After remnants of Hurricane Ida brought extensive damage to several areas of the school building, today is the first day back in the classrooms for students at New Rochelle High School,

The high school is welcoming back staff and teachers, as well as freshman, sophomores, and new students for orientation.

Students kicked off the school year with remote learning, while cleanup, recovery and the restoration process continued at New Rochelle High School from Ida back in September.

The school says the entire library, which was filled books, chairs and study space, was inundated in three to four inches of water.

The library sits on lower ground compared to the rest of the building.

All the flooring and several walls had to removed and replaced with new materials to better withstand some levels of future flooding.

In addition, New Rochelle High School is a one-story historic building and to protect the unique facade, the mechanical room was put in the sub-basement six feet below the library level. That is why it was completely flooded in September, and why the school lost all the mechanical equipment inside that room.

During the time students have been remote, the school has done major repairs and changes to prevent the substantial damage the building sustained from ever happening again.

Al students will attend classes in-person starting Monday, Nov. 1.