[11] In the 1920s, Columbia was experiencing continued growth, and the district decided to build a new high school on the edge of town on the newly built U.S. Route 40.

[citation needed] In this decade, the school's wrestlers captured three state championships, and Hickman created a marching band.

[citation needed] President Ronald Reagan visited the school in 1987, and Hickman filled Missouri's quota of Presidential Scholars in 1988.

1994 was also the year that Hickman beat Rock Bridge 43-42 in triple overtime in what some called the Game of the Century as crosstown rivals met for only the second time in history, and their first football matchup since 1981.

[citation needed] On March 26, 1987, President Ronald Reagan made a special trip to Columbia, Missouri to speak at the National Governors' Association-Department of Education Conference as well as Fairview Elementary and David H. Hickman High School.

[14] In 2007, the school won the Siemens Foundation and College Board Award for Advanced Placement, meaning that Hickman leads the nation in AP participation and performance.

Today, the campus is bordered by Interstate 70 Business Loop, Seventh Street, Wilkes Boulevard, and Providence Road.

In 2003, a commons area, office space, and language labs were added, and in 2005, the remainder of the school was air-conditioned and remodeled to match the original architecture.

Each year, the Wind Ensemble (membership by individual audition) and the Concert Band present many performances for the community including home concerts and special events; in addition, the combined bands participate in the State Large Ensemble Festival and consistently receive Superior ratings.

The Hickman High School Wind Ensemble has been selected to perform for the Missouri Music Educators Association three times(2001, 2005, and 2022).

The band and string programs complement each other, combining into a full orchestra for major works such as Carmina Burana, Verdi's Requiem, and tribute concerts for composers such as Leonard Bernstein.

Since then, choirs at Hickman have received numerous accolades and awards for excellence in choral performance at state, regional, national, and international festivals.

Hickman choirs have toured extensively throughout Europe, visiting Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Spain, Ireland, Wales, Scotland, England, and most recently, Italy and the Vatican.

The Providence Bowl meeting had taken place at the University of Missouri's Faurot Field at Memorial Stadium from 2004 to 2012, but due to scheduling issues, will be played at Hickman this year.[when?]

Hickman High School boasts one of the most innovative music appreciation societies in United States public education.

The Academy of Rock was founded in late January 2004 by students David Kemper, Dylan Raithel, James Saracini and teacher Phil Overeem.

The general purpose of the club was initially to plan and execute a “Battle of the Bands” between Hickman and its Columbia rival, Rock Bridge, but soon grew to encompass several other enterprises.

Since its inception, the Academy of Rock has hosted nine Battles of the Bands, three at Hickman High School and two at a local rock-and-roll venue, The Blue Note.

The four summer benefits have raised a total of over $3,000 for VH1's Save the Music Foundation,[25] Columbia's community radio station KOPN,[26] the Muscular Dystrophy Association,[27] the Voluntary Action Center of Columbia,[28] the University of Missouri's Thompson Center for Autism and Other Neurodevelopmental Disorders,[29] and the effort to rebuild Joplin, Missouri, after the 2011 tornado.

In addition, Academy of Rock-sponsored bands have also raised over $2,000 to assist in rebuilding after both the Sri Lanka and New Orleans disasters, and the group co-sponsored a fund-raiser for Hurricane Katrina survivors that netted nearly $27,000.

[30] In 2013, The IRA, the winning band in that year's Battle, opted to donate its recording proceeds to the Central Missouri Humane Society.

Besides the Battle of the Bands, the Academy of Rock also sponsors, mans, and programs KWPE 98.3 FM,[31] the school radio station (home to Rock Therapy[32]); curates the American Roots Music Listening Library in the school media center,[33] which has been funded largely by the Assistance League of Mid-Missouri;[34] partners with Columbia art theater Ragtag Cinemacafe[35] for “The Academy of Rock Showcase,” which gives high school bands the opportunity to hone their chops in front of audiences and make money; partners with University of Missouri radio station KCOU in a “Take-over Program", during which eight pairs of Hickman DJs operate the college station for 12 to 16 hours in one- to two-hour shifts; sponsors a monthly music documentary series in the school's Little Theatre; and coordinates a live performance series that has featured free unplugged concerts by artists ranging from nationally known acts like The Drive-By Truckers[36] (March 2005) and The Hold Steady (December 2006) to cult artists like former X co-lead singer-songwriter Exene Cervenka[37] (see video),[38][unreliable source?

A further technological aspect of the club spawned during that year was the "Rock Therapy" podcast [1], which featured Battle of the Band recordings, raw tracks from the concert series showcases, and the sponsor's eccentric, lo-fi forays into the world of pop music.

As soon as the 2009–2010 school year was under way, the Academy of Rock brought Pacific Northwestern punk-garage legends The Pierced Arrows (formerly Dead Moon) to the Little Theater stage for an October 13 concert-and-Q&A.

In the spring of the same school year, in collaboration with the Missouri Arts Council, Theater NXS, and MO Blues Society, the club presented northern Mississippi bluesman and Fat Possum recording artist Robert Belfour in two workshops involving over 100 students.

Also, again aided by a grant from the Assistance League of Mid-America, the club augmented its existing media center CD collection with a selection of American classical music.

The opening performance in the series, on November 10, 2011, featured Moonrunner [4]; on February 9, 2012, Columbia "indyground" rapper Dallas held court [5].

2012-2013 was a very quiet year for the Academy of Rock, though, true to its mission, it initiated some new programs: a Sunday Night Showcase series at Columbia's The Bridge [6], which featured concerts by Volatile, Space, Time, and Beauty, Ross Menefee, and The Pound Game, and a music-lesson scholarship [7], in partnership with The Columbia Academy of Music [8].

The club also procured two grants, one each from the Assistance League of Mid-Missouri and the Hickman PTSA, to expand the school's CD library [9].

Co-founder Phil Overeem retired from teaching at the end of the school year, turning the club reins over to Mr. Brock Boland.