There has been a secondary school in Buckie since 1875. The opening followed the 1872 Education (Scotland) Act, which made education compulsory between the ages of 5 and 13 and put education in the charge of 895 school boards. Rathven School Board covered the Buckie area and built Buckie Public School in West Church Street, at its junction with Pringle Street. The first entry in the school's log book on 14 January 1876 records that there were 100 pupils enrolled in the charge of a rector, and two pupil teachers. The curriculum consisted of reading, writing, arithmetic, grammar and composition, history, geography, singing and religious knowledge, with Latin for some pupils. The Latin in the school motto translates as 'with oars and sails' - and suggests doing things with all the effort and power one can muster.