[citation needed] On October 31, 1980, five days before the 1980 presidential election, Ronald Reagan appeared at Maine West with actors Cesar Romero and Robert Conrad, giving a 30-minute address to the students and other invited guests.

All three schools and seven partner districts participate in the program coordinated at Maine West and the Chicago Metro History Education Center.

The school offers 16 Advanced Placement courses: English Language, English Literature, Biology, Chemistry, Physics (C), Calculus (BC), U.S. History, Statistics, Computer Science (AB), Spanish Language, Spanish Literature, European History, Micro/Macro Economics, Music Theory, Psychology, and Studio Art.

[14] The school offers the opportunity to study five foreign languages: French, German, Italian, Mandarin Chinese, and Spanish.

The school sponsors interscholastic competition for men and women in basketball, cross country, golf, lacrosse, soccer, swimming & diving, tennis, fencing, track & field, volleyball, water polo.

[16] While not sponsored by the IHSA, Maine West is one of fewer than ten schools in Illinois to compete in varsity fencing.

Maine West competes in the Great Lakes High School Fencing Conference which also includes teams from Wisconsin and Indiana.