To survey basic knowledge of syphilis and gonorrhea held by junior and senior high school nurses in Massachusetts, a two-part 52-item questionnaire was mailed to 170 nurses. Of these, 129 (or 76 percent) were returned. The instrument was designed by the investigators with the expectation that no school nurse would score below 36 on a 40-point scale. Only 41 (32 percent), however, had scores of 36 or above. The school nurses were found to be least informed about treatment of contacts, long-term effects of venereal disease, where the infected receive treatment, infection sites, treatment, physicians' knowledge regarding diagnosis and asymptomatic females.