17 Findlay Avenue, Rosevile
Two acres of McMillan’s Farm was opened as Chatswood Public School on 9/07/1883 thanks to an application by Messrs Bowen, Burt, Fathers, Montgomery and Treatt to the Department of Public Instruction on 23/02/1882. The weatherboard shed that became the school building was 10m long, 5m wide with 3m ceilings and could hold 54 pupils. Rainwater tanks collected drinking water from the roof. Thirteen families with a total of 53 children living within a radius of 3½ miles undertook to send their children to the school. On opening the school had an enrolment of 34 pupils with Miss Agnes Burt as the first teacher. She remained there until 1894. By late 1885 there were 99 pupils enrolled. Another classroom was added in 1886 and later a verandah. A pupil teacher was also appointed. The pupils paid 3 pence a week for their education and it was the teachers’ difficult task to collect the money. Payment was abolished in 1906, but attendance was not made compulsory until 1916. The school was transferred to its present site on Pacific Highway in January 1896.