The school's original plan included only 70 classrooms, a cafeteria that could hold up to 500 people, an indoor rifle range, a field house, and a combined gymnasium and auditorium.

The school, which was named for William H. Burges, a prominent local attorney of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, serves portions of near East, East-Central and South-Central El Paso.

Most of the Burges attendance zone lies between Interstate 10 on the south, the Fort Bliss main post and El Paso International Airport on the north, the Patriot Freeway (US 54) on the west and the boundary of the Ysleta Independent School District on the east.

The eastern half of the Fort Bliss main post, which is zoned for Ross Middle and Hughey Elementary, which lie at the southeastern edge of the main post, is zoned for Austin High for grades nine to twelve.

[3] In 2021, the Burges Band received sweepstakes for U.I.L Marching and Sight Reading Contests, marking the first time the school has ever gotten sweepstakes at U.I.L in its entire history under the direction of then Band Director Miguel Porras and Drum Major Jesus Castillo.