Sunbury Schools:

Private schools began to develop during the early nineteenth century when the various religious denominations were beginning to establish themselves as communities and build their own churches.  During the week children of the church members attended the newly built churches and were taught by private tutors.  The Sunbury Academy, a distinguished private school was established by Cale Peltor, a Yale graduate, in 1835. 
The first public school system was discussed in 1834 and the first public school building was completed in 1837.  It was sixty feet long, forty feet wide and two-stories high.  It was directed by Reverend J.P. Shindel, William M. Robins, Jacob Painter, George Bright, and Alexander Jordan. 
The second Sunbury Academy was opened in 1868 by Professor Elias Schneider. However as the public school system improved and became more honorable, the popularity of the academy and the reputation of private schools in general began to decline.  Public schools required better obedience, offered better grading systems and supplied better programs.  As a result private schools shut down.  Between 1866 and 1868 four school buildings were built, two in each ward, and in 1869 the first high school was established in a rented storeroom on the corner of Fourth Street and Mulberry Alley.  In 1889 it was relocated to the old home of William McCarty (which was the largest home in the town at that time).  Records from June of 1890 state that the number of students was 1,061: 526 males and 535 females. 
Eventually Sunbury and East Sunbury decided to consolidate and a three-story high school was built on Fifth Street in 1896.  Also as each of the nine different wards became distinguished, separate school buildings were erected within each ward.