The school was established in 1972 as a result of the growing population in the Frenchs Forest and Belrose areas and is located on a site bounded by heritage-listed remnant bushland.

In 2004 and 2007, Davidson High entered the New South Wales Rock Eisteddfod Competition with pieces relating to the Iraq war.

[6] The ceremony was attended by the inaugural principal, William Lambert, who said to the students: "...Davidson High is yours, continue the effort that has been made by so many to develop it.

[16] In 2007, the Davidson Community of Schools was unveiled by the principal, Rod Cawsey, building closer ties with local primary schools, with the intention to enhance the learning of students in the Davidson community through joint educational programs, combined teacher development and the sharing of resources.

[2][20] During the tenure of the third Principal, Roy Beauman (1983–1987), the motto was altered from the Latin 'Sapienter si Sincere' to English and the words transposed to read 'Sincerely if Wisely'.

The ornate shield was replaced with a circlet badge surrounding the stag crest produced in green, white, navy, and brown.

[2] A further change occurred during the tenure of Principal John McManus (1988–1990), with the motto altered to 'Wisely Sincerely', and the stag crest enclosed by a simplified shield in red and navy.

Anderson introduced a gifted and talented program to target the specialist needs of certain student interests to combat this and by the time of his departure, enrolments stood at over 600.

In January 2002 Anderson took up the appointment of the founding Principal of the Sydney Secondary College, which had been created through the amalgamation of three inner-city high schools.

"[37] In 2013, he was awarded a Fellowship of the Australian College of Educators (FACE), with his citation noting that he "has demonstrated outstanding professional practice through significant contributions to student learning, teaching and leadership of the NSW Secondary Principals’ Council.

The four houses were originally named Mimosa, Blackbutt, Belrose and Waratah, after prominent local plant species.

The present house system was introduced by the second Principal, Austin Hayes, and were named after the individual stars of the Southern Cross.

[6] The current houses of Davidson High School and their associated colours are   Gamma,   Alpha,   Delta and   Beta.

In recent years the Drama ensemble has done a 'Drama Tour' to local Schools, performing workshops for young students.

The dance piece sparked up debate over the alleged "politicisation" of schools and freedom of speech, and was criticised by the then Federal Minister for Education, Dr. Brendan Nelson, who said that the production presented an "extremely biased view" of the war.

[46] However, the school and the dance piece were also defended by the principal of the day, Chris Bonnor, and New South Wales Deputy-Premier and Education Minister, Andrew Refshauge.

[47] Despite this, Davidson went on to take joint first place with Rose Bay Secondary College in the Open grand final and performed at the national competition.

[48] In 2007, Davidson entered a second performance with a similar topic, entitled Bad Knight II, which got the attention of the then Federal Minister for Education, Julie Bishop, who accused the teachers of having "private political agendas" and said that the timing of the performance was "interesting", given the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit was being held in Sydney at the time, where U.S. President George Bush and other foreign leaders would be visiting.

Davidson High came under controversy after a shocking Nine News report revealed that over 800 people had signed a petition demanding the School's Hall be renovated.