[3] The school grew quickly taking the lower story of the townhouse two years later, started library on 1863, and faced increasing overcrowding until 1872, when Edward Hyde Rice was principal, and where a new building was erected on Salem Street at the cost of $100,000.

Malden High School entered into a slow decline in the subsequent years during the mid 1960s and through the 1970s.

The school's College Board scores declined steadily over the decade, becoming well-below the national average in 1979.

[10] Construction for a new addition in the mid-to-late 1970s was riffled with delays and cost overruns from unexpected problems including discovering undetected peat and mysterious tunnels that needed to be excavated and filled with gravel.

[11] One of the new addition buildings was nearly torn down to start after the contractor ignored an error that one of the foundation footings were misaligned nine inches the correct line.

[11][12] After it reached completion in 1980, problems continued to persist well after construction including leaking roofs and even falling concrete.

Its large diversity has grown to become a prominent feature of the school and was recognized during a speech in the 2007 graduation ceremony.

[18] The school since then has begun to recover and now beginning to receive new lockers, desks, computers, and other new equipment.

Notable coaches of the Malden High School football team include: Matthew W. Bullock (1905), Charles McGeoch (1931), and Warren McGuirk (1931–1941).

Outside of sports, Malden High School offers a wide variety of extracurricular activities.