The school is named after Francis Lewis, who signed the United States Declaration of Independence as a representative of New York.

[14] Francis Lewis High School teaches several foreign languages, including Chinese (Mandarin), French, Greek (for the fourth year of the University Scholars program), Italian, Japanese, Korean, Latin, and Spanish.

Classes for native speakers in Chinese, Korean, and Spanish are also available for students satisfying the NYCDOE's foreign language requirement.

The school previously taught Arabic and Hebrew, but those classes ended due to declining interest.

[17] Advanced Placement (AP) courses are also available, offering college credit for work done during high school (based on the final test score).

[18] Students may choose from 20 AP courses offered at Francis Lewis, including Biology, Calculus AB, Calculus BC, Capstone, Chemistry, Chinese Language and Culture, Computer Science A, English Language and Composition, English Literature and Composition, Environmental Science, Japanese Language and Culture, Latin, Macroeconomics, Microeconomics, Physics 1, Physics 2, AP Physics C: Mechanics, Psychology, Spanish, Statistics, United States Government and Politics, United States History, and World History.

[18] In 1994, the US Army Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps (JROTC) program was established in the school.

[23] In 2018 allegations of hazing (involving sexual and physical assault) from the male Raiders team were made.

Student-athletes compete in baseball, basketball, bowling, cheerleading, cross country, fencing, golf, handball, soccer, softball, swimming, tennis, track, volleyball, and wrestling[4] Francis Lewis High School's cross country team won the PSAL championship in 1968.

[7] Francis Lewis High School's girls basketball team won the PSAL Championship in March 1979.

[33] The school's male and female American handball team won the PSAL championship in the 2018–2019 season.

[35][36] The team advanced to the New York State Federation Basketball Class A championship in Glens Falls.

[44][43] In October 1956, Mayor Robert F. Wagner Jr. wrote a letter to the City Planning Commission asking it to include the construction of Northeast Queens High School in its capital budget.

[48] The school was named after Francis Lewis, a resident of Whitestone who signed the United States Declaration of Independence.

[50] Queensborough Community College held some of its classes at Francis Lewis High School that year because its own campus was still under construction.

In early 2018, Francis Lewis High School announced plans for a new annex to add more space and alleviate overcrowding.