The school was named for Cardinal Dennis Dougherty, Archbishop of Philadelphia from 1918 to 1951.

Although CDHS was founded as a co-educational school, a wall separated the boys and girls side of the building.

However, that number would steadily declined as neighborhood demographics changed and free charter schools became available.

[3] When the school closed at the end of the 2009-2010 academic year, it was operating at about 30% capacity.

[4] The CDHS marching band performed for Pope Paul VI at the Vatican, the 1962 NFL Championship Game, Lyndon B. Johnson's presidential inauguration in 1965, and won the World Music Championship in the Netherlands in 1966.