Bay High School draws the majority of students that live in the Panama City area as well as neighboring communities such as St. Andrews, Glenwood, The Cove, Millville, Pretty Bayou, and Kings Point.

In 1976, demolition was underway on the original Bay High building, allowing for more updated facilities while being able to accommodate more students.

After the new cafeteria was opened to students in 2001, the original building was used for storage, and on occasion, wrestling practice, until its demolition in early 2018.

Bay High School suffered extensive damage from the landfall of Category 5 Hurricane Michael on October 10, 2018.

During the 2020–2021 school year as the STEM building nears completion the entire STEM department are being housed in the temporary modular classrooms still from Hurricane Michael as demolition of Buildings 2-5 took place to make way for construction of the new state of art Barbara W. Nelson Fine Arts Center facing Harrison Ave.

AICE is an advanced program that offers a college-level curriculum overseen by Cambridge International Examinations.

In November 2018, after Hurricane Michael struck Panama City, the Million Dollar Band received a hurricane relief fund from Bands of 30A with a check worth US$10,000 to compensate their losses of instruments[9] In the fall of 2023, the Bay High theatre program staged a production of The SpongeBob Musical.

[10] Previous productions include the play Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind and the musical MonsterSongs.