In 1903 the board of Mt. Vernon township decided to establish a dedicated high school for the entire township, and a school board for the high school was created the following year. The school was the successor to the Mt. Vernon City High School, which had been in operation since 1884. The township school district originally had of area. In September 1904 the first building, what would later become B Building, started being built. Mt. Vernon Township High School opened in 1905, with completion in July of that year, an August 15 dedication, and a September 1 start of classes. At its opening the new school had James M. Dickson as the principal, an enrollment of ninety girls and seventy boys, and a faculty of six. At the end of that first year, the class of 1906 had thirteen graduates. During that period the full name of the institution was
Mt. Vernon Township High School and Community College. As a result, tertiary matriculation rates increased from about 11% pre-1956 to about half of the student body after five years. FGM Architects was the company that designed the campus. In April 2012 the district announced it was obtaining of land for a new campus, and on August 29, for $1.5 million, the district acquired the land. The final payment of the bond was scheduled for February 1, 2013. Circa 2013 the district was evaluating whether reducing the size of the proposed new building would ultimately save money, or whether it would reduce the amount of grants to the point where such a reduction would not help the district financially. Groundbreaking occurred in August 2014, for the new campus located at Wells Bypass and Ambassador Road on the southwest edge of Mt. Vernon. Tim King, the financial advisor of the district, stated in 2013 that the district was not likely to raise taxes despite the new construction. The former campus permanently closed in June 2016. The current Mt. Vernon THS campus at 11101 Wells Bypass opened August 19, 2016, with a ribbon cutting by
Illinois governor Bruce Rauner. ==Curriculum==