The Dartford County School opened unofficially on 3 October 1904 at a building on Essex Road.

During the first term, Amy Brett served as headmistress, overseeing two full-time staff and part-time visiting masters for Art and Singing.

The building included an assembly hall (now the canteen), a library, science laboratories, a dining room, and accommodation for the staff.

The following year a compulsory uniform was introduced for students, consisting of a red, green and white tie, cream blouses with Peter Pan collars and for summer a lighter cotton tunic.

The assembly hall was enlarged and temporary huts were placed in the school grounds as dining facilities, which remained until 1937.

New classrooms were completed by September 1937, and the new hall was finished the following year to replace the huts which had served as canteen and kitchen, though it was not officially opened until 1939.

Between 1939 and 1947, three bombs fell on the school, and between 1940 and 1942 40 girls and two teachers were evacuated to a small village near Exeter.

The new school was built on the playing fields of the old one, leaving Dartford County with only one hockey pitch.

In 1994, a new technology block opened and a two-storey temporary mobile was purchased to house the humanities department.

[citation needed] In 1998 another extension was completed, adding two science blocks, an IT/graphics room, an English suite, and two general classrooms.

In 2009, Wheatley was appointed Executive Headteacher of both DGGS and Wilmington Enterprise College, and Sharon Pritchard was made responsible for the daily running of the school.

[1] In September 2003, the school adopted a two-year Key Stage 3 programme, under which students can follow a more flexible curriculum over three years.

The school also received the ArtsMark Gold Award recognising its expertise in arts subjects.

[2][3] In 2009 all students achieved A*-C grades in their GCSEs and the school was placed 11th in the county for A Level results.

[5] The school organises study visits and exchanges to countries including Cambodia, China, France, Germany, the Netherlands and Spain.