History of the West Side Schools
There are three schools that preceded the modern West Side School. The very first school in the area was the Bungtown School. It was finished construction and was opened in 1790. During construction, it was visited by George Washington, the president of the time. The school was used for over a hundred years, before its closure in 1895. [3] In 1894, right before the first school closed, a new spot was chosen for a new schoolhouse. Built in 1896, the second schoolhouse was placed on the corner of modern Moores Hill Road and Route 25A in Laurel Hollow. This schoolhouse was used for over forty years and served students first grade through eighth grade before its closing in 1940. [4] In 1938, before the closing of the second West Side School (in very similar fashion to the transition between the first and second schoolhouse), there was a committee to decide the location of the next school. They decided to build the school, which is today's West Side School, in Syosset on Laurel Hollow Road. The school served students K-8, and was part of its own district (West Side #11) until the merger that created today's district in 1958. [5] It continues to serve students grades 2-6, [6] with Goosehill Primary School having taken over K-1 students and Cold Spring Harbor Jr./Sr, High School carrying 7th and 8th grade students respectively. [7] [8] Lloyd Harbor School also serves students grades 2–6 in the district. [9]
Creation of the Modern District
Before the modern district, there used to be three districts where today's district is located. The Lloyd Harbor, East Side, and West Side school districts were all originally K-8 districts with students moving on to one of three nearby high schools, two of which were in Suffolk County and one in Nassau County. As the districts grew, they soon had enough students that the high schools were being overpowered. At the end of a thorough process involving hiring a consultant, the New York State Education Department, and a petition, the districts decided to merge and centralize into one. The result was the modern Cold Spring Harbor Central School District, formed in 1958. [10]
