The school has gained much attention from the local communities of Ukiah and Talmage, where students have staged performances, marches, and participated in city contests and sports.

Both divisions have separate dorm buildings adjacent to the classrooms for boarding students, and basketball courts and soccer fields.

The predecessor to DVS, Instilling Goodness Elementary School, was first founded at the suggestion of San Francisco City Supervisor Carol Ruth Silver in 1976 by the Venerable Master Hsuan Hua.

[2] Prior to the founding of the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas and Developing Virtue Secondary Schools, the land was used for the Mendocino Mental Hospital.

In 2003, DVS became a candidate for accreditation from the Western Association of Schools and Colleges and began a massive remodeling of the campus.