During the French Protectorate, the school was heavily dominated by Vietnamese immigrant children.

The teachers, staff, and students were forced to leave the city and live in undeveloped areas, where they greatly suffered from the killings perpetrated.

After the January 7, 1979, Vietnamese invasion, the government of the People's Republic of Kampuchea gradually reopened schools.

The lycée was officially reopened on January 21, 1980, under the name of Phnom Daun Penh High School.

There are three special classes (ថ្នាក់ពិសេស) are selected upon written tests: Khmer literature, mathematics and physics.