San José High School opened in 1863 in a room above Orbon's flour store at 210 South 1st Street. On January 1, 1868, it moved to a purpose-built $20,000 building at Santa Clara and 7th Streets that also housed Horace Mann Elementary. The high school occupied the upper floor of the building.

In 1898 San José High School was relocated to One Washington Square, 250 E. San Fernando Street between 6th and 7th Streets, where it remained until 1952. This location was on the [San Jose State College] campus. The 1898 building was three stories, of brick and stone, and cost $75,000; it was destroyed in the 1906 earthquake and after the school shared facilities for two years with [Lincoln Elementary School on Almaden Ave and Vine Street(San Jose, California), it moved back to a replacement building on the same site, which was used from 1908 to 1951. This high school campus was designed by Pasadena architect F. S. Allen in Mission Revival style and cost $175,000; it housed different subjects in separate buildings connected by arcades forming courtyards.

In 1951, intending to expand the college, the State of California rescinded its permission for the high school to be located on the San José State campus, and the school moved in 1952 to its present location at the corner of 24th and Julian Streets. The original $2,500,000 building, by Ernest J. Kump, was chosen that year by the Museum of Modern Art as one of 43 outstanding examples of modern architecture. It has since been greatly expanded, including a swimming pool in 1959, two new wings and a full theatrical stage in 1961, and a new science building and a new career technology engineering building in the first decade of the 21st century.

In 1985, the school was renamed San Jose High Academy as part of the federal magnet schools concept, but on March 25, 2010, it returned to its original name, San Jose High School.

In the 21st century the school's enrollment increased to 1200, the largest population since the late 1980s. The principal is Gloria Marchant, a naturalized Canadian who became a U.S. citizen in a ceremony at the school in May 2018.

The school has offered the International Baccalaureate program since 1985, and since 1999 has offered the IB Middle Years Program along with its major feeder middle school, Muwekma Ohlone Middle School. It was recognized as a California Distinguished High School in 1990. In 2010, the engineering building was built to further stretch the minds of the students. Since then, Bulldog Robotics 581 has proven to be a very successful program In Newsweek magazine's 2005 ranking of United States high schools, San Jose High Academy was ranked 220th.

The following sports are offered at San José High School:

The football teams of San José High School and Lincoln High School face off at San Jose City College each Thanksgiving in the Big Bone Game. This rivalry game has been held since 1943; it gets its name from a San José High School student who found a large steer leg in his father's butcher shop in 1945 and declared it the trophy for the winning school. The Junior Varsity football teams from both schools hold a Little Bone Game the Thursday prior to the Big Bone Game.

• Hal Rhyne, Class of 1920, Pittsburgh Pirates, Boston Red Sox, Chicago White Sox
• Jack Z. Anderson, class of 1923, former U.S. congressman.
• Henry T. Gunderson, Class of 1928, Educator, SJUSD named high school
• John C. Young, class of 1930, Chinese American Community Leader.
• Don Edwards, class of 1932, former FBI agent and U.S. congressman.
• Chuck Taylor, Class of 1938, All American Guard, Coach, Athletic Director, Miami Seahawks
• Franklin Mieuli, class of 1940, former principal owner of the Golden State Warriors NBA team.
• Irene Dalis, class of 1942, founder of Opera San José.
• Bob Fontaine, Class of 1942, 1st Director of Scouting, San Diego Padres
• Jay DeFeo, class of 1946, abstract expressionist artist.
• Norman Mineta, class of 1949, former San Jose mayor, U.S. congressman and United States Secretary of Transportation.
• Vernon Wilson, Class of 1950, 1956 Olympian High Jumper
• Jim Cadile, Class of 1957, 11 years in NFL, Chicago Bears
• Mike Honda, class of 1959, former state assemblyman and U.S. congressman.
• Cass Jackson, Class of 1960, College Football and later coach
• Jack Pierce, Class of 1968, MLB Atlanta Braves, Detroit Tiger
• Rosana Soto, Class of 1968, Leading actress in La Bamba, roles in Star Trek VI, Stand and Deliver
• Sam Piraro, Class of 1970, Mission College Head Baseball Coach, SJSU Head Coach; led SJSU to its 1st College World Series in year 2000
• Anthony Rubino, Class of 1973, Western Conference Pitcher of the Year, Detroit Lions
• Kenneth Ingram, Class of 1981, Original cast member of Chicago & Broadway company of The Lion King
• Jacque Robinson, class of 1981, MVP of 1982 Rose Bowl and 1985 Orange Bowl.
• Bob Santos, class of 1989, boxing trainer, manager, and cutman.
• Cung Le, class of 1990, UFC fighter and actor.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to San Jose High School.

• School website
• School district website