Student enrollment is nearly 1,900 in grades 9-12, from the school's neighborhood attendance district, as well as from elsewhere in Chatham County through the Honors Academy for Academic Excellence.

The primary focus of this program is to provide higher-level courses to advanced students.

Any student in Chatham County who meets program criteria is eligible to enroll at Jenkins.

[citation needed] The school is named for the late, local philanthropist Herschel Vespasian Jenkins.

[citation needed] Beginning in the summer of 2019, the first of several phases to replace the school building in its entirety began.