Normanhurst Boys' High School

Normanhurst Boys' High School (colloquially known as Normo)

Established in 1958, the school caters for approximately 730 students from Year 7 to Year 12, who are accepted on an academic basis. The school celebrated its 60th anniversary in 2018.

In 1957, five schools made up the Hornsby school site, located on the Pacific Highway: a boys' primary school and a boys' junior technical school on the eastern side, and an infants school, a girls' primary school, and a girls' domestic science school on the western side. On 30 November 1957, the three western schools were destroyed by bushfires.

The school's students are one of the most socio economically advantaged in NSW, in terms of the Index of Community Socio Educational Advantage score, with 82% of boys at the school from families in the top quarter of society. As a result, the school has been mentioned as part of an ongoing debate about whether Australian selective schools accept enough students from less well off families, and if selective schools create social inequality.

Normanhurst Boys' High School is not far from its "sister" school, Hornsby Girls' High School, with which joint curriculum and extra curricular activities are held, such as plays and musicals.

Normanhurst Boys High School is an academically selective high school and accepts a relatively small intake of 120 students in Year 7. It is one of the top ten schools in New South Wales, based on entry standards. A number of students may be accepted into Years8 through to 11, through direct application to the school and a subsequent internal selection process, consisting of a consideration of character, extracurricular activities and academic ability. An interview is then required before a final offer is made.

The school has an area of 6.3 hectares, and is within five minutes walk of Normanhurst railway station. Facilities include a sporting field, four tennis courts and several basketball courts. The campus includes the hall, library, music and drama centre as well as a careers office. There are two gates of entry, one reserved for senior boys and one for junior boys. Each student has a laptop with wireless internet access. The drama centre was finished in 2017, as part of an extension to the school's main building.

The school's motto, Know Thyself, is a Delphic maxim which is attributed to Ancient Greece. The phrase has been expounded by Aeschylus, Socrates and Plato, among others. It is given as nosce te ipsum or temet nosce in Latin.

Alumni of Normanhurst Boys' High School are commonly referred to as Old Boys. Some notable Normanhurst Old Boys include: