The architect for the current facility was Denver native George H. Williamson, himself an 1893 graduate of "Old East" High.

Williamson won national recognition for his design of the "new" East, which has a 162-foot (49 m) high clock tower[5] modeled after Independence Hall in Philadelphia.

In July 2005, a music video for the song "Over My Head (Cable Car)", by The Fray was filmed in East High.

In 2000 Newsweek recognized East as one of America's top hundred public high schools.

[13] Additionally, teams representing Denver East outside of the Colorado High School Activities Association (CHSAA) as club teams have accumulated 11 combined state championships bringing the high school's count to 110 1st-place finishes since the early 1900s.

Constitutional Law, or "Con-Law" as most Angels refer to it, is a large part of the academic extracurricular setting at East.

[32] The team, usually composed of 11th and 12th graders, has continuously traveled to Washington D.C. to compete in the Center for Civic Education's national "We the People: The Citizens and the Constitution" competition.