The school is named after Herbert Hoover, the 31st president of the United States and is located on an 18.6 acres (75,000 m2) campus.

[6] The first issue of the school yearbook, Scroll, included copies of letters written by Hoover and his wife, Lou.

[4] The school has been the setting for several television programs and movies, most notably Because They're Young, which was filmed at the campus during the summer recess in 1959.

In 1990, due to continual and anticipated growth in the number of students entering Hoover High, a 33-classroom facility was built and completed in 1992.

Hoover High School offers 22 different Advanced Placement (AP) classes including the following: English Language,English Literature,Calculus AB,Calculus BC,Statistics,French Language and Culture,Spanish Language and Culture,Spanish Literature and Culture,Italian Language and Culture,Econ-Macro,Government /Politics U.S.,Psychology,United States History,World History,Human Geography,African American Studies,Biology 3-4,Chemistry 3-4,Physics 1,Physics 2,Physics C,Art History, Studio Art: Photo,Studio Art: Drawing/Painting and Music Theory.

[9] In 2010, outgoing principal Kevin Welsh stated that there were frequent racial tensions between Armenian and Hispanic/Latino students.

[8] In 2000 Jefferey Gettleman and Lee Condon of the Los Angeles Times reported that in the event of disputes between Armenians and Latinos, people take racial lines, and that the groups do not often socially mingle.

According to Gettleman and Condon, recent graduates and current students of the school characterized it as "polarized" between Latinos and Armenians.

[8] At least three violent incidents involving Hoover students have occurred, including the 1995 stabbing death of Tony Petrossian, who had intervened in a fight between two teens over a broken car stereo; the 1998 shooting of Avetis “Avo” Demirchyan, involving in a dispute between Armenians; and the 2000 stabbing of 12th grade student Raul Aguirre, who attempted to intervene between Armenian and Hispanic gangs but who was not a gang member himself.

[10] On October 3, 2018, a brawl broke out in the school's upper quad during lunch break, believed to have been caused by racial tensions between the two groups.

Academy students are invited to take advanced classes at Hoover to create a fine arts emphasis in their degree program.

Students must take three years of arts classes while enrolled at Hoover in order to be considered an academy graduate.

Along with the academic distinction that comes with being part of the academy, students are eligible to participate in events at the Hoover Arts Gallery.

Trumpets, trombones, and saxophones participate as well as flutes, clarinets, violins, cellos and, at one point, a bassoon and a harp.