The school is part of the Anne Arundel County Public School system, and is the primary high school for Gambrills and portions of the Odenton area. Originally, the school was the Anne Arundel Academy, a prestigious one-room private school founded in 1854. That institution became Arundel High School in 1926. It is one of the oldest public high schools in the country, and the oldest mainstream public school in the state of Maryland. The current school building was built in 1949 and first occupied in 1950, with additions/renovations in 1966, 1986, 1987, 2006, and 2008.