Some of these, such as the now-closed Holy Family High School, located near St. Lawrence Church in New Bedford, had strong academic reputations and produced generations of prominent Catholic alumni in the region.

While Stang was not the first Catholic secondary school in southeastern Massachusetts, it was the first regional, diocesan, coeducational institution.

Founded in 1959, Stang's original faculty included Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur in full religious habit.

The new 8-acre (32,000 m2) campus across from the Country Club of New Bedford in then-pastoral Dartmouth drew students from cities and towns in a 60-mile (97 km) radius from Rhode Island to Cape Cod.

Advanced placement courses at Bishop Stang are offered in Biology, Chemistry, Physics 1 and 2, Calculus A/B, Calculus B/C, Statistics, Computer Science, English Language & Composition, English Literature, Psychology, United States History, Studio Art, and European History.