High school education in the Palatine-Schaumburg Township area began in 1875, with the first graduating class in 1877. Charles S. Cutting was the first principal. Palatine High School is one of the four oldest suburban high schools and the first established northwest of Chicago.The Palatine Township High School District was formed in 1914. Its first classes were held in space rented from the elementary district on the top floor of a school on Wood Street between Hale and Benton. In 1928, a separate high school building for 300 students was built on a four-acre site at 150 East Wood Street.

The school opened with 125 students. Schaumburg Township was not part of a high school district, so some Schaumburg students came to Palatine on a tuition basis. Between 1928 and 1950, the enrollment grew from150 to 391 students and projections indicated dramatic growth ahead. In 1952, an addition to Palatine High School was completed, increasing the capacity to 700 students.

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