East, on average, draws around 2,500 students from Lombard, and portions of Glendale Heights, Addison, and Bloomingdale.

The east wall of the Tower section of the building was sucked out and fell through the roof of the then-unnamed auditorium.

When choosing team names during the first semester the school was open, the "Tornadoes" was one of three final choices; the other two were the "Apaches" and the winner, the "RAMS"—shown in caps as an acronym for Right Attitude Means Success.

In its first few years, Glenbard East competed in the Interim Conference, comprising mostly newly built suburban schools.

In 2011, The Washington Post named Glenbard East one of the top public high schools in Illinois.