Zillmere State School was opened on the 22nd January 1877 as Zillmere Water Hole's State School. At first Zillmere State School consisted of sixty-six students and Mr James Spiers was Principal. By the 7th February 1877, enrolment had grown to one hundred and fourteen students. Records indicate the 'Ward' children were the first enrolled students.
In February 1888, a request was made to change the name of the school to Zillmere State School as the nearby Post Office and Railway station also bore this name. This request was granted on the 8th March 1888.
In 1914 the school was temporarily moved to the School of Arts in order to allow the rebuilding/repairing of old buildings, as some buildings had been damaged due to 'washaways' caused by a drainage problem.
The present office wing was first occupied in 1924. The old school buildings were sold to the School of the Arts and removed to the present site of the Municipal Library in Jennings Street.
New temporary classrooms were occupied on 7th June 1950. In 1952 a Library and Staff room were added to this wing. Two more wings were added in 1954 and a pool was constructed and opened in 1974.
In 2010 our school celebrated the opening of our Resource Centre [Library], toilet block, outdoor learning area and refurbished pool grandstand. This has supplemented our Technology Room which was established in 2008. Zillmere State School's oval was completely re-levelled in 2014 and is used by our students for various sporting activities and Zillmere community organisations.
In 2016 our enrolment has grown to one hundred and fifty-one students.