recess.”

Students also reacted emotionally when they learned about the fire and that school was canceled for the day, calling the situation “sad” and “upsetting.”

Despite the loss, some students quickly stepped up to help. A group of students launched a fundraiser on Stewart Avenue, chanting “West Side Strong” as they collected donations.

The students raised more than $1,000 in just a few hours and presented the money to the Cold Spring Harbor Board of Education during the preplanned meeting.

District officials say the timeline for returning to the West Side Elementary building remains unclear, but they plan to keep families updated through ParentSquare as repairs move forward.