It was the oldest school in Township High School District 214 which served students in Arlington Heights, Buffalo Grove, Elk Grove Village, Mount Prospect, Prospect Heights, Rolling Meadows and Wheeling, Illinois.

Eventually a lawsuit was filed by five Arlington Heights residents and ACT against District 214, charging the board ignored facts from its own studies (November 18, 1982).

In the subsequent lawsuit, District 214 planner Howard Feddema testified that board member Donald Hoeck called him to ask that a computer study's data be manipulated to have Arlington High School move to the top as the candidate for closing.

Circuit Court Judge James C. Murray overturned the District 214 decision to close Arlington High School.

On the second day of the new school year in 1983, Illinois Appellate Court (Justices James J. Mejda, Kenneth E. Wilson, and Francis S. Lorenz) overturned Cook County Judge James Murray's ruling blocking the closing of Arlington High School.

The following year in April, Christian Liberty Academy of Prospect Heights purchased Arlington High School for $1.51 million.

Interior and exterior scenes from the 1986 film Lucas starring Charlie Sheen and Corey Haim were shot at the school during the summer immediately after its closing, including some scenes with the Prospect High School Marching Band which at that point contained former Arlington students.