One of the 18 Virginia Governor's Schools, it draws students from 14 jurisdictions: the counties of Chesterfield, Henrico, Hanover, Goochland, Powhatan, Prince George, Charles City, King and Queen, New Kent and Dinwiddie, and the cities of Richmond, Petersburg, Hopewell, and Colonial Heights.

It is also recommended that students have completed Honors English, Earth and Life Sciences, and at least one year of a foreign language, but this is not required.

The city school stopped accepting freshmen in 1991, intending to turn the building fully over to GSGIS by 1995.

It was named for Maggie Lena Walker, the first woman and African-American to operate a bank in the United States and was once attended by American civil rights lawyer and politician Henry L. Marsh, African American tennis pro Arthur Ashe,[14] as well as pro football Hall-of-Famer Willie Lanier,[15] and NBA great Bob Dandridge.

GSGIS took up occupancy in fall 2001 after several million dollars of renovations and adopted the name Maggie L. Walker Governor's School for Government and International Studies, or MLWGSGIS for short, though commonly shortened further to MLWGS.

In order to receive a Governor's School diploma, all community service and credits must be completed.

In 2001, the boys' cross country team won the state AAA championship, led to victory by head coach Jim Holdren.

[22] In 2010, the Maggie Walker girls' cross country team became the state runner-up in the AAA championship.

[26] MLWGSGIS is in a partnership with Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU), meaning that students can earn college credit for certain "dual enrollment" high school classes.